The Most Entertaining Car Show On The Planet

The Concours d’Elegance is a car show that has been happening every August in California since 1950. Owners and enthusiasts alike gather to share their love of mostly vintage cars and the joy of driving. There’s a less talked about feature of the show, though, that has been attracting some growing attention: the Concours d’Lemons which celebrates the “un-best of the automotive world.”

From disastrously vandalized old cars to models that were probably a bad idea to build in the first place, the show within the show offers a fun and unique way to appreciate the history of the automotive industry that many would rather forget. It also offers a brilliant marketing hook for a car show that otherwise might only appeal to a smaller group of enthusiasts. This quirky corner of the experience is for everyone else, and offers a perfect reminder that sometimes the best way to add to an experience might be to offer exactly the opposite of what people came there for as a sideshow attraction.