More than 100 diminutive classics brought the town of Pacific Grove to a standstill on 12 August as the annual Small Cars Show kicked off for the seventh time – though in the land of 19-foot Lincoln Continentals, the description was stretched to include many British classics.
A strong turnout of BMW Isetta 600s proved a real hit with the crowd which, along with the classics, packed several hundred yards of the town's main street, creating a festival atmosphere.
They were joined by around a dozen Minis, a handful of Fiat 500s and a smattering of Morris Minors.
There were also a number of interesting oddballs, including a small yet perfectly formed Toyota S800, a 200cc home-built roadster and even a powered recreation of the Road & Track Cyclops!
One of the most open and inclusive events of Pebble Beach Car Week attracted several cars with fantastic stories – Brent and Jake Pullan's 1970 Ford Cortina 1600GT being a prime example.
The father and son team had driven to the show from their home in the San Francisco Bay Area, but came close to missing the event altogether: "We only finished the car three months ago, and in that time we've covered around 1000 miles," said Brent. "We've dropped it a bit and uprated the suspension, so it handles really well."
The pair rescued the car from the scrap man in 2011, where it had been stored in a driveway since 1997. "It had windows missing and was in a sorry state," said Jake, who learned to weld during the restoration. "We did all the work ourselves apart from the paint," he said proudly.
Mark Aldrich's Metropolitan also presented well, drawing admiring glances throughout the day. Unlike the Pullans, he has owned his car for more than 30 years: "I owned Nashes and Ramblers when I was younger, so I wanted something similar as I got older," he said. "My daughter used to drive it to high school, and it got picked up and moved by the football team on a number of occasions! It wasn't quite so clean back then."
Since the, Mark has invested countless hours in returning the car to show condition. "The Metropolitan Pitstop in Los Angeles has done a great deal of work on the car – it really is an invaluable resource."
The event also attracted David Kelch, who drove down from Los Gatos in his 1968 Triumph Spitfire. The car has been in his family since his father bought it new off a forecourt in '68, and – eventually – passed it on to his son. "My dad gave me the car several times, but kept taking it back! He finally signed the title over to me 10 years ago. This is actually the first time it's ever been put on display at a car show!"
Greg MacLeman is a contributor to and former Features Editor of Classic & Sports Car, and drives a restored and uprated 1974 Triumph 2500TC