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This group starts right off with a pair of siblings, a 1930 Cord L-29 and a 1932 Auburn Phaeton, both with the same owner, lucky guy. These cars are always crowd favorites. We'll see the "Big Brother" later. Too bad there were no examples of the later and spectacular Cord 812 or the Auburn Boattail Speedster. Notice how low the Cord sits compared to the more standard height Auburn, itself a pretty sporty car of the day.

 
Next is a 1929 Bentley Speed Six. I hope to not offend anyone if this is in the wrong group but I like it better here than in the European Sports category where it was registered. The color is a deep brown. We'll see more on the Delahaye behind it shortly.

 
This Cadillac V16 Sport Phaeton was certainly one of the stars of the show. The photos did not come out well but it is a dual cowl with instrumentation in the back seat. The owner was able to monitor the chauffeur's performance without having to actually look over his shoulder.

 
The motor on the left is the Cadillac. It would be a beauty even if not so perfectly restored and detailed. The one on the right is the Duesenberg below. Both these cars have the same owner.

 
This 1929 Model J Duesenberg is another real beauty. Notice the three door hinges instead of the usual two and the size of the tail lights. It's hard to tell for sure from the photos but this open car also has rollup windows instead of the side curtains found on most of its contemporaries.

 
This 1938 Delahaye Capron Convertible Coupe won Best of Show. It is a lovely automobile as are many of the better French cars of that era. Too bad there were not more entered.

I know of a local older Talbot Lago project car waiting for some TLC. Maybe it will be entered in a few years.

 
 
This 1931 Marmon V16 Sedan is a large impressive machine. It has almost a military look about it. Of course, it would have taken a wealthy military and then a highly placed officer to get such an expensive automobile.

 
As I recall, this is the first actual Marmon V16 I have seen. Too bad the owner was too busy coordinating the show to ask if he might open the hood to see the motor. I'm sure it would be as impressive as the car itself. I'll try again next year.

The next several photos are of a 1936 Mercedes Benz 540K Cabriolet, possibly my personal favorite in the show but that is a pretty hard call to make.

 
The owner had asked me to work on the carburetor after the show. It loads up bad at much over 1500 rpm. He has since received some shop and owners manuals and his own mechanics are now more comfortable working on it.

Looks like I may miss out on that but he did invite me to come see it and his collection sometime.
 
This car is unusual in that it does not have the typical Mercedes grille and the familiar front fenders sweeping into running boards as more commonly seen on the 540K. I have to admit that I do rather like the teardrop fenders but I'm not so sure about the grille. It just seems to lose some of the character. I understand the car was originally custom ordered in this configuration for the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. I do not know who the coachbuilder was, if not Mercedes Benz.

 
This is a 1932 Packard Twin Six Sport Phaeton, dual cowl, of course. I don't know much about it except that it is a beautifully restored example. It surely must have impressed owners of lesser cars in its day. I particularly enjoyed the color combination, traditional Packard yellow over a chocolate brown, that seemed to be popular on Packard open cars.

 
This creampuff 1936 Packard V12 Sedan is owned by the same friend who owns the '23 and '48 Packards shown above in "Antiques." It doesn't get the attention of the open cars but this one is every bit as carefully restored. I would be proud to drive it in any company.

 
The only way to describe this 1938 Packard Formal Town Car is "incredible." It shares its owner with the Mercedes 540K above. This car has won its class at Pebble Beach, not once but two times.

 
It is an obvious eye catcher from any distance. Close examination, and I mean really close, gives one a good idea of why it has won twice. There simply are no flaws. The camera, at least not mine, just cannot reveal the level of perfection of this car. The owner intends to take it back to Pebble Beach in a couple of years. I would be surprised if it did not win again.

 
The last photo I have of the Classics is this 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith. It just wouldn't be right to not include that highly recognizeable grille.
 
There were several more interesting and worthy cars in the category, including a 1932 Chrysler Imperial Sport Phaeton, another Rolls, another Packard Twin Six and a La Salle. But, I am running out of room.