Welcome to the world's best worst car show!

Concours d'Lemons 2019

The wonderful Concours d'Lemons – 'celebrating the oddball, mundane and truly awful of the automotive world' – returned to Seaside, California, yesterday (17 August) to provide the perfect antidote to the glitz and glamour of Monterey Car Week.

The brainchild of Alan Galbraith, this show welcomes unloved cars of any era and in any condition, to compete in hilarious classes and for the coveted overall 'worst in show'. Here are just a few of our favourites...

1973 Mercury Comet

William Hughes' 'Vomit Comet' was one of two examples of this compact four-door, Mercury's version of the Ford Maverick, to turn up at 'Lemons', all the way from Salinas with a pair of suitably ironic young owners in period garb.

1974 Datsun B210 Coupé

Highlight of the 'Soul Sucking Japanese Appliance' class was Ian Babcock's impressive example of the once-ubiquitous 1.2-litre coupé, also known as the 120Y. The British climate mercifully dispatched most of the UK's B210s, but this near-mint car was a sight for sore eyes in burnt orange with its trademark hubcaps. 

1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

"It's our fourth year doing the Lemons rally," said Dan Bueshel. "This time it was San Fran to Fresno, Reno and back, about 3000 miles. We bought the Caddy a week ago from the mother of a guy who was in prison; she sold it to us to get a paint job on her house. It blew its carb on day one but a guy in the street lent us a replacement. It was knocking pretty bad, with lots of fuel in the engine oil, but it did 13 of the Sierra Nevada passes and we slept in the car most nights."

1957 Edsel Bermuda Station Wagon

The claim to fame of Ted Downer's rare, fully loaded nine-passenger Edsel was that it was used in the first series of the Donna Reed Show in 1958, before being sold on to a Ford employee who kept the car until his death in 1993. Current owner Downer captured the Bermuda in 2015. 

1960 Edsel Ranger

“My father bought it so my mother would have a car to drive me to kindergarten,” says Andrea Enthal of her third-generation Ranger. “We bought it the day Ford dropped the Edsel: he got it at dealer cost because they were being discontinued. It was $3200 list but dad got for $1700. When I turned 16 they gave it to me for my birthday. It's got 380,000 miles on it and I still use it for going to get pizza."

1950 Packard Clipper

The theme here was 1950s 'scream queen' alien B-movies, with Jim Callaghan and Asher Schlusselberg dressed as a scientist and futuristic robot. The 'pregnant elephant' Packard had been extensively modified, with revised bootlid and front and rear wings. 

1985 Grumman Olsen Kubvan

Owning just one of these VW-based delivery vans seems an odd choice, but Jason Niemi has six! "I used to drive it across the country," he explained, "it's been from New York to San Francisco six times. It's been off the road for about 10 years but I recently got it going again; a friend put in the 1800 GTI motor in 1996. I like them because they're odd and all-aluminium, so they don't rust."

1958 Lancia Flaminia Berlina

Chuck Forward's sound, original Flaminia Berlina was an early car with the inside/outside rear window wipers, drum brakes and the 2.5-litre single-carburettor V6. Hardly a 'lemon' at all, and a star of the 'needlessly complex Italian' group.

Toyota Corona 1900 Coupé

Surprisingly sound and even running (when copious amounts of Easy Start and a jump-pack were applied), this rare pillarless Toyota coupé had recently been found "buried in the desert" by the well known local celebrity Dodi Khalil, of Dodi Auto Sales in nearby Seaside.

1979 Volvo 244DL

Tony Bird's worn-out Volvo isn't quite as it seems… "No one suspects the Volvo," he smiled before opening the bonnet. "It has an LS-based V8 from a Silverado truck, with a turbo. I call the colour Swedish Racing Blue – and it's also very safe!"

1979 Volvo 244DL

"I think these had about 90bhp stock," continued Bird. "It now has about 600bhp and runs an 11 secs quarter-mile at 127mph."

Yugo Cabrio

One of just 72 built, this super-rare Yugo Cabrio – tagged by its owner 'The Ultimate Chick Magnet' – was a clear winner in the Kommunist Kars… because it was the only entrant to turn up!

AMC Gremlins

We couldn't visit Concours d'Lemons without grabbing a shot of a Gremlin, and this year there were three examples of the much-reviled compact representing a cross-section of the production run. There was even a Pacer just up the line, too…