This was the first year for the Mogulaire Concours d'Elegance and I suspect that it may be the last year. The general admission fee was $100 or 69 Euros, 61 pounds sterling, 11,505 Icelandic Krona, (I have friends visiting from Iceland this week).
The setting was excellent at the Wente Vineyards golf course in Livermore, California, the weather was great and there were a few good cars.
1973 Maserati Bora
However, there were not enough excellent cars to justify the price of admission. The admission was to include an event poster, which was not available, but they did give us a nice bag, like a gym bag. But if I want a gym bag I will go buy one. I do not want to pay for one through my admission ticket.
1952 Jaguar XK 120M
1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster
1966 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
The excellent location was not well managed either. The American cars were about 500 yards away from the main show ground which was just outside the clubhouse where the European cars were located.
The American cars were so far away that they used golf cart shuttles to drive attendees around.
This was all completely unnecessary because there was plenty of room to assemble all of the cars at the close in location. They wasted another part of the $100 admission ticket paying for golf carts and drivers.
1962 Mercedes 190 SL - with plenty of maneuvering room
1967 Fiat Dino Spider
1980 Maserati Merak SS
I suspect that many potential attendees did not attend because of the very high price. I also suspect that some attendees did not make it all the way out to the America car location.
1971 Maserati Ghibli SS
1954 Kaiser Darrin
1969 Ford 429 Boss Mustang
I had the misfortune of participating in the Mogulaire Concours d’Elegance at Wente Vinyards in Livermore on Saturday, July 23, 2011. Given the horrible execution and pathetic public turnout, I suspect (and hope) that this will be the last Mogulaire show. It was simply the worst car show I have ever attended.
ReplyDeleteRelative to the many other events we have attended over the years, there were minimal vintage cars displayed. Despite a lot of arrogant, boastful and pretentious hype in the press (..."an event to rival Pebble Beach"...only the "Creme de la Creme", etc.) attendance was abysmal due to the outrageous ticket cost ($100 admittance, $250 VIP).
The organization was amateurish and no one seemed to be in control or attending to the details. It was total confusion: no greeters, no complementary items for participants, no registration on entry, a one hour delay in taking the field, no mapping of car placements. The breakfast ran out before most participants could eat, lousy exhibitor badges were provided without proper lanyards, lunch didn't arrive until 3:00 p.m. - long after people were forced to pay exorbitant prices in the restaurant, a pathetic and grammatically embarrassing program brochure, no trophies of any kind for any of the winning cars (including best of classes and best of show), no public attendance at the awards ceremony which was nearly two hours late and marred by a humiliating error in which the wrong car was announced for "The Mogulaire Award". Cars were spaced so far apart on the golf course that half of the cars were not viewed as they were positioned 1/4 mile away on the golf course. Participants and attendees alike were unanimously disgusted with the event. Those who went to the trouble of preparing, transporting, and displaying their cars felt insulted, and no one we spoke to had any intentions of participating again. Most fled the grounds early and with gusto.
On the plus side: Some free bottled water from a cancer charity, professional and fair judging by familiar SCCA judges, an attractive venue (albeit very pricey and very poorly utilized), convenient parking that allowed rapid escape.
Several of the participants approached the organizer, Mr. Eric Pestana, to express their concerns and to draw comparisons with competently executed shows such as Palo Alto, Hillsborough and Ironstone. Mr. Pestana (who is clearly not a car person and apparently still delusional regarding the ostentatious grandeur of his failed event) condescendingly and glibbly dismissed the constructive criticisms with lame excuses based on the “exclusivity” of show.
The highly touted, ostentatious, overpriced, and amateurishly orchestrated “Mogulaire Concours d’Elegance” was a total disaster.
Ouch... Glad I didn't go.
ReplyDelete$250 vip?? What did they get for the extra $150? Perhaps a bottle of water and a seat at the picnic table with the velvet rope? Did they get an extra one of those cheap gym bags? Or maybe they were given a special tour of a brain with an undiagnosed mental illness that has gone untreated for so long that it believes every one of the delusions of grandeur it creates even in the face of overwhelmingly obvious evidence of utter failure
ReplyDeleteThank you for the perspective from a participant point of view. Not pleasant either.
ReplyDeleteI attended as well- showing a car and was disappointed for the same issues as post #2 above. I didn't mind the $100 if the show had lived up to expectations.
ReplyDeleteI thought the turnout would be light at that price having regularly attended the other bay area events. Perhaps everyone but Eric figured that out.
I got home and reviewed my invitation letter which indicated that "we are catering to a select few." I then relaxed after realizing that his lofty goals were indeed accomplished!
Looks like the website has been taken down now.
The weather was good and hopefully the charities made a couple of bucks..
Thank you for the comment. It is interesting that the web site is no longer up. Maybe the organizer decided that this event will not happen again, which would be a wise decision.
ReplyDeleteThe Hillsborough Concours is coming up on the 28th. We are featuring Bugatti and Packard along with 25 other classes including a special display of La Carrera Panamericana cars from the Bay Area. Admission is $25 and 100% of net proceeds go to charity. It is the longest continually running Concours in the world and I bet that you will feel it is by far the best show around. OF course I am a bit biased. Tell your friends!
ReplyDeleteRob,
ReplyDeleteI have attended for many years and I agree that Hillsborough is a great event. My Bizzarrini GT 5300 and I will be there again this year.
I was able to attend for free as I had lunch at the restaurant and since no one was wearing badges no one appeared to check. Interestingly, not only is their website gone, but so is their Facebook page, Eric Pestana's page, and this Twitter account...this guy is deep underground with no apologies.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.
ReplyDeleteI guess it was all a scam to pump up the last event attendance. So you start by offering "free" events. All this with the hopes that everyone will attend the grand finally event, Mogulaire Concours d’Elegance at Wente Vinyards. So keep all your operating costs down to a minimum and maximize your profit margins! As bad as the event was, Eric Pestana made some money on this final event.
ReplyDelete