Riverside, California’s Benedict Castle is a rather unusual and very unique venue for a car show, a “concours” in this instance, and for any first-time visitors, the place really grabs your attention! First built in the 1920s for Charles W. Benedict, it is a real-live “castle” as it features a 90-foot tower that features a spiraling staircase all the way to the top, all done in Spanish-Moorish architecture (stucco over adobe brick).
The entire structure is some 10,000 square-feet in overall size and walking around the place, all the visuals provides a very “black & white old movie” flavor about it! In fact, over the years and going back a long ways, there were movies made there (including The Bride of Frankenstein from 1935) which adds to the historical aspect of the place, which is spread out over 14.5 acres of lush green grass and hills.
Benedict Castle is now considered a Cultural Heritage Landmark and home to the SoCal Teen Challenge (founded in 1958), a place for setting young people free from drug and alcohol addiction. This event was the 10th annual concours car show which was originated by the automotive passion of Nicole Meguiar (1969-2019), who was a fourth generation member of the Meguiar’s car-car family.
For the story we were able to access the very top of the 90-foot castle tower and take in the views of the San Bernardino Mountains, with the City of Loma Linda in the foreground. Just to the right of this angle is where the famous Riverside International Raceway was located in the then Sunnymead / Edgemont area of Riverside County (track operational from September 1957 – July 1989).
The Gala and Art Auction activities took place to a packed crowd and there was lots to see and hear! Led by Mike Brewer from Wheeler Dealers, never a dull moment or lull in the entertaining presentation, and Barry Meguiar told the history of the concours and well as his involvement in the Teen Challenge. Chip Foose, Stewart Reed, Corky Coker, SEMA’s Mike Spagnola, Don and Christine Nicholson were all part of the presentation, it was leading up to the introduction of this year’s Grand Marshal, Mr. Peter Brock…