Sean Cridland, Author at Road Scholars - Vintage Porsche Sales and Restoration

A “Sea of Green” and Every Other Color on an Avenue in Carmel

If anywhere in the car world there was a real-life Pepperland, a place of love and flower-power, a hidden place both up near the sun and beneath the waves, it would have to be the Concours on the Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, the kick-off event of the mêlée that is Monterey Car Week. Somehow, it maintains its charm despite years of fans pronouncing it the worst kept secret, as it is the most charming and fun event of the week.

Sean Cridland September 13, 2018

2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: The Unmovable Object Meets The Irresistible Force

Romain Dumas has often described his first Pikes Peak, in 2012 when he lost to Rhys Millen by .017 of a second, as the worst day of his life. If we take him at his word, then June 24, 2018 had to be his best. Not only did he win the race overall, but his time of 7:57.148 smashed Sebastian Loeb’s 2013 record of 8:13.878, making him and his Volkswagen I.D.

Sean Cridland July 11, 2018

Pikes Peak Inaugurates New Cayman GT4 Clubsport Class

The buildup to each year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb offers some intriguing questions about performance, weather, road surface, and who will offer a car/driver combination that might challenge Sebastian Loeb’s now five-year old record time of 8:13.878. Thinking of the race from only the record-challenging aspect, one prospect comes to mind, the electric powered VW I.D. R Pikes Peak special driven by three-time overall winner Romain Dumas.

Sean Cridland June 12, 2018

Tailgate Party: Carmel Concours on the Avenue

Photos by Sean Cridland Everyone anticipates the Big Game. For football, it’s the Super-Bowl. For us car-types, it’s Monterey Car Week, culminating in the Pebble

Sean Cridland September 7, 2017

Pride and Predilection: PCA’s Werks Reunion (or, It’s Not a Gang, It’s a CLUB!)

Pride and Predilection: PCA’s Werks Reunion (or, It’s Not a Gang, It’s a CLUB! ) (Or, maybe: The More Things Change, the More They Stay

Sean Cridland September 7, 2017

Legacy Porsche 914

There are no garage queens or trailer princesses in Dixon, New Mexico, but you’ll more than likely see a few air-cool Porsches cruising around the mountain roads. And most likely, it will be Gary Smith, his wife Deborah, or their daughter Audrey who are driving them. What’s more, they’ll all have one thing in common: Gary has built them all in his home shop…

Sean Cridland August 7, 2017

The Mountain Vs. The Weather – 2017 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Anyone who thinks racing up Pikes Peak is easy has never been there. Though the course is only twelve and a half miles long, it includes 156 corners, climbs from 9,500 to 14,114 feet above sea level, and winds through several microclimates

Sean Cridland July 4, 2017

The Olive, The Eggplant, and the Deep Blue Sea

If you’re a true enthusiast, no doubt you’ve been to dozens of cars-and-coffee events, several Porsche Parades, a few Rennsports, and a couple of Werks Reunions. Gradually, you start to notice that there are a lot…as in A LOT… of silver, red, and black cars. Not that there’s…

Sean Cridland May 24, 2017

Porsche Time Capsule: Don Janssen’s 1950s European Adventure

When young Texan Don Janssen went off to war in spring of 1944, the fate of the world hung in the balance. Like so many

Sean Cridland December 20, 2016

Porsche 356: GFK Style

If last April’s Luftgekuhlt – organized by Patrick Long and Howie Idelson – could be called a grande bouffe of SoCal air-cooled cache, then Frank

Sean Cridland November 2, 2016

Give Me the Werks, Please…

Of all the events on the exhausting schedule of Monterey Car Week, the Porsche Club of America’s Werks Reunion at Rancho Canada Golf Club is

Sean Cridland September 8, 2016

2016 Carmel Concours on the Avenue: The Magical Gathering

Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea… —Peter, Paul, and Mary Whether you’re a little boy named Jackie or a grown adult who’s an

Sean Cridland September 8, 2016

California Prequel – Chilling at Dana Point

If you think of the upcoming Monterey Car Week as intense, exotic, and overly expensive, it might be worth taking a look at the late July events

Sean Cridland July 29, 2016

Deux plus Deux = Romain!

You might expect Porsche factory driver Romain Dumas to spend a week celebrating his second Le Mans overall win. Instead, he hopped the next flight

Sean Cridland July 12, 2016

Porsche at Pikes Peak

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. So it’s worth noting that Porsche has had a large impact on

Sean Cridland June 8, 2016

Patina Poetics…

For San Diegan John Straub, it’s always been about Porsches. Before he could drive, his dad used to drop him off at local autocrosses to

Sean Cridland May 5, 2016

Down the Porsche Rabbit Hole

Everyone’s dream: getting your very first Porsche! But which one? Project 914? C4 Cabriolet with room for golf clubs? Cayenne Turbo S for those epic

Sean Cridland January 6, 2016

2015 HSR Classic 24 of Daytona: The Beautiful Secret

It’s tough to say which comes first…the vibration rising through the ground, up your legs, into your torso, rattling your brain…or is it the sound,

Sean Cridland December 2, 2015

Timeless Grace

Cruising the high desert and mountain roads of New Mexico in the 1951 Split-Window Pre-A 356, one almost forgets what year it is. Though the

Sean Cridland November 2, 2015

Tom Gloy’s Lean-To Treasure

Tom Gloy has a philosophy about collecting. “I only want a small collection,” he says. “I want to be able to drive them and I

Sean Cridland October 6, 2015

Rennsport Reunion

Walking into the event very early, a first timer asked “I’ve never been to one of these; what should I look for?” The Rennsport veteran

Sean Cridland October 6, 2015

Werks Reunion 2015

If you’re a Porsche fanatic and attended Monterey car week, then you were at the Werks Reunion event held on Friday at the Rancho Canada

Sean Cridland September 8, 2015

The 2015 Carmel Concours on the Avenue: The Intimate Extravaganza

“Paradise is exactly like where you are right now, only much…much…better.”– Laurie Anderson, Performance Artist Some have called Monterey car week overwhelming; some said extravagant; others

Sean Cridland September 8, 2015

Climb to the Clouds – Pikes Peak 2015

Almost anyone who’s heard of Pikes Peak pictures an open-wheel car in a lurid slide with huge rooster-tails of dirt reaching into the sky…or they imagine

Sean Cridland July 13, 2015

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