It was an outstanding turnout; not only for our Pagoda group members and their cars, but for the spectators who came to this charming village in central North Carolina and braved the rain which was, at times, a bit of a downpour. But as the colorful master of ceremonies was saying, "the cars won't melt" and umbrellas were plentiful.
There were seven or so in the judged class, and every one of them was amazing. As a veteran of judged Concours d'Elegance dating back two decades I can say with honesty the quality of the cars on display has never been better, the attention to detail was commendable. We had everything represented, 230SL, 250SL, 280SL, some standard and some automatic and even 5-speed. Two had roof racks, some were with hard top and others with the soft top up. The color palette was a great example of the variety that MB used to offer in years gone by.
French rules were in place, and Ray Schlicht came away with "Best in Class" for his 250SL California Coupe 5-speed. Stephen Brooks earned the second class award for his 1971 in a beautiful blue. Had this been a points competition, the way the MBCA does it, it would have been an exceedingly difficult judging down to the nitty gritty.
