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Max and the Motorcars

Max in Car Seat

We call Max’s seat the “Navigator Station.”

Since 1950, the Central California coast community of Pebble Beach has hosted its Concours d’Elegance, an automotive event generally considered among the most prestigious of its kind.

The Concours is nominally a charitable event it is equally as much a social gathering for the uber-wealthy. Not that any of them use Uber.

Tickets start at $450 for general admission and motor on up to $3,000/ticket for best access. As my sainted Grandmother would say, “That’s a lot of nickels for a car show, Tommy.”

 

 

Bugatti-Centodieci

If we could afford a $9 million car, Max and I would take it to the McDonald’s drive-through and then eat our fries in the front seat. Just because we could. Neener-neener.

The iconic brands and marques are all well-represented. Of course you’ve got your common or garden variety of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys and Rolls Royce.

This year Bugatti, celebrating its 110-year anniversary, showed off the new Centodieci which you could take home for just under $9 million.

MC and Max at Green Rolls

Max admired the old Rolls but the AJF was not impressed (whew!)

Equally alluring to car fanciers are the many classic and restored vehicles brought to the show grounds by avid enthusiasts and collectors who often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars acquiring, restoring and maintaining their elegant machines.

Hispano Suiza

This Hispano-Suiza was one of my favorites. Looks like a wasp.

While we were visiting Crescent City in far northern California we were surprised to encounter a convoy of classic car owners driving their fabulous motorcars to this year’s Concours.

The group of perhaps 25 vehicles took a break at the hotel where we were staying and we were able to join them for an hour or so before they had to depart on their 475 mile / 764 kilometer trek to Pebble Beach.

We 3 with Fiat

This Fiat dates to (I think) 1904. It had a chain drive for each rear wheel. Classic Fix-It-Again-Tony design.

We’re not classic car aficionados by any means but we admired the workmanship and design of the old cars and the effort that the current owners put into restoring them.

Packard Hood Ornatment

Packard hood ornament. They knew how to make impressive hood ornaments. Unfortunately, Packard went the way of the buffalo in 1956.

I offered to trade pink slips and exchange our mighty Mazda for the 1934 Rolls but, no joy.

That’s probably for the best since there would be no place to mount Max’s car seat and the spoiled little Malt refuses to go anywhere without air conditioning and music.

Old Rolls

This car would still be around if they had not put the steering wheel on the wrong side. :snorf:

Categories: The Dog From Rancho Cucaracha

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47 replies ›

    • First, the empty space between the seats has to be wide enough to fit the size of the dog butt plus basket. I built a frame that bolts to the center console and supports a wooden platform to which is attached the plastic basket using a metal plate I added on the bottom of the basket. The basket itself came from an office supply store and just happened to be the right width for the available space and aforementioned dog butt. Max’s cushion is simply a small dog bed bought at the pet shop and I then used thin electrical ties to secure its perimeter to the basket. (Every so often I snip the ties and throw the bed into the washer – dogs stink, ya know.) It’s not high tech or fancy but it has carried the pup 50,000 miles or so. Max has developed incredible balancing skills. leans into curves and knows to lie flat when things get bumpy.

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  2. You can tell the little tyrant that he can have air conditioning by leaving the top down and that you will provide the music by way of a singalong….well, you can tell him, but I think you’ll be keeping the Mazda.
    Super vehicles, even though I’m not a car buff.

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    • You probably saw the photo of the Rolls with the steering wheel on the right and thought it looked proper. It was fun to watch the caravan organize for departure and then convoy down the freeway. It was like a precise military exercise as each car was called out and placed in the line up. There were two large box trucks that followed the procession and provided support which I imagine was frequently needed although those oldsters can really move, unlike most of us on this silly dog blog, cough, cough, cough. 👿

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  3. I’m not a car buff, but like you and Max, I appreciate and admire the workmanship in these old beauties.

    Max’s Navigator Station couldn’t be more perfect or practical!! Love it. Alas, my sweet Murphy would never sit in a Navigator Station. She’s our first hairy kid to 😡hate😡 the car. ☹️ She survives the short trip to the veterinarian by pacing back and forth in the back seat and drooling ropes and gracing (slobbering) the back windows with nose art.

    Too bad we “oldsters” can’t maneuver like those old cars any more! But in our own unique way, each of us is a classic. All we need is a spiffy hood ornament!!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • Max’s Navvie Station works only because he’s a runt. A big doggo like Murphy would be waaay too much to handle stuck in the middle especially on a winding road! Sometimes we wish Max would accept being in the rear seat but he refuses. He just has to be between us. He does the same thing at home where he sits on a small table between us each night and then sleeps in the middle of the bed. He usually sleeps on freeway driving but wakes up when we turn to a surface road.

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    • Big fins, eh? Cue stupid fish joke…Yeah, those huge old Royce-mobiles were impressive. They used such fine materials: everything was wood, leather, metal and such. Pre-plastic and the craftsmanship was meticulous. The AJF is not a car person; in fact, she may be anti-car. Not on any political, social or philosophical grounds. Her opinion is that a car is supposed to go from point A to B. If it does that, good car. If not, junk car. Looks don’t matter much, only reliability. That’s probably her criteria in husbands too but I’m afraid to ask.

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  7. When cars had style. I think wasps are the devil, but a car that looks like a wasp is pretty cool. Too bad they don’t use hood ornaments anymore. I mean cool ones. I guess people are so mean now that they would snap them off. I did see in one of the Seinfeld Comedians in Cars episodes, where if someone tried to grab the ornament, it would recede into the hood and disappear.

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    • I think Bentleys and Rolls Royce hood ornaments retract to deter thieves and keep innocent pedestrians from being speared. Not many car brands offer ornaments any more. They were originally used to make an ugly mechanical feature (the radiator cap) more visually appealing. Then they became artistic statements. That graceful Jaguar leaping cat was one of the last in general circulation, I think.

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  11. Seeing cars and spending time at car shows is fun…especially getting to see vintage cars!
    All of those motorcars you photographed are cool…but Max is even cooler! You go, Max-man! 😉
    LICKS and HUGS from Coop-Man and his mom!!! 😀 😛

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  12. Hi Max, my husband owns a bunch of vintage cars. One is a 1956 t-bird, convertible, color turquoise. Cute dogs make cool 😎 cars to other drivers.

    Max, I have a new puppy 🐶 his name is Mr. Buttons. Send me a personal e-mail and I’ll send you a picture. Hope you are doing well, great to hear from you.
    Buttons & Audrey Tavel

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    • OK, now you’re required to produce a photo of the finished product which we shall refer to as the “CCDP.” Your hubster will probably come up with an improved version and Max and I are always on the lookout for enhancements to the car seat. Max is talking about me adding a massage and heating function to his mobile throne but the odds are against that happening in my lifetime.

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  15. I do have a spare copy of James Dobson’s: “The Strong-Willed Child” if you’d like it. Max seems to fit the bill and it’s time I read it. I’d establishged my pair were strong willing when they were toddlers but never made it past the first chapter. Silly Mum.
    Loved these cars and passing it over to Geoff to drool over.
    Best wishes,
    Ro

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All comments are welcome, so speak! Speak! Good dog.

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