September 3, 2024
To be invited to show a car at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is an honor very few attain and the Classic Car Club of America Museum was overjoyed to be asked for their 1930 Packard 734 Sport Sedan to be on display as part of the 125 Years of Packard celebration.
Thursday morning dawned early but without the fog or mist that normally accompanies the 70-mile round trip tour day. Cars started lining up at 6am to get a good position for the 9:30am departure. With the CCCA Museum Art in Motion license plate on the back of the car, this was a wonderful opportunity to talk with people about this first donation to the CCCA Museum back in 1985 by Lewis Steinberg. The car had been restored in 1982 and more recently was refreshed for a trip to this event. All exhibitors and spectators receive a list of cars registered for the tour and we were proud to see the CCCA Museum referenced in the list! Due to some mechanical challenges, we elected not to complete the entire tour but really enjoyed having the car out in the parade of people waving and cheering us on!
Sunday is the big day; the actual concours day starts early with people arriving at trailers as early as 5am to unload and get in line for the long drive onto the 17th and 18th hole of the Pebble Beach golf course. The car was placed in an ideal parking spot, backed up against the beautiful coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
Museum cars are typically not included in judging so our car would rarely if ever have the chance to cross the stage. Much to our surprise, there was a “Parade of Packards” held prior to the awards ceremony and it was included in the live stream broadcast of the event so all could see the 1930 Packard cross the stage with reference made to the Classic Car Club of America in Hickory Corners, MI!
Carl and I were beyond proud to represent the Classic Car Club Museum at Pebble Beach, an event we have been attending since 1998. I spent much of the day standing right next to the car, explaining to all who stopped by exactly where Hickory Corners, MI is located and encouraged one and all to make time to visit over 60 vehicles on display in a beautiful educational and interactive exhibit as part of the CCCA Museum on the Gilmore Museum Campus, just 30 minutes north of Kalamazoo. USA Today voted it the No 1 tourist attraction in the state of Michigan two years in a row and we would love to see you there!
To watch the livestream of the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours, click here Pebble Beach Concours 2024 Live Stream Youtube
About the Classic Car Club of America Museum
As the first Partner Museum established on the campus of The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, MI, the CCCAM celebrates the concept of Art In Motion, with a collection of over 40 historically significant “Full Classic” automobiles on display, as designated by The Classic Car Club of America. The museum is also home to one of the largest mascot collections in the world, with nearly 700 unique mascots on display. For more information, please visit cccamusuem.org.
