The first day: fog in the morning succeeded by hot weather for all, and mechanical gremlins for some.
The Melee starts from San Francisco early Saturday morning.
This year, we shared the parking lot with people attending another event at the PLH.
The interesting looking vehicles are Melee-istas, or belong to one of the number of Melee well-wishers and seers-off that come down. Like the cool VW in the background.
Melee Start coffee was gratiously provided by Farley's coffeehouse. THANKS!
Several nicely turned out 356s turned out to see the Melee off.
A very cool 1951 Kaiser Special. Alas, it ran into some mechanical issues on Day One and we didn't see it again.
We should have just followed Pete and gotten reaction shots.
The very cool Kaiser Special of Duff Ryan.
I had intended to drool over this at the end of the first day's route, since I didn't have enough time at the start.
But it was not to be. This should be a valuable lesson for me ("carpe diem", or in this instance, "Carpe Kaiser").
550 rep
Candy scopes out the route while I wait for the pack to arrive.
Margaret Ann and Graham in the superb 1963 Mercury Meteor S-33. You need sunglasses to look at the dashboard on that car.
Alex Vendler's 1967 Opel Kadett Rallye.
Carl and Gwen Ermert's very clean 1968 Mercedes 250SL, a 2001 Melee veteran.
1972 wasn't a bad year. Davin and Ash in Davin's 1972 2002 (w. 2.5 liter 6 transplant) followed by Elizabeth and Jordan in Elizabeth's 1972 Toyota KE-20.
More from 1972: Deb and Mark in their Bavaria.
The very blue 1965 Volvo PV544 of Deb Folsom and Harley Welch, followed by 1970 Mustang Fastback of Jeff Dutto and Seth Garrigan.
Americana. The 1974 Dodge Monaco (aka Bluesmobile) of J.T. Ford and Stacey Sutton (aka Elwood and Jake), followed by the '67 Plymouth Barracuda of Max Heim and Gary Moshofsky (aka Max and Gary).
Michele and Dave's great 1965 Guilia TI.
Allons enfants de la (le?) Caravelle...Clark and Erna Rodgers in their unrestored 1966 Renault.
"The British are coming! The British are coming!" Pete Holbrook and Lee Cannam show the colonials how to do it in Pete's '75 MGB, a last minute substitute for his Volkaro.
Christine Kiesling and Jeff Glenn in the 1965 Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale, with special ditch-modified bodywork.
Josh Prentiss's TR6.
Modern BMW following Marion Pepper and Norm Walters in the 1966 2000CS, probably hoping that some of the coolness would rub off.
And another from 1966: the cool silver grey Mercedes 230 SL of Paul Sachelari and Janelle Jones.
Blurry, but gives you the idea about what the scenery is like in the hills around Napa.
Unfortunately, both the red SL and the yellow/black 914 succumbed shortly to mechanical ailments.
Lunch stop in Clearlake.
One of the themes for this year's Melee turned out to be exhaust issues.
The red SL succumbed to cooling problems and was a DNF.
Jeff Dutto and Seth Garrigan were having a good run in their 1970 Mustang.
Jake and Elwood peel out...
In Stoneyford, JT waters the Monaco. Bags of ice were also employed on the trip to hold fusion at bay.
First day's destination. The Melee takes over the place each year.
Day One ending mileage includes our trip down to the start from Benicia, about 30 miles, so the first day was about 270 miles. Fun the whole way...
The all important arrival of Craig Howell and his Mini bar.
John Johnson's Porsche Speedster Rep had a minor disagreement with a guardrail en route. John's looking for an eyepatch of his own, to complete the look.
Alex Vendler's 1967 Opel Kadett Rallye, with 1.1 liter motor. The car had been "resting" for around 27 years before Alex acquired and revived it.
Many, many pixels were consumed during the course of the event.
Mitch Parella's 1972 Porsche 914, with 2.7 liter motor.
Max Heim's '67 Barracuda
1972 Triumph Spitfire, with retrofitted 1500cc engine: $300.
Rattlecan paint for the doors: $8.95.
Making it to the Lamplighter at the end of Day One: PRICELESS
The Alfa Sprint Speciale arrives, after having spent several hours assisting the Kaiser Special.
