The market for Neoclassic cars has always been a small corner of the automotive market, going back to the industry’s roots in the 1970s. However, that did not deter former employees of Excalibur from starting their own company in the 1990s.
The Besasie Auto Company, Inc. (or BACI) was formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the purpose of producing a neoclassic automobile. The company produced a total of 14 vehicles between 1993 and 1996. I believe all of them were based on the Ford Thunderbird platform. Most of them used the 5.0L V8 engine with an automatic transmission, though I did find one listing online which said the car had the 4.6L V8, which debuted in 1994. While I could not find much on the history of the company, I suspect they ran into financial troubles. If you know any details about the Besasie family, please post a comment below!
I saw this particular BACI roadster for sale at a collector car dealership in Arizona. One thing that sets this car apart from other neoclassics is the angle of the front grille. While most neoclassics use a waterfall-style grille that is perpendicular to the ground, the BACI’s grille is sharply angled and sort of resembles a 1934 Ford, though less pointy at the bottom.
Last year I didn’t go to SEMA due to a combination of work constraints and a general sense of exhaustion with the pageantry of trade shows and Vegas in general. This year I plan on going back, but I’m going to be prepared mentally for it all. I think these are helpful enough that I’d like to share them as an addition to the typical “Rules of SEMA” articles you see for first timers. This is more for fifth, sixth and seventh timers.
I’m going to try to avoid the obvious things like “wear comfortable shoes” and “be sure to pack snacks”. These are amateur rules and I’d like to focus more on things to keep someone from slipping into a malaise when you find yourself away from home carrying phones, backpacks and cameras and also trying to dig out the morsels of interesting new things hidden between drab booths of everything that has been done before. The only burn-outs I expect to experience are going to be where the rubber meets the road. Continue reading →
Automotive enthusiasts are getting ready for what is shaping up to be another exciting year in Monterey, California. Monterey Car Week traces its origins back to 1950 when a small car show and road race event were held on the peninsula. Here we are 69 years later, and this small, one-day gathering of collector car enthusiasts has grown into a week-long celebration of collector vehicles and the automotive lifestyle.
Monterey Car Week today is a multi-day spectacle of many different events including a tour d’elegance, vintage racing at Laguna Seca, multiple collector car auction events, road rallies, and of course, the Pebble Beach Concours itself, where one car takes home the prestigious “Best of Show” award each year.
Here’s a quick preview of what you can expect to see if you are planning to attend Monterey Car Week in 2019.
The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering
The Featured Themes for 2019
100 Years of Bentley Motors
25th Anniversary of the McLaren F1
A Tribute to the Electric Car Movement
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the signature event of Monterey Car Week. Now in its 69th year, the competition will feature the usual classes of pre-war, post-war, unrestored, and other collector automobiles. However, there will be four special classes this year:
Bentley Centennial
Zagato Centennial
Bugatti Race & Touring Cars
Historic Hot Rod “Cover Cars”
The 100th anniversary of both Bentley and of Italian design house Zagato are sure to draw out the rarely seen and unique examples from both of these manufacturers. The Hot Rod “Cover Cars” class will offer some excitement for fans of American cars, similar to the American Dream Cars of the 1960s special class that was seen at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours event.
Nevada has a reputation for many things: casino gambling, entertainment, and tourism. But it’s also becoming a hotspot for the collector car world.
Barrett-Jackson has hosted a collector car auction in Las Vegas every year since 2008. The next auction is coming up October 3-5, 2019 at Mandalay Bay. Now in it’s 11th year, the Las Vegas auction features plenty of classic American and European cars to add to your collection.
Auction events like Barrett-Jackson are all about excitement and suspense, which is great fun. But what if you want a more relaxed, formal atmosphere to enjoy fine motorcars? Coming this October, collector car enthusiasts will get their chance at the inaugural Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance.
The Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance is not just a simple car show, it is a luxury lifestyle event.
Event founder Stuart Sobek is a collector car enthusiast and seasoned veteran of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for more than 30 years. According to an interview with Stuart on the Cars Yeah Podcast, his goal was to bring the prestige and excitement of the Concours environment to Las Vegas, and make it a world-class event.
The whole thing kicks off on October 25, 2019 with a dinner featuring cuisine presented by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
The following day is the Concours event on Saturday, October 26th, held on the green at the Dragon Ridge Country Club in Henderson, NV. Approximately 200 vehicles are scheduled to appear as part of the show. Check out the Las Vegas Concours on Facebook and Instagram for teaser pics of some of the cars that have already been confirmed to appear.
On Sunday morning, there is an amazing opportunity to see cars from the Concours in motion as they cruise down the Las Vegas Strip with a police escort for the inaugural Tour d’Elegance event. These classic vehicles motoring down one of the most famous roads in America should make for a very memorable sight!
And for those fortunate enough to stick around until Monday, it’s back to Dragon Ridge for a charity golf tournament – with a $500 entry fee – with proceeds benefiting the LVCE/ArtCenter Scholarship Fund.
This event has attracted some pretty big attention, with sponsors including Bellagio, Mercedes-Benz of Henderson, as well as the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Mullin Auto Museum, and the National Automobile Museum in Reno.
If you are interested in attending the Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance, tickets may be purchased online at www.lasvegasconcours.com. Be sure to check back in November for our coverage of the event!
The U.S. auto market is among the most competitive you will find anywhere in the world. Throughout the age of the automobile, there have been many cars which were notorious for their failure in the market. The Ford Edsel, Chevrolet Corvair, the Ford Pinto, the Yugo, and even the DeLorean DMC-12 became famous for their lackluster sales. These names are known to those who are not automotive enthusiasts.
But for every widely-publicized flop into the North American car market, there are many more cars which sell poorly and disappear from dealerships without anyone even noticing. Cars like the Lexus ES250, Peugeot 405, and the Chrysler TC by Maserati for example.
Today I present another one of these low-production import cars: the Mitsubishi Diamante VR-X. Continue reading →
During his lifetime, Carroll Shelby accomplished more than most men could in two lifetimes. He was a test pilot in the Army Air Corps during the second World War, he was a Formula One racing driver, and would later go on to found Shelby American in 1962. Even people who do not know much about Carroll Shelby the man know him for his creations: the Shelby Cobra, the Shelby Mustang, and of course, for his work with Ford on the Le Mans-winning GT40.
These cars have taken on a mystical aura over the decades, with originals skyrocketing in value and plenty of replica and tribute cars rushing in to fill demand in the market. Shelby’s dedication to building high performance cars has earned the brand enormous respect and prestige among enthusiasts and collectors.
But I’m willing to bet that even the most die-hard Carroll Shelby fan has probably not heard of the Shelby Lonestar before. I will admit that I hadn’t heard of it until I was standing in front of the car earlier this year in Arizona.
I am a Carroll Shelby fan, having toured the factory in Las Vegas and having attended the largest gathering of GT40s in half a century at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. But the story of the Shelby Lonestar was one I had not heard before, and it’s worth sharing.
Towards the end of his contract with Ford, Shelby American began working on the next evolution of the Shelby Cobra, a car that was referred to internally as the “Cobra Mk III.” Shelby hired British designer Len Bailey, who had designed the GT40 Mk III and GT40 Mirage.
It is no coincidence that the car resembles a GT40, using a similar tube chassis design with riveted aluminum body work. The mid-engine, two-seater is powered by a Ford 289 V8 engine producing 320 horsepower and paired with a 5-speed ZF gearbox. The Halibrand wheels and Smiths gauges round out the car’s provenance as a born racer. Shelby had intended to call the car a Cobra, but the name belonged to Ford. Shelby opted to call the car Lonestar, an homage to his home state of Texas.
This particular car was featured on the cover of Shelby’s parts catalog, on a poster, and was featured on the cover of Autoweek magazine in December of 1967. One version of the story says that U.S. safety regulations halted the car’s production; another says that Ford declined to finance production of the car. In any case, the idea of a Mark III Cobra was abandoned after this one and only prototype was built.
The car sat in storage until October 1968, when it was advertised for sale in Autoweek magazine for the sum of $15,000 (equivalent to $110,000 in 2019). It did not sell, and changed hands a few more times before being purchased by Michael and Christa Shoen in 1975.
The Shoens sought the expert help of Cobra restoration expert Geoff Howard of Danbury, CT for help with the restoration – which ended up taking nearly a decade. The completed car is 95% original, aside from a missing front bumper which had to be painstakingly re-created. The Shelby Lonestar made its debut at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in 2018 to great acclaim.
I saw the car at a few shows in February 2019, now in its new home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. This is easily the rarest car to bear the Shelby name and although it doesn’t have the racing pedigree of the GT40, this one-off is the kind of rare treat enthusiasts fawn over. It sounds as though the car has finally found the loving home and the appreciation it deserves, and will hopefully bring the owner and Shelby fans lots of joy for years to come.
The market for Neoclassic cars has always been a small corner of the automotive market, going back to the industry’s roots in the 1970s. However, that did not deter former employees of Excalibur from starting their own company in the 1990s.
