September 27th & 28th, 2008 TheConcours History du Soleil, of literally Concours translated dufrom Soleil the French, means “competition in the sun” while “concours” today typically denotes “cars.” So a more modern, translation would denote “car competition/show in the sun.” Concours du Soleil grew out of an informal gathering of the New Mexico Viper Club to view cars at the former Roehl residence at Washington and Constitution in Albuquerque. This first started in 1997 and each year a few more cars appeared. In 2004, two events coincided which resulted in the creation of Concours Du Soleil: 1. The Roehls moved to new quarters, with more space to show and view fine automobiles; 2. During the annual Concours d’Elegance, held in Pebble Beach that year, Steve Maestas suggested to Jerry Roehl that “we should do a car show like this for charity.” The group of guys, who were at Pebble Beach that weekend, talked more about it and had a “dry-run” car show in September of 2004. They invited Carrie Tingley Hospital as a potential benefactor to determine a level of interest to continue. Those friends and others who came that day uniformly thought it was a good idea to plan something on a bigger scale. The following year, September, 2005, was the first Concours du Soleil, sponsored by Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation, the sole charitable benefactor. After the 2006 event, sponsorship was changed to the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The individuals named above who started Concours Du Soleil have formed the Cinco Amigos Fund of the Albuquerque Community Foundation and it, together with other local charitable and educational endeavors, benefit each year from the event. Due to the generosity of this year’s sponsors, it is anticipated that Concours du Soleil will contribute more than $100,000 to charity in 2008. 2008 Featured Automobile: 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL One of the mostGullwing iconic of all sportsCoupe cars ever built is the Mercedes Gullwing. Its fascination for persons of all ages stems from its doors, which lift upwards, and give the appearance of a gull’s wings when open. Mercedes-Benz had been known for building extremely fast competition cars in the 1930s. Known as “Silver Arrows” (Ger- many’s international racing color is grey or silver), these cars were nearly unbeatable. By 1938-1939, as the Third Reich forged ahead with its war plans, production of war machin- ery became more important than “fiddling with race cars” and Hitler put a stop to Mercedes’ racing department. Mercedes returned to postwar racing competition in 1952 with a vengeance, fielding two of its new 300 SL (W194) sports cars in the Mille Miglia, which was then, along with the 24 Hours of LeMans, one of the most significant competitions for closed wheel cars (as opposed to open-wheel grand prix cars) in the world. The closed-wheel cars that competed in these events internationally during the 1950s and 1960s, were then, and still are, the most beautiful and, as it properly turns out, the most collectible, cars ever made. The two 300 SLs entered in the 1952 Mille Miglia finished 2nd and 4th overall. Encouraged by this start, Mercedes entered La Carrera Panamericana, the challenging endurance race across Mexico, and won. Up to this point, the 300 SLs were raced in open form, that is, they were roadsters/convertibles. For the 24 Hours of LeMans, with its Mulsanne long straightaway, a closed body (hardtop) was preferred as being more aerodynamic. The 300 SL had high sills due to the construction of its multi-tubular spaceframe chassis. Access was not a problem in the open cars but the coupe bodywork required innovative thinking. So the car was designed so that its doors would open upward with the high, wide sill in place. In its first race in gullwing form, a 300 SL won the 1952 24 Hours of LeMans and a legend was born. The produc- tion gullwing retained most features of the famous race car, in- cluding the lightweight a l u m i n u m b o d y w o r k and space- frame chassis. Its engine, a 3-liter overhead-camshaft inline-6 cylinder was canted at 45 degrees to achieve a low hood line. The engine produced 215 horsepower and was mated to a 4-speed, all-synchromesh gearbox. The name “300 SL” derives from the size of the engine, 3 liters (“300”) and the special lightweight body, Super Leicht (“SL”) in German. The gullwing had many innovative engineering features in addition to its famous doors. It had Bosch mechanical fuel injection, independent suspension on all wheels and synchro- mesh in all 4 gears. By the standards of its day, the gullwing was very fast. Its 0 to 60 mph time was 7.4 seconds and its top end speed was 140 mph. According to Road & Track magazine, the gullwing was “far beyond our wildest expectations. “In fact, we can state unequivocally that in our opinion the 300 SL coupe is the ultimate in an all-around sports car. It combines more desirable features in one streamlined package than we ever imagined or hoped would be possible?” The particular 300 SL gullwing coupe featured in this year’s Con- cours du Soleil has been owned by local Albuquerque collec- tor, Bob Friggens, for 25 years. It is unique in that it not only still maintains its original upholstery and interior but, with the exception of a paint respray to the body and rechroming of the bumpers, the car is entirely original. It has the most desirable option available then for a gullwing: rudge wheels with central locking, which were original to this car, not a f t e r - m a r k e t acquisitions. Bob Friggens is known as a me- ticulous, inno- vative mechani- cal engineer. Like its owner would require, this gullwing has not only received the best of care but particular attention has been paid to treatment of its fuel injection system to prevent a known problem of the oil thinning at low speed. Friggens has also fine-tuned the jetting of the injectors for this altitude. Friggens used to drive his gullwing some on business trips and never encountered any problems. He recalls going to Amarillo, driving 85 mph and averaging 28 miles per gallon. The Garage #1 1934 Packard Dual-Cowl Phaeton Only two ever made. This is the ONLY surviving one. This car won Best in Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1963. Owner: Bob Friggens #2 1956 Mercedes Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” Coupe Please see article on this year’s 2008 Featured Cars. Owner: Bob Friggens #3 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina One of only 40 Cabriolet Series 1 ever made. This car was the showcar at the Geneva Salon in 1958. Only one with this type of rear bumper. Owner: Jerry Roehl The Garage One of only 235 made. #4 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Shortnose Won the 2003 Ferrari Club of America Best in Show. Motor Trend Classic named this car as #3 in their list of the “10 Greatest Ferrari’s of all time.” Owner: Jerry Roehl #5 1990 Ferrari F-40 One of only 202 USA models. 0-60 in 3.6 seconds 525 HP Weighs 2400 lbs Top speed: 208 mph Owner: Jerry Roehl #6 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder Conversion 380 HP Top speed 180 mph Owner: JC Peterson The Garage #7 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano 602 HP F1 Transmission Top speed: 202 mph Owner: JC Peterson #8 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia Only one of 400 made. This car can beat the Enzo time around the Fiorano. Owner: Steve Coe #9 1965 Shelby GT 350 Owner: Redline Motors Ltd. The Garage #10 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra Origina Cobra, not a replica. One of 348 made with a 427 engine. 0 to 100 and back to 0 in 13 seconds. Owner: Redline Motors Ltd. #11 1999 Lamborghini Diablo Roadster Owner: Mickey Hollingshead #12 2005 Ford GT40 900 HP Top speed: 220 mph Owner: Kenric Garcia Specialty #1 1927 Ford Model T Roadster Owner: Danny and Victoria Deaver #2 1934 Terraplane Owner: Mark Barrow #3 1967 Amphicar German Only 3,800 made Owner: Curt Richter Specialty #4 1978 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II Owner: Mickey Hollingshead #5 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II Owner: Wendell Jones Local Albuquerque car #6 1984 Rolls Royce Silver Spur purchased by Wyatt McGin- nis (School of Driving) in 1984 from Perfection Rolls Royce of Albuquerque. McGinnis would treat his students to a spin in the Silver Spur upon successful graduation from his driving school. Owner: Kevin Cooper Specialty #7 2007 Bentley Continental GT Owner: Ted Jorgensen #8 1969 Mercedes-Benz Grand 600 Short Wheel Base Limousine Limo #1365 Sunday Appearance Only Owner: Karl Schreiner Only 2,677 600s were assembled in 18 years from August 1963 to June 1981. A special feature of this 600, making it one of only fifty 600 limos, is the partition divider. This 600 was part of the Moroccan Royalty Fleet until it was shipped to the United States in 1971. competition #1 1957 Jaguar D-Type Replica Owner: Jerry Roehl #2 1965 Lotus Elan, Series 2 Owner: Jerry Roehl Vintage Racing car. Weighs 1,400 pounds. 175 HP engine. competition #3 1966 Beach/Lotus twin cam Sports Racer Owner: Janice and Bill Swope competition #4 1994 Dodge Viper R/T 10 First one delivered and sold in NM in October 1993. 400 HP 0-60 in 4.6 seconds Owner: Jerry Roehl #5 1996 Dodge Viper GTS 450 HP.