The best cars from 2022 Monterey Concours d'Lemons

Every summer, the world’s best cars descend on Monterey, California, for a week of swanky soirées, vintage racing and incredible auction action featuring Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and seven-figure one-off creations that only the most ardent historians can recognise.

But then there’s the the hoopties, rustbuckets, junkers, clunkers, beaters and bangers. Monterey also attracts some true mechanic’s nightmares, too. Click through to witness some of the best (worst) cars that (barely) rolled into this year’s Concours d’Lemons.

Michael Van Runkle

No collection of lemons can be considered complete without at least one Volkswagen Type 2, although this tired bus takes decrepitude to a new level with a jungle-cat paintjob and gypsy-wagon upholstery. Call it Blind Leppard.

Each entrant at the Concours d’Lemons receives a notecard with the make and model, as well as the owner’s name and hometown. This horrific lookalike even failed that initial test, since as far as we know, Pontiac never built a Lamborghini Countach.

One of the most popular Lemons of the day, this Lincoln received the nickname Buttercup but attracted a line of spectators eager to climb aboard for a quick plush pony ride.

The original Ectomobile from Ghostbusters tends to show up at a few car gatherings each year. Don’t mistake this Dodge Dart for that movie star, though. Apparently it was built to answer the question “who you gonna call?” with “not this car!”.

The Concours d’Lemons teaches a range of historical automotive facts that truly boggle the mind, including the fact that Reliant built the original Robin three-wheeler for nine terrifying, teetering years – and then replaced it with the Rialto in 1982 for an even longer streak of 17 more.

Dwarfed near the Reliant three-wheeler, a tiny and even more terrifying four-wheeler wore UOP badging and a sheet of paper explaining its history. Apparently commissioned by Universal Oil Products and built by Shadow Car Company, this mini-car prototype uses a 1966 Fiat 500 drivetrain in place of the originally planned electric components and fired right up after sitting for 43 years.

In period, the Bricklin SV-1 touted features like an integrated rollover structure and impact bumpers to earn the Safety Vehicle 1 moniker. In reality, most Bricklins today tend to swiss-cheese into unsaveable rustbuckets — which only makes a clean example like this one all the more suspect.

Owner Tony Pajela daily-drives this 1969 Toyota Corolla, which took home a win in the Soul-Sucking Japanese Appliance class at this year’s Concours d’Lemons. It has 387,000 miles on the clock and rust holes big enough to see through, and Pajela says the police leave him alone because they feel so bad for him.

Sometimes a quick glance into a Concours d’Lemons entrant’s interior reveals more than faded paint, chipped wheels and rust spots on the outside. This Lexus IS 300 looked okay until the camouflaged radio 'here in spirit' catches the eye.

Bringing quite possibly the world’s cleanest Buick Reatta to the Concours d’Lemons seems counterproductive. Then again, nobody in their right mind would ever want a Buick Reatta in the first place.

Clean paint, pristine wheels, and a fibreglass roof extension behind T-tops? Surely this Corvette Stingray deserved better than a Breadwagon conversion – but here it sat earning sideways glances all morning regardless.

Insurance provider turned self-proclaimed lifestyle brand Hagerty promotes the Concours d’Lemons with plenty of wit, including little 'trashy in a good way' signs. A 1961 Corvair Rampside promoting the fried-chicken lifestyle perfectly encapsulates such wordplay.

Owner Bob Shook brought this Motocompo scooter back from Japan at the last minute after a tour of service in the South China Sea. Almost as importantly, he leaned into the Concours d’Lemons tradition of bribing judges, in this case with four bottles of Jack Daniel's and even a little cash incentive.

YouTuber Tyler Hoover brought his salvage-title Ferrari 458 to this year’s Concours d’Lemons with almost 90,000 miles on the clock. That’s a concerning figure for any Ferrari, but this one formerly served as a track rental. He still drove it to and from the event, though!

The franchise reboot Mad Max: Fury Road featured some of the most incredible custom cars ever to appear on the silver screen. This 2000 Volkswagen Beetle with custom paintwork wasn't one of them. 

The Mitsubishi 3000GT gets a bad rap for overly complex engineering far too aggressive for its time. In honor of the model’s dubious mechanical history, this 3000GT got a bad wrap.

Owner Derek Young attracted tons of attention with his Kawasaki motorcycle engine-swapped Nissan Leaf EV. Almost too ingenious to be considered a true Lemon, the backyard build still allows for full electric or petrol propulsion – and uses an Amazon back-up camera to keep an eye on the Kawi’s original gauge cluster.

Even as 6x6 conversions take Florida and Texas by storm, a classic Range Rover probably fits into the category of “why?”. But this Rover’s owner made sure to clearly write “6x4” on his Concours entry placard, inspiring a quick glance at the floating rear axle’s differential – and the complete lack of an attached propshaft.

Subaru attempted to revive the US-market Brat mini-truck with a new Baja in the early-2000s. Even a cycling lifestyle can’t offset the heart palpitations the model brings on amongst the company’s fans (not to mention all those donuts).

The future of autonomous cars might one day render driving a lost art. Not so for fans of the Concours d’Lemons, including this four-legged friend named Sushi who might just hide huge tattoos under that carefully coiffed fur.