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ms-rampage · 3 years

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Eden’s Gate: Aftermath Chapter 6 - The Man Who Sold The World

Warnings: Swearing, slight violence, some Kate and Wheaty cutensss, usage of drugs (Bliss)

Word count: 4.3k

Summary: In the penultimate chapter, Paige, Kate and Mandy finally meet face to face with Joseph Seed, but there will be bloodshed, and maybe a few sacrifices the family will have to make.

Guest OCs: Just the usuals.

Guest Characters: Archangel Raphael [Supernatural: mentioned], God/Chuck [mentioned], An Archangel? [read until the end]

Note: One more chapter!!! Then New Dawn begins.

*****

Another few weeks have passed, October is here and that means Fall in Montana is beautiful. The fallen leaves, the crispy cool breezes, orange, red and yellow leaves. Fall colors.

Pumpkins, hot chocolate, sweater season, blood shed, violence, and crazy fucking Cultists.

The Winchester-Smith compound has never looked more alive. The trees on the property with their orange, and yellow leaves.

The threatening words of graffiti on the gates of the compound. Sinner. The Father. The Power of Yes.

John Seed’s followers tried to retaliate, and avenged his death, but the Winchester family is always 10 steps ahead of them.

7:00 am. A letter arrived at their front door for the 3 females of the Winchester family that morning. From the man whom they’ve been looking for, The Father Joseph Seed himself.

Telling them to go to his church at 5:30 that evening. He didn’t say for what, or why, but they weren’t gonna let this opportunity slip.

“It’s clearly a trap” Kenny tells his wife.

“What if it isn’t?” she asks.

“Why would Joseph send you a letter telling you to go to his church?!?” Nate asks, as he pours coffee in a cup.

“I don’t know, but we’re going” Kate says.

“You two are pregnant!!” Kenny exclaims, “You aren’t going”.

“Okay! Then who else is gonna take our place?” Paige asks.

“I’ll take your place, Mandy and one of the guys can go” he replies.

“Joseph asked us, and us only to go. We aren’t risking you two going, and probably getting killed” Kate tells him.

“What if he kills you guys?!” Mark asks.

“Remember the letter he left us? When we killed his brothers? He said that we were forgiven for all the shit we’ve done” Paige informs them.

“He could be lying!” Mark adds in.

“Joseph is telling the truth” Mandy steps in.

They all turn around to face her, “How do you know?!?” Kenny asks.

“I spent 6 months with him. I can tell if he’s lying or not. Writing or speaking I can tell” she says.

Paige looks down at the letter, “So what do we do?!?”.

Mandy takes a deep breath, “When 5:30 comes we leave for church. Whatever happens, happens. This is where it all ends”.

They all stare at her in anticipation.

“I just got the chills when you said that” Mark mutters.

“Yeah for real” Adrian says, looking at her like she just gave him life changing news.

****

A few hours later.

10:00 am, everyone had just eaten breakfast, Paige is feeding Cristina 2nd her morning bottle.

Kate just threw up, morning sickness and she hates it.

She called Wheaty, and they’re gonna hang that afternoon. Not telling him about the letter from Joseph to meet at his church.

Kenny, Mark, Nate, Cody, Marty, Adrian and a few others finished putting up one of the 2 houses. Rachel is having a panic attack, knowing that Joseph knows she’s living with the Winchesters. Mandy sitting in her room, blinded by her thoughts. Wondering why Joseph wants the 3 of them to go to his church.

What could he possibly want?. What is the meaning, or purpose of this?. Is he gonna kill them? Does he want to make peace with them?. Is he gonna surrender himself? What is he gonna do?.

Paige is sitting on the front porch swing, holding Cristina while “Fade to Black” by Metallica plays on her bluetooth speaker. Humming along with the song, with Cristina falling asleep in her arms.

****

2 hours have gone by, 12:00pm.

“Things not what they used to be. Missing one inside of me. Deathly loss l, this can't be real. I cannot stand this hell I feel. Emptiness is filling me. To the point of agony. Growing darkness taking dawn. I was me, but now he's gone.”

Kenny steps outside, and sees this. A huge smile grows on his face. He takes a seat next to Paige on the swing, putting his arm around her. She leans closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He places a kiss on her head, rests his cheek on her head.

Lightly swing back and forth on the swing. Little moments like this they love. They don’t need to go out to fancy restaurants every weekend, or a weekend get away for the both of them.

Cristina falls asleep in her mothers arms, letting out soft nasal snores, making Kenny snickers at this.

“You know I still don’t like the plan” he tells her.

“I know you don’t” she responds. They sit in silence for a moment.

“If you could guess what Joseph wants. What would you guess?” he asks.

She sighs, “I don’t know. Maybe make peace with us, or make some sort of treaty between everyone in Hope County”.

“Your mom seems to know a lot about Joseph. Like how he thinks, or what possibly goes through his head.” he tells her.

“Yeah, my mom is really good at reading people, even if she’s not trying to. It’s like a power she has. Growing up I couldn’t even lie to her, and I’m really good at lying, but she knew. She always knew. Kate takes a lot after her, they both try to see the good in people even if they don’t deserve it. I take after my dad, he didn’t trust anyone outside the family. Like if he was still alive, and all this shit that happened, like Rachel turning on the Project, he wouldn't trust her either. Even if she had a change of heart, he wouldn’t trust her at all”.

Kenny zones out as she’s talking, still being able to hear every word she says. He places his hand on her 9 in half weeks pregnant belly.

“You think your dad would’ve liked me?” he asks, looking up at the sky.

Paige looks up at him, looking into his blue orbs and smiles “If he knew I trusted you, then he would’ve trusted you as well”.

He looks down at her, and kisses her forehead.

Paige sighs, “My mom-” she says before getting cut off by a soft “mom” from the infant in her arms.

Her and Kenny look at each other wide eyed, then down at Cristina who is half asleep.

She picks her up, having her stand on her lap.

“Say that again” she tells the 11 month old in her hands, “Say mom”.

“Say mama” she tells her again, “Say mama”.

“Say dadda” he jumps in.

Paige glares at him, “This is my moment”.

“Say mama” she tells her again slowly.

“Mama” Cristina mutters her first word, very softly that it sounds like a mumble.

Paige gasps loudly, her eyes widened “She just- she. She said mama. She said her first word!!!”. She gets up from the swing, and goes inside the house.

“Mom!!!” she calls out as she goes inside.

*****

Kate went on her date with Wheaty. She wanted to go hunting, but since she’s 7 in half weeks pregnant, they changed their date plans. They decided to go to the camping spot where they first met a few years back.

“It looks the same” she jokes.

“Camping spots usually never change” he replies. They sit near the water, on some boulders.

“So how’s the pregnancy?” he asks.

She looks down at her belly, chuckling “I threw up this morning. I’m peeing a lot but my mom and sister said that's normal, other than that it’s going pretty good”.

“Thought of any names?” he asks, putting his arm around her.

She thinks about it for a brief moment, “If it’s a boy his name would be either Gabriel Joel Eddard, or Samuel Dean Rhaegar. For a girl Daenerys Arya Brienne, or Lyanna Pamela Cersei”.

“What is up with you and these Game of Thrones names?!” he laughs, kissing the side of her head.

“They’re nice names!. It’ll give them character, plus Pamela isn’t a name from Game of Thrones, and neither is Samuel, Dean, Gabriel and Joel” she laughs.

“Don’t be surprised if little Daenerys asks for a dragon, or 3 for her birthday, or an Iron Throne” he jokes.

“And if she does I’ll be very happy about it, and I’ll get her a stuffed dragon. One of those giant plush ones that are like 5-6 feet tall”.

They talked, they laughed, they made out. They enjoyed their time together, holding her in his arms as they watched the lake. Watching the boats, and jet skies go by.

Even the subject of marriage and kids came up on their date. Even though they've started dating back in August but have known each other over 2 years.

She starts reminiscing back when they first met. She still remembers that night very clearly. She still has the photos.

"I still remember that day when we first met" she tells him.

A smile appears on his face, "Yeah me too".

"I never had a crush on anyone until I met you" he tells her. She looks up at him.

"Really?" she asks. He nods his head, she moves closer into his arms. Enjoying every single moment of it.

Kate knows this might be the last time her and Wheaty ever hang out again. Their last date together, and they don’t know it.

Resting her head against his shoulder as they sit by the lake. His arms wrapped around her.

"Also I wanted to give you this" he says, getting something out of his pants pocket. He pulls out a bracelet, similar to the ones he wears and puts it on her wrist. She smiles as he puts it on her, holding her hand in his. She looks up at him, and kisses him.

***

4:15 pm Kate is still on her date with Wheaty. Her sister and mother prepare themselves as they wait for her.

“Where is she?!” Paige asks, getting annoyed.

“We still have a whole hour” Mandy tells her, “She’ll be back. Soon hopefully”.

15 minutes later Kate pulls into the driveway.

She enters the house, “It’s about time you show up” Paige tells her.

“Well sorry!” she responds sarcastically, “I had a date with Wheaty, and I wanted to see him before we’re killed!”.

“We’re not gonna get killed” Mandy steps in, “Because we’re not going”.

They all look over at her in confusion. Mandy was having 2nd thoughts about confronting Joseph, and she made the decision not to go to the church.

“What do you mean we’re not going?!?” Paige questions her, “You literally said a few seconds ago that we’re going. Implied it”.

“We’re not going. We’re not gonna give Joseph what he wants” she tells them.

“Mom?!” Kate mutters in disbelief and confusion.

Paige scoffs, shaking her head “Mom, this is our only chance. To get rid of Joseph. Put an end to the Cult, and kill whoever is left”.

Everyone, Paige, Kate, Kenny, Adrian, Martin, Cody, Mark, Nate, Barbara, Rachel, and everyone else in the house look at Mandy. About 30, plus, eyes staring back at her.

“We’re not going” she tells them, “I don’t care what Joseph wants. We’re not going”.

Paige, scoffs at her mother, “Why?. Why the change of heart all of a sudden?!?”.

Mandy glares at her eldest child, and says “You wouldn’t understand”.

Kate stops her older sister from doing or saying anything else to their mom.

She still plans to go and confront Joseph. All the damage, pain. suffering and bloodshed he had caused. It’ll all end that evening, nothing will stop Paige from ending The Father.

5:20 rolls around, Kate and Mandy have no intentions of leaving for church.

The youngest Winchester thinks they should go.

“Mom?” she asks.

“We’re not going Katella” she says, not looking up at her youngest daughter.

Paige comes downstairs, and is immediately out the door, and goes to the Impala.

“Paige?!?” Kate exclaims, going after her. Too late she’s already driving like a maniac off of the property. Leaving behind a cloud of dirt.

“Son of bitch!!” she mutters, “She’s going after Joseph”.

They grab the keys to the Monte Carlo, and drive after Paige who is probably already at the church.

****

Church of Eden’s Gate

Paige enters the compound, breaking down the front gate with the car. She stops the car, exits it. Pistol ready in her holster. A few peggies on the property staring at her. She ignores them, she’s there for Joseph. She’ll handle the hillbillies later.

“Joseph!!!” she shouts his name, echoing in the sky “Joseph!!!”.

Approaching the church, the man himself Joseph Seed steps out. She stares at him intensely. He looks up at the sky, closes his eyes and says, “And the lamb broke the 5th seal, and I saw under the altar the souls of Martyrs. Slain because of the Word of God”.

Pointing to Paige, “You. You turned my sister. You poisoned her mind with your wretched words”.

She pulls her pistol out of its holster and aims at him, “I didn’t change her. She finally saw your monstrous ways. She changed on her own”.

“Lies” he hisses, “Your disgusting words against God, and his word”.

She turns off the safety on her pistol, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here. Right now”. Her voice filled with anger, and violent intentions.

He walks around her, she follows his movements. Gun still aimed at him.

“I told you. Your mother. I told you that we were living in a world on the brink. Where every slight. Every injustice. Where every choice reveals our sins”.

Paige narrows her eyes at him, her pistol still aimed at him, not lowering it once.

“And where have those sins led us?, Where have those sins led you?”.

The sound of tires screeching, breaks Paige’s concentration, she turns her head and sees her sister's car drive on the property.

Kate and Mandy get out. “Paige don’t!!!” Mandy exclaims, running towards her.

She turns back to Joseph, and aims her gun at him again.

“Paige what are you doing?!?!” Kate exclaims.

“What does it look like I’m doing??!” she replies sarcastically, “I’m ending it all”.

Joseph stares at Mandy, “Paige, you can’t do this” she pleads.

“Uhh, sure I can” she replies back. Rolling her eyes.

Mandy gets in between the gun and Joseph. “No, I mean you can’t kill him”.

Lowering her gun, glaring at her mother, “What are you talking about?!?”.

Before she could explain herself, Joseph speaks up.

“Mandeline”, his voice so calm that it sends shivers up her spine. Giving her goosebumps.

She closes her eyes, sadness and shame written all over her face. She turns to face him. Her eyes meeting his. He stares at her with so much intensity that you can almost feel the anger radiating off of him, and the fear radiating off of her.

“You betrayed me, my family, my flock, and God. You dare to show yourself to me” he tells her, slowly approaching her.

“Joseph, I’m sorry, but I had no choice. I couldn’t stand by and watch everything happen” she explains to him.

He points at her, “You turn my family into Martyrs. And I plan to do the same with yours”. He walks around them, and they see their friends Mary May, Nick Rye, Pastor Jerome, Grace Armstrong, Jess Black, Tracey Lader, Wheaty, and Tammy Barnes all under the influence of Bliss holding Kenny, Mark and Nate hostage.

“Wheaty!!!!” Kate cries out, seeing her boyfriend drugged up with Bliss.

“Kenny?!?” Paige says under her breath, “How the fuck did you get to them!?!?!”.

“Joseph let them go!!!!” Mandy yells.

He turns to her, and says, “Your friends, and family have been taken and torture, and it’s your fault. Countless people have been killed, and it is your fault. The world is on fire, and it’s your fault. Was it worth it?. Was it?”.

“You motherfucker” Paige mutters angrily, “Me killing you will fucking worth it, and I can promise you that”.

The followers on the property gather behind the 3 Winchesters, blocking them from escaping.

“Kenny what happened?!? Was it Rachel?!?” Paige asks.

“No!” he mutters.

“The others are fine. They got us, Rachel took off when they showed up” Nate wheezes.

“Paige?” Mandy mutters softly.

“Not now” she responds, “Joseph I swear you better-”

“Paige!” she yells, breaking her attention from him.

“Mom!. Now's not the time” she tells her.

“You can’t kill him” she tells her almost in a whisper.

She looks at her, eyes furrow, “Yeah I can, he has our friends and family hostage!!”.

Mandy looks back at Joseph then back at Paige, “No I mean you can’t kill him”.

“What do you mean I can’t-” She stands in front of her once again, blocking the bullet from hitting Joseph.

“Raphael” she mutters, interrupting her.

“Raphael?!?” Kate whispers, “The Archangel?!?”.

She nods her head, “Yes, I was told by Archangel Raphael that Joseph had to be protected, and I was the one to do it. That’s why you can’t kill him.”

Kate and Paige look at their mother in disbelief, and confusion.

“Because Chuck spoke to him” she whispers to them, “About the end. You can’t kill him because if you do everything, everyone will die. Cease to exist. The end of life as we know it”. They both glare at her with mixed emotions.

“You knew this whole time?!?” Paige yells, “This whole time!!. If Joseph gets killed, hurt and harmed in any way. Chuck will drop a bomb on all of humanity?!?”.

“Why didn’t you tell us?!?!” Kate asks, betrayal in her voice.

“I couldn’t say anything. Raphael forbidden me from saying anything to anyone!!” she says.

Paige lowers her pistol, putting it back in her holster.

Shaking her head, “I can’t believe you. He could be playing him for all we know” she tells her.

“Let them go” she orders Joseph, pointing to Kenny, Mark and Nate.

Joseph stares at her, “Are you deaf?!? I said let them go!!!” she orders him again.

Mandy holds her back, “Let me handle this”.

She turns to face Joseph, and pleads with him “Joseph please, let them go. We don’t want anymore bloodshed. Please let them go, and we’ll leave”.

“Wheaty too!” Kate shouts.

“You betrayed me. Betrayed God. I forgive you for what you’ve done to my family, but that I can’t forgive” he tells her, stepping close to her, “Your family will pay for what you have done”.

The few followers grab Paige and Kate shoving them onto the ground, taking their guns and other weapons away.

“Don’t fucking touch me!!” Paige yells, struggling.

“Get off me!!” Kate shouts, fighting to be let go.

“Joseph, it’s not their fault!!. It’s mine. Let them go, and you can deal with me” she pleads with him again.

He grabs her shoulders, “This is where it ends” he whispers to her. Tears stream down her face.

“You peggie fuckers!!. Pieces of fucking shit!!” Paige mutters as a peggie pushes her face first into the ground.

“Get the fuck off of her!!” Kenny yells at him.

Tears streaming down Mandy’s cheeks, if only she was honest with her family. If only she had told them the truth. All of this wouldn't have happened. Her family was gonna be killed because of her. Her own greed.

“When are you gonna realize that every problem cannot be solved with a bullet?” he asks her.

“It doesn’t have to end this way” she pleads with him.

Two of his followers, grab her. Preventing her from stopping whatevers gonna happen.

One of his Chosen has a sharp knife in hand. Almost like a miniature machete, holding it in front of her eldest child.

“Really Joseph? You’re gonna kill two pregnant women!” Paige yells. Grabbing the Father’s attention.

He stops them, having Paige’s full attention. He looks at her with a questioning look on his face.

“Yeah” she says, a smug look on her face “I’m pregnant. So is my sister. She’s carrying your little brother's kid. John”.

He looks over at the youngest sister, and she nods her head. “It’s John’s kid, Joseph. You kill us, you kill your nephew/niece, but keep in mind we’ll never be family”.

He looks up at the sky, backing away from them. His back to all of them. “Let them go” he says. They free the family of hunters, showing them all mercy.

“Wheaty?!” Kate cries, trying to snap him out of it, “Wheaty please. It’s me, Kate”.

She holds his face, cupping it, hoping to get him back into reality. All their friends drugged up, blind from reality. Paige grabs her arm, “Come on, we have to get out of here”.

She resists, shaking her head “No, Wheaty please snap out of it. We have a child on the way” she cries. The Bliss has taken over his state of mind that he can’t comprehend anything.

Mark and Nate practically dragged Kate back into the car. Her, her mother and sister in the Impala, Kenny, Nate and Mark in the Monte Carlo. They all drive back to the compound.

*****

Little did they know they’re not the only ones that have had an issue with Joseph, and the Cult. The new Deputy has had their fair share of issues with the Seed family, and their followers.

Liberating their outposts and destroying their properties. Making the Seed family look like a family of psychopaths they need to be locked up.

When Faith took off, she went to her gate and met with the Deputy. They put up a fight against her and they ended up killing her.

Faith. Rachel would’ve been the adopted sister to the two sisters. Rachel Winchester would’ve been her name.

****

They all arrive back at the compound. Kate in tears, Paige in shock.

The others come out, and see all their friends alive. Their children and wifes stand at the front porch.

“Holy shit!!” Cody says relieved, “You’re all alive!!”.

They all nod, “Yeah, yeah we are” Mandy mutters.

“Is Joseph alive?!?” Adrian asks. They all nod in disappointment, “Yeah, the fucker is still alive” Kate mutters angrily.

“Where’s Rachel?” Kate asks them. The others shrug, “We don’t know, she fled the property when the peggies arrived”.

“So now what?!” Mark asks, shrugging.

Paige shakes her head “I don’t know, we’re gonna have to-”.

As she’s speaking, it’s almost like God himself was making a huge entrance. Lighting up the entire sky.

A bright white light blinds them all, covering their faces from the burning brightness.

When the bright light clears, a giant mushroom-like cloud in the distance fills the sky.

“Oh my god!!” Nate mutters in horror, “Oh my god!!”.

A huge storm flies at them, causing the entire ground to shake violently. Making them stumble, and fall. The trees, and land go up in flames within seconds. Animals running to seek shelter. The whole sky orange, everything is a fiery orange red.

“Shit! he was right!” Martin screams in horror, “He was right!”.

“Damn it Chuck!” Paige mumbles angrily with a hint of fear in her voice.

Realization hitting hard, “Wheaty?, I have to get Wheaty!!” Kate yells.

She gets stopped by her mother and brother in law, “Kate no!!”.

“I have to go back for him!!” she cries, trying to get to her car.

Paige tries to hold her back, “It’s too late for him!!. You’ll die if you go back!. Kenny! Adrian! Get the cars underground. Everyone else get the children, pets and go down to the bunker”. They get the cars underground to the bunker garage. They get all their kids, pets, and all go down to the bunker.

Everyone settles underground. Fear, anger. So much emotion in one room. The distance rumbles of explosions going off, making it sound like the king of all thunderstorms is happening right above their heads. Paige looks around the main room of the bunker to see if everyone made it down. She counts everyone that was on the property.

Herself, her daughter, Kate, Kenneth, her mother, Barbara, Mark, his wife and 2 kids, Nate, his wife and 3 kids. Cody and his wife, Martin and his fiancee, Adrian and his wife.

“He was right” Kate mutters, playing with her bracelet, “Joseph Seed was right, and we didn’t see it coming. God, the Collapse, this sort of thing is right up our alley, and we didn’t believe him!!”.

Paige sighs in disappointment, “It’s not that we didn’t believe him. He didn't believe us, which is not surprising. It’s that he claimed that he spoke with Chuck, and for all we know. He couldn’t been played by him”.

Kate is about to say something when a fluttering sound, and a loud thud a few rooms away throws her off.

“Did you hear that?!?” she asks the others. The others stay back while her and Paige go to investigate it. Kate then sees a single golden, brown feather on the floor.

“Hey, look a feather” she says, pointing at it. Paige, who doesn’t see it, looks at her in confusion.

“Where?!?” she asks, looking around for it. They get to the source of the sound, and see a man with his back to them, kneeling on the floor.

Paige pulls out her pistol, and aims at the intruder.

They both see the same man, but Kate sees a little more. Tattered up golden, brown angelic wings. They approach the man, and stand in front of him. He lifts his head to look up at them, and they see the wounded, beaten up Archangel.

“Gabriel?!?” Kate mutters.

____

When the bombs fell

Not long after (The Angels fell)

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theloudpedal · 5 years

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Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance- All Out of Superlatives

This year marked the 70th Anniversary of the famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, an event so well known and regarded among automotive types that simply saying “Pebble” is the only indication one needs in order to know the topic of conversation has changed. The Pebble Beach Concours is less of an event and more of a series moments and memories. It’s not typical by any stretch. If you want the full experience, you have to join the Dawn Patrol, which means getting up no later than 4am (if you are in the Monterey Peninsula) and driving through the dark Del Monte Forest, to a far off parking lot. Step two, shuffle along, half addled, in a pre-caffeinated state to the shuttle to the main entrance. (Keep in mind that coffee shops aren’t open that early and that none is for sale at the event till closer to 9:00…you’ve been warned.) From there it’s all down hill, literally, still in the pitch black to the gates of the garden. The light becomes barely visible on the horizon and then is starts. The Dawn Patrol begins its trek to the 18th Green. One by one, they (each entry led by staff in a golf cart) drive in under their own power and take their position for the judging that will occur. From the priceless to the historically significant it is an automotive spectacle unlike any other.

This year was different for us. From the beginning of our Car Week planning, which basically began on the drive home from Pebble Beach last year, we intended to expand our coverage of Car Week but we weren’t 100% sure how to accomplish that with limited time and personnel (us) to do it all. As it turns out though, the solution was with us all the time. It just took us some time come up with a workable plan.

We are pleased and honored to welcome to The Loud Pedal, two of our favorite photographers who both agreed to share with us their Pebble Beach experiences and photos. We were “virtual” fans of Angela Weaver’s general automotive and track photography long before a chance pre-race encounter/meeting at Starbucks began a real friendship that has grown over the last few years. We met and befriended David Barnes at Sears Point over 20 years ago. Over the decades, David evolved from being our big lens hero to a two Leica packing master of composition and detail.

Like we said before, Pebble is not “just” an event. It's a series of moments that rapidly changes as the sun further rises, the fog burns off and the crowds go larger. In order to really “get” the whole event, whether it’s your 1st or 10th time, you must begin by focusing on every minute detail of the event and then take some time to zoom out to see the bigger picture. Please take some time to read Angela’s and David’s reflections on this year’s event, and enjoy the two separate galleries they’ve both prepared.

Angela Weaver (MotorFocused.com) (Instagram):

This was my first dawn patrol, and I was surprised to see how busy it was at 5:30 in the morning. I expected a calm and peaceful atmosphere, but things were in full swing and I felt that I had to get the hunt underway. There was so much energy and excitement. I went on auto pilot and fed off of everyone and every thing that was happening around me.

The Lamborghini Miura was part of the game this year and was one of the featured groupings on the lawn. The Miura has always been one of my favorites. There was a Miura, restored by Polo Storico, that seemed a bit like a Lamborghini that hit an issue of Super Street back in the 90’s. They added everything that they could think of, which made for a very interesting addition to the show.

I was surprisingly intrigued by a 1910 Packard 30 Gentleman’s Roadster. It had been well used, and exuded character from every seam. I initially assumed that it was unrestored, but discovered that it was restored 60 years ago. It featured a bronze horn, a well worn top, chipped wooden wheels, and kerosene side lights! It is so far beyond my automotive imagination, I felt like I was in a movie.

Venturing up from the lawn, outside of the show, the Ferrari display left me speechless. Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any better…..there were two 250 GTO’s, parked side by side, just as they were in Le Mans in 1963.

I had a personal connection to the F40 in the Ferrari display, because I had gone on an adventure prior to car week to release it from it’s shipping container. I’d also had the opportunity earlier in the week to photograph an Alfa GTV for Revival Road Co., and a friend was unloading an F40 that he was storing that had just arrived in a shipping container. It was a challenge to say the least.

There were literally only a few inches on each side of the car as it sat in the container. The shipper had nailed boards in front of, and behind each tire. Of course, the battery was dead. We had to find a way to remove the nailed boards, obviously without damaging the car. None of us had previous experience with a F40, so it took a while to figure anything out, down to opening the clam shells to better access the boards. About 1 hour 15 in, we finally started to roll it out of the container. There were additional challenges with the ramps, and finally we found a second battery switch, turned it on, and it roared to life. It was as beautiful as the project to release it had been stressful. It’s not every day that you need to squeeze an F40 out of a container.

Back to the concours. It’s interesting to watch all the participants prepare their cars after the drive in. All of the attention to detail is fascinating. Brushes to the tire tread and between each wire in the engine bay…I feel like I would never think of everything, but Pebble reveals many things that were never thought of before. I have such a massive amount of respect for the people that chose to enter a car to be judged and the commitment that it takes.

Angela Weaver Gallery

David Barnes (Instagram)

This year, TLP challenged us to find ways to make our readers gasp in awe and be pulled into the images gently, but firmly by both lapels. This series of images offer the viewer a glimpse not often captured at the world’s preeminent automotive event.

The high perspective conveys the magnitude of the Pebble Beach Concours. Like gravitational pull from a large celestial object, this 195X Ferrari drew the admiration from what seemed like the entire 18th green.

My heart skipped a beat taking in the lines of this 1956 Ferrari 250GT Zagato Berlinetta Speciale (GTZ), with trademark Zagato Double-Bubble roof. Just six of these cars were produced, and only 3 featured the Zagato Double-Bubble roof. The chassis was from a Ferrari 250 TdF.

Many consider this Aston Martin amongst the most gobsmacking Zagato designs of the 1960s, and place it on their list as unmitigated perfection on wheels. In this era, Aston Martin desired a car that could rival the Ferrari 250GT in the Word Sports Car Championship, so they put the team at Zagato to task. A 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato became the most expensive British car when sold at auction in 2015 for an astonishing £9.45 million. Only 19 DB4GT’s were produced by Zagato.

David Barnes Gallery

Well, we hope you have enjoyed these words and images from this year’s event. We’re grateful for our friends, their talents and their reflections, which enabled us to still share the magic of the Pebble and to change up our Car Week routine a little. We obviously missed one helluva show and we’re looking forward to next year’s event. We can’t overstate enough the majesty and magic of Pebble Beach during Car Week at a time where it has to compete with dozens of events that hit the peninsula during the weekend. As much as the participants strive, sometimes for a lifetime to be accepted in the show, being spectator is just as exclusive. Until next year.

-The Loud Pedal

#Pebble Beach #Car week

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