On August 26 I received an email from the City of Malibu (with a copy to Wallace Wyss and someone at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department).
The email summary,
The car event that is advertised and was conducted in the City of Malibu requires a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) from the City with the property owner’s approval. Because of Covid-19 protocols, and the LA County Gathering protocols, no TUP’s are being issued at this time.
Please respect the City’s request to postpone or cancel any rallies or events in the City of Malibu until such time they are once again permissible.
Furthermore, I have spoken with the property managers of all commercial businesses within the City regarding the “pop-up” car events as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and enforcement protocols are in effect.
My response included this,
I did not advertise any car event in Malibu but merely published articles reporting on the events after the fact.
I do not have the ability to “postpone or cancel any rallies or events in the City of Malibu”.
Our reporter, Wallace Wyss, mentions this email exchange in his report below and the increased presence of the LA Sheriff is likely the “enforcement protocols” mentioned in the email.
I notice from the photos that most attendees are wearing masks, which is a good thing. Let’s be safe out there and obey the local laws while still having fun.
It is clear that no one is organizing this event as Wallace Wyss has mentioned several times in his previous reports. Has it become a tradition driven by the masses and not one person or organization? It seems so.
Any event where you can see an old Bugatti and an Iso Grifo at the same time is something special as far as I am concerned.
Mike Gulett, Publisher and Editor
by Wallace Wyss –
Photographs by Richard Bartholomew –
When you go out for a Sunday morning drive to your favorite beach it isn’t often that you expect to be turned away. And we were, sort of.
The location was the Malibu Village shopping center at Cross Creek and Pacific coast Highway in Malibu. We got a letter mid-week asking us to “quit promoting the gathering” but methinks the city official doesn’t know the difference between promoting and reporting. Promoting is when you are paid to hype an event, reporting is you go there and describe what you saw.
Bugatti driven by Bruce Meyer
So this guy, not in uniform, no badge, appoints himself to start telling early arrivals the event is cancelled. I ask him on whose behalf he is talking and he pointed to a young parking lot attendant and said he volunteered to help the young lad. I asked “Where’s your proof you represent someone” and he didn’t have it.
So pretty much everyone realized that the self appointed guy had no status and he faded out, but not without mentioning he has his own show coming up nearby in a few weeks. Oh, the Sheriffs arrived, flashing lights twitter on but pretty much everybody settled in and it was at least 75 cars if you counted the ins and outs.
The biggest contrast was a fairly new Bugatti open car, with a very cheap looking racing stripe, 50 feet away from an older 1920s Bugatti brought by Bruce Meyer of the Petersen Museum.
Ironically the Bugatti was parked next to a new 2020 Corvette and I tried to figure out the difference in cost expressed by how many new 2020 Corvettes you could buy at $60,000 each before you equaled the cost of the Bugatti. Maybe 12 or so? A lifetime supply even if you drove the beejeesuz out of them.
Iso Grifo driven by Maurice Mentens and and De Tomaso Pantera
Another contrast was an Iso Grifo Series 1 going our way with a white De Tomaso Pantera GT5S passing by the other way. A significant passing because both represented the Italian dream of Italian chassis and coachwork wrapped around a made-in-the USA V8 engine. The later long nose Grifos even had the 351 Cleveland Ford engine after GM cut them off from 327 Chevys. So for a time De Tomaso and Iso both had the same engines.
The Pantera GT5 was technically a model established after De Tomaso no longer sold cars to Ford so this was what you would call a “gray market” model brought in afterwards or a US-spec, Pantera that went to a custom shop to be converted to a Euro body style.
In the which-is-more-popular contest we are impressed to see so many McLarens, almost as many as there are late model Ferraris and there’s probably a match for the number of Lamborghinis. The Lamborghini Urus, alas, looks like too many Japanese SUVs so we didn’t see it come in, and it didn’t stand out.
One Land Rover Defender looked ever muy macho in black with lots of accoutrements. The Land Rover Defenders have a more direct design resemblance to early Land Rovers so have their own macho to compete with Jeep. There was a lady on strange electric scooter that has a nice body made of a VW beetle fender. Is this going to be a trend?
Cadillac Eldorado Brougham
In American postwar classics there was a ’57 or ’58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham with the stainless steel roof. It still looked elegant, it was ironic it was parked a couple of cars away from the Bugatti because in their respective day they each represented the most expensive car of that country. The Cadillacs were about $12,000 to $14,000 when you could buy a two bedroom home in a Detroit suburb for that.
In Porsches there were just a half dozen 356s but the variety of 911 cars wasdazzling. Some had a lot of emblems on the back to define their lineage like GT1 ysdda-yadda.
As far as craftsmanship I give the nod to a Harley, dunno which year. First we went up to it to examine the overlapping baubles on the gas tank but left realizing that the exhaust pipes had the same treatment. It is rare for chopper type bikes to attend this event, which is more of a cafe racer’s setting.
Iso Grifo driven by Maurice Mentens
Our team decamped around 10:30am, but since there is no organizer, no announcement source, there’s no place to check out when it will happen again. We can’t advise checking it out if it’s a long drive. If they are worried about the pandemic, this event is outdoors, and at least most were wearing masks.
The important thing was that it is low-cost, (free) has good air (100 ft. from ocean) and the good mood it put the car people in was worth seeing.
More photos are in the slide show below.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the co-host of KUCR’s “Autotalk” show broadcast each Thursday on 88.3 FM KUCR FM Riverside, CA.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Richard Bartholomew is an artist and photographer based in Southern California. Visit his YouTube channel here. He is open to interesting consignments and can be reached at zeroagenow@aol.com
Harley detail
Attached is a photo sent in from Jerry Crocker taken on Aug. 30 at this event.
WHAT A FINISH ON THE HARLEY TANK!
That sign only scared off the timid, And timid people do not drive Lamborghinis and Ferraris! all you had to do was point to the (now outdoor) restaurant Marmalade and say “I’m going there for breakfast,”