Mark your calendar for Sunday, May 17th.  The first Marin-Sonoma Concours d’Elegance will be presented at the Marin Civic Center.  This one has the makings of a very significant show.  Organized by the tireless Charlie Goodman, it will benefit Hospice-By-The-Bay of Marin.

On Saturday the 16th of May, we’ll conduct a pre-Concours drive through scenic Western Marin, with an elegant picnic lunch from Il Davide of San Rafael included.  Go to www.marinsonomaconcours.org if you’d like to join us.

Geneva Motor Show
In spite of the well-known troubles in the auto industry, there’s still plenty of interest in exciting cars.

Each year the Geneva Auto Show is a gathering place for the world’s industry leaders.  Because Switzerland produces no cars, it’s seen as neutral ground, where all brands meet on an equal footing.

Infiniti Essence Coupe

This year Infiniti (from Nissan) stole the show with their Essence design concept.  Infiniti, which lagged Lexus when both were introduced twenty years ago in the U.S., is making up for lost time.  Many experts see Infiniti as BMW’s biggest challenger.  In a recent British road test comparison, the Infiniti G37 bested facing models from Audi and BMW!

The Infiniti brand is now being sold in Europe and in Russia.  So success in Geneva is noticed worldwide.  The bold, coherent design, plus a 592 horsepower gasoline-electric power source, and a Louis Vuitton custom-fitted luggage set, enable the Nissan Essence to earn the label “show stopper.”

Lagonda SUV

The loser of the show was an ungainly looking SUV from Aston Martin.  They called it Lagonda, reviving a fine old British name.  As beautiful as Aston Martins are, this Lagonda is hard to understand.  Perhaps it will meet the demands of emerging markets in Russia and Asia.

Rolls Royce 200EX

We once reported on the Rolls Royce Phantom in this column.  You don’t see many of those in San Francisco because they are really a bit pretentious – a difficult fit in our market.

But a new slightly smaller and gentler looking Rolls Royce was shown at Geneva.  The 200EX isn’t so much cheaper – that’s not the intention.  But it’s more of an owner rather than a chauffer-driven car.  It’s handsome but less imposing than the Phantom.  Still a V-12 powered car, it won’t delight the greenies.  But it will find a market worldwide.

Concours d’Elegance

Concours d'Elegance Winners

The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, in Florida, is one of America’s very top car shows.  Winners are selected in two categories, Elegance and Sport.  The Elegance winner this year was a 1931 Voisin C-20 Demi-Berline, an extremely rare example of an obscure French make.  The Sport trophy went to a 1923 Miller 122 Supercharged race car.  Harry Miller was a Los Angeles race car constructor who was widely admired – and copied.  One of those inspired by Miller was Ettore Bugatti, in France, a fact that makes some Bugatti fans uncomfortable.

Buick Blackhawk

Steve Pasteiner's Buick Blackhawk

On display at Amelia Island, but not entered for judging, was the Buick Blackhawk.

A few years ago, the people at Buick wanted to create a special design project that distilled the essence of Buick.

Several outside designers were interviewed.  My friend, Steve Pasteiner, an independent designer in the Detroit area, was chosen to build the car he had designed.

On a modern V-8 Buick chassis, it’s a retractable hardtop convertible that uses elements of design from Buicks of 1939 and 1940, but manages to look quite contemporary.

So it’s practical, but also a show-stealer.  Pasteiner might build you one for about the cost of an entry-level Ferrari.

Collector Car Auction
The auction house RM conducts a sale during the Amelia Island weekend.  In spite of some economic nervousness, the Florida sale produced good results.

Some examples:
A beautifully restored 1911 Ford Model ‘T’ roadster brought $33,000.  The Model ‘T’ Ford was selected a few years ago as the most important car ever, because it put the world on wheels.

A sign of calm in the market for older Ferraris was the sale of a very nice 1964 33GT 2+2 for $82,500.  This was interesting in light of the sale, six lots later, of a 1949 Cadillac convertible for $99,000.

But a choicer Ferrari model, a 1959 250GT California Spider, made $1,975,000.  Originally one of the most beautiful open cars ever made, these cars are civilized and exciting to drive too.

But before you get all excited about the value of the family heirloom car in your garage, you must remember that all these auction cars are like new – or better.  Often, the value of a fine old car barely covers the cost of a comprehensive restoration.

So finding and restoring a car is no way to get rich.

Red Light Cameras
There’s been a lot of talk in San Francisco about red light “runners” and red light cameras.

The track record of other jurisdictions is instructive. 

An Australian company, Redflex, is a major supplier of these cameras.  They typically make a deal with a city in return for a cut of the revenues.  When cities agree to shorten the duration of the yellow lights – and a number have been caught doing just that – revenues soar.

Accidents also increase, especially rear-enders.  Reports of these accidents have often been downplayed.

Here in California, courts that have found red light programs that violate the applicable laws have agreed to have their decisions unpublished, in order to prevent mass refunds.

In Georgia, a new law that mandates a one-second increase in yellow light duration caused revenues to plummet.  There’s also evidence that requiring a reasonable duration for yellow lights decreases accidents.  The Georgia law caused an 80% drop in violations in one major town.

In Arizona, it might be hard to clean-up the red light camera scandal because there’s a 10% surcharge on all traffic violations to create a “Citizens Clean Election Fund.”  In 2008, $7 million was disbursed to lawmakers and candidates from this Fund.

If you’d like to know more, visit www.TheNewspaper.com.  You may be shocked to learn how much deceit there is in “law enforcement.”  And when our city proposes red light cameras, you’ll know it’s all about money, and zero about safety.