Motoring through McKenzie Bridge

MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Every August since 2012, a group of dedicated classic car collectors has set out from Seattle for a 1,500-mile road trip to California. The route of the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic travels through mountain passes and along the Pacific Coast. Organized by fellow collector Al McEwan, their destination is the famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance collector car show.

After an evening of entertainment courtesy of the Oom Pah band and the chicken dance, drivers departed the Timberline Lodge. They spent Thursday morning driving to McKenzie Bridge. On the way, participants said they saw firsthand the devastation caused by the 2020 wildfires that decimated areas like Detroit and the McKenzie Valley. “We stopped for gas and chatted with a few locals, learning that the area is actively rebuilding and the people are in good spirits,” McEwan said. “We then made our way up McKenzie Pass, stopping at the Dee Wright Observatory to view the lava fields. We then descended the pass, arriving at Sisters, Oregon to stay for the night.”

Normally, most McKenzie Valley residents can only expect this caliber of automotive art if they tune into the nationally televised event. That changed last Thursday while the tour made a lunch stop at the McKenzie Station Pub, providing an opportunity to see some famous cars that are few in number. The most intriguing was a silver coupe that had many passersby wondering what it could be. Filling out the field were more than a half-dozen 50’s era Mercedes Benz 300 SLs - both in roadster and famed gull-winged coupe configurations, as well as a father of the “Bond car” - an Aston Martin DB2:4 Mk 1 Drophead Coupe and a 1940 Packard 190 Darin.

Car buffs can see more if they tune into the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Live. The daylong livestream of the prestigious event will start at 1:15 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, August 20th at tinyurl.com/y7cp2vr4.