Peter Kunoth with a 1913 Mercedes 37/39 Tourer.

The 18th Annual Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance may be just around the corner, but the personal motor of Chairman Peter D. Kunoth has been running in high gear for quite a while.
He has been tirelessly organizing, networking and overseeing efforts to assure that the spectacular event, Sept. 18 and 19 at Trump National Golf Club overlooking the Pacific Ocean, lives up to a reputation that already shines like a Mercedes-Benz polished for exhibit.
Kunoth recently idled for a moment beside the graceful, black-bottom swimming pool in the gardens of his low-lying, Mediterranean style home for some cheerful Concours promotion.
He was quick to give credit where credit is due. He praised the aptly named Greg Sparkman, chairman for the Tour d’Epicure Road Rallye, which will kick off the weekend on Saturday afternoon with a rallye ending at Edelbrock Automotive Museum, with food stops and a “Pirates of PV” treasure hunt along the way.
Kunoth praised the work of Ed and Susie Beall, who are spearheading the grand marshal reception, a causal German Oktoberfest on Saturday evening also at the Edelbrock Museum at the Rallye’s end with Gerhard Mosler, chef and owner of Cigo’s restaurant offering up German style food along with beer and wine.
He spoke glowingly of racing legend Andy Granatelli, the 2010 Concours Grand Marshal whose name is recognized far beyond the auto loving world.
“Andy built and raced the world-famous Indianapolis turbine engine cars in 1967 and 1968, and his race cars won the Indianapolis 500 twice,” Kunoth said. “His business accomplishments are still talked about in financial circles. He took an unknown company called Chemical Compounds, changed its name to STP, and in nine years it zoomed from seven to over 2,000 employees. He made STP a household word.”
And he held aloft the sleek, fluid, neo-deco painting of a Mercedes by Tom Hale that serves as the Concours’ official poster.
The German-born Kunoth smiled at the Concours theme, German Fest with Mercedes-Benz as the marque.
“Oktoberfest with an Italian grand marshal,” he said.
The two dozen exhibitor classes include horseless carriages, open and closed European and American classic cars dating as far as 1925, vintage Zephyrs and Jaguars, postwar Mercedes, Mercedes 300SL, Borgward, German racecars and German motorcycles.
Kunoth also looked forward to the return of the Concours’ Restoration Alley, where craftsmen demonstrate the art of restoring valuable automobiles. Steve Tillack of Redondo Beach, who specializes in Italian sports cars and racecars, will return this year to once again show off autos in different phases of restoration. He will be joined by representatives of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, Edelbrock, El Segundo Driving Museum, and Lorenzo Pearson’s West Coast Metric. In keeping with the Concours theme, Restoration Alley will be dubbed Wiederherstellungsallee.
Kunoth also took time to praise the hundreds of volunteers, many of them Rotarians, who will serve numerous functions at the Concours, which this year again benefits the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Foundation and the Palos Verdes Art Center.
“That is what makes the whole thing tick,” he said, perhaps unconsciously using a clock reference as he neared the homestretch for the Councours’ preparation.

‘Octane guy’
Asking a lover of horsepower why he is so drawn to engine-powered vehicles is like asking a fish why he prefers the water, and when Kunoth was asked why motors caught his fancy, he thought a bit and then shrugged.
“I’m an octane guy, I guess,” he said. “Either it’s in your blood or it’s not in your blood.”
Kunoth had a Vespa scooter when he was 11 or 12. Now he has a Hallett speedboat, he’s an instrument-rated pilot who flies his own Bonanza A-36 single engine plane, and his cars include a stunning and lavishly cared for 1977 chocolate brown Porsche.
And he finds time for strenuous motorcycle trips with a small group of friends to Laguna Seca Raceway and back.
Kunoth, a longtime executive in the international manufacturing and distribution of office products, who now oversees trust investments, used to take his plane on business trips a great deal.
“I like to fly it or ride it or drive it,” he said.
As he steers, bikes, boats and soars over expanses of land and water, he seems to have a special respect for the realities of flying.
“You don’t get a Mulligan in aviation,” he said.
Kunoth came to America when he was 13 with his family, which settled in Seattle.
With his wife Sue, a former senior manager with Honda North America, Kunoth has a son Kurt and daughter-in-law Laura, and two grandsons, 2-year-old Greydon and 7-month-old Wyatt.
Kunoth’s philanthropic endeavors include his ongoing service as senior vice president and treasurer of Banning Museum in Los Angeles.
For more on the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance and to purchase tickets for all events see pvconcours.com. PEN

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