Andrew Olson has always been obsessed with cars. Identifying his favorite is not easy because he has so many. If the 17-year-old had to be pinned down, however, he’d say the old Lamborghini Countach from the 1980s. But he quickly added that he also really likes the old 1930s Bugattis as well.
Lots of teenage boys have an interest in automobiles, but few have the detailed knowledge and enthusiasm shown by Olson, who happens to be the designer of this year’s Palos Verdes Road Rallye.
“He’s already had job offers,” said Olson’s father Larry. “They say if he was ten years older they’d hire him.”
So instead of working for exotic car dealers, Olson is going into his senior year of high school this fall. And he is put together over the summer months the pleasure rallye featuring about a hundred classic and exotic cars ambling over the Peninsula that takes place the day before this year’s Concours.
The theme of this year’s rallye is the history of Palos Verdes. Participants in the rallye will answer questions and view clues at stops along the route that Olson designed.
Most of the clues can be seen from the car, but at some stops there will be an area for people to view the clue and get out and have a snack.
The Sept. 15 road rallye is part of the weekend car extravaganza that includes Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance classic car show at Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes the. The Concours features close to 200 classic cars with the theme “French Curves,” with French cars from the 1930s are featured, specifically cars famous for their “graceful and sometimes flamboyant designs,” said car show exhibit chairman Ray Johnson.
In addition to the French curves, car show attendees will also experience cars reflecting American muscle, said Peter Kunoth, chairman of the Palos Verdes Concours for the last five years.
Kunoth said Andrew Olson is “at a different level” when it comes to car knowledge. For example, Kunoth said he and Andrew and Larry Olson attended the Long Beach Grand Prix, and Andrew was identifying cars in the parking lot that he couldn’t even recognize.
Olson’s road rallye should last about two and a half hours, beginning from the Rolling Hills Country Club. The evening ends with the Grand Marshal’s reception at the Palos Verdes Country Club. Proceeds go to the Palos Verdes Art Center educational and community outreach programs, including the Art At Your Fingertips and glass blowing programs at the high schools. Proceeds also benefit the Palos Verdes Rotary foundation charities, including Harbor area Boys and Girls Clubs.
Olson said he enjoyed designing the pleasure rallye course. “It’s like a treasure hunt with cars,” Olson said.
Olson has been driving for only a year. He doesn’t own a car and drives his mom’s 2008 Volvo. Olson’s father has a black 1987 328 GTS Ferrari, however.
“I wasn’t as knowledgeable as Andrew is, but I sure loved the cars,” said Andrew’s father Larry, reflecting on the similarities between himself and his son.
Andrew Olson goes to high school while his father’s Ferrari is parked in the garage. Larry Olson went to high school with his father’s Lamborghini in the garage. The love of beautiful cars came out early for Andrew.
“Six months old. It’s been eternal, his entire life,” Larry Olson said of his son.
“He’s been collecting Hot Wheels cars forever and ever and he has them all on display throughout his room in beautiful cases,” Larry Olson said of Andrew. “And he really doesn’t play with them because he doesn’t want to destroy them. He keeps them very nice.”
Olson also keeps the model cars he builds on deserved display.
He has made an engine model, a model of a Duesenberg from the 1930s, a Porsche Carrera GT, a Chevy Impala, and a Model A.
Olson considers himself a perfectionist. Completing a model can take a month. He doesn’t usually build a model during the school year preferring the summer or winter break when he can work on it every day.
Olson has an older brother who does not share the same interest in cars. Either do friends. He knows some people who like cars, but no one is into the classic cars.
“I’ve always appreciated the extra design and the extra craftsmanship older cars have that the newer ones don’t,” Olson said. “There’s just a different level of style to them that doesn’t exist anymore.”
Olson has an eye for style away from cars. Olson also enjoys making ceramics. He’s made plenty of jars and pots and coffee cups, he said.
Olson’s creativity and his love of cars come together in his photography. Olson enjoys photographing cars, which isn’t always so straightforward.
He finds the angle that makes the car look best. The lighting has to be right or else part of the car will be lost in shadow. Sometimes it’s difficult, he said.
His favorite automobile photographs he took at the Palos Verdes Concours in the last few years, with the ocean and golf course in the background.
Away from cars, Olson is working on becoming an eagle scout. He put in a new garden at Cornerstone elementary school in November 2011.
He has also volunteered at Toberman Neighborhood Center in San Pedro for three years with his Los Hermanos service group.
To make this year’s rallye a success, Olson spread the word at Coffee and Cars in Palos Verdes and Cars and Coffee in Irvine and Cruise Night at Ruby’s Diner in Redondo Beach.
“It’s pretty fun,” Olson said of designing this year’s road rallye course. “It’s a good mix of [being] fun and challenging. I’ve been driving the route and timing it, seeing how long it takes. It’ll be a fun event.”
Olson has been in the passenger’s seat while his father drove the Ferrari in previous years’ rallies. This year he won’t participate in the rallye since he’s designing it, and neither will his father. As a perfectionist, Andrew Olson has already driven the route many times in his mother’s Volvo to make sure it’s the best it can be. PEN
