Celebrities and Enthusiasts at ArtCenter Car Classic Show

“One of a Kind” was the theme at the 2019 Car Classic (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)

2019 Car Classic, held Sunday at the at ArtCenter hilltop campus, was the conclusion of a successful Connect Week.

By Garrett Rowlan

“One of a Kind” was this year’s theme, and the field was filled with cars of unique vintage, whether made so by corporate decision, historical accident, or personal initiative. For the connoisseurs, the result was a vast eye candy of gleaming models. Present, too, were the anomalies that this year’s exhibit featured, such as a 2006 Mercedes-Benz Fisker Tramonto, one of only 15 built, and a 1937 Talbot Lago with its teardrop bodywork.

As a result, there were plenty of students sketching and people waving cameras, so many that it was hard to avoid stepping into someone’s sightline. Leaning toward the vehicles, looking for flattering angles, the picture-takers looked as if they were snapping coveted centerfolds. The audience consisted of geeks, gearheads, academics, and fans across a spectrum of ages. A polyglot of languages could be heard in passing.

1936 Packard 120 LeBaron Convertible (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)

The cars in their profusion and variety suggested various eras of Americana, from the vintage dowagers of the Jazz Age and thirties, to the muscle cars and the GTs and Cobras celebrated in pop music anthems. and one vehicle so futuristic—an electric car, a Canco Alpha Prototype—that its technology might have included its own weather system.

Indeed , the future, the “Shock of the New,” meaning the coming the electric car, as noted by comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno, was a theme in the various open discussions that featured luminaries such as Leslie Kendall from Petersen Museum; Dave Marek, adjunct professor and ACURA Executive Creative Director; and Stewart Reed, ArtCenter’s head of Transportation. Dave Koontz, from Channel 7, is a fixture at the Car Classic. What kind of shape and form the car takes, the common assumption was that design would always be a factor in the presentation of the automobile, regardless of who or what was driving it. Also featured were motorcycles and a vehicle for shuttling astronauts across a lunar or planetary surface, reminding us that whatever form the future takes, it will always have wheels.

Jay Leno at the 2019 Car Classic (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)

Spectators at the 2019 Car Classic at ArtCenter (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)

The 2019 Car Classic at ArtCenter (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)