Published: August 23, 2016, 8:25 AM
Updated: November 21, 2021, 3:25 PM
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
For one week every August, Monterey is the centre of the collector car universe. By Gerry Malloy
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Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
The world-famous Pebble Beach golf course is equally famous as the site of what is arguably the world’s most prestigious Concours d’Elegance; 2016 was its 66th edition.
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Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
On the same weekend, not far away at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion enjoys a similar status in the world of vintage car racing,
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The Quail
On Friday, in nearby Carmel Valley, ‘The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering’ amasses some of the planet’s finest automobile and motorcycles in a garden-party setting for the champagne and caviar crowd at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club. Where else could you see a line-up of two-dozen Lamborghini Miuras celebrating their 50th anniversary?
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Best of Show at the Quail
This 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Spyder won the Rolex Best of Show award at The Quail.
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Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance
Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance
Earlier in the week, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, which is open to vehicle participating in the Concours, toured the Monterey area, with a prolonged lunch stop and street display in the adjacent community of Carmel-by-the Sea – perhaps the easiest and for sure the least expensive way for people to see the Concours cars.
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Auctions galore
Meanwhile, throughout the week and throughout the Monterey area there were multiple classic car auctions held by such major players in the business as Bonhams, Mecum, Goodings, RM Sotheby’s, and Russo and Steele. According to Hagerty, which insures a high proportion of those classics, 719 vehicle lots were sold, for $344.9 million (USD)!
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$3.685-million Ferrari LaFerrari
At the Bonhams auction. held in conjunction with The Quail, this 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari sold for $3.685-million (USD).
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$19.8-million Alfa Romeo
Across the peninsula, at the RM Sotheby's auction in Monterey, this 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider fetched $19,800,000 (USD)! But even that wasn't the top seller.
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$21.78-million 1955 Jaguar D-Type
The top-dollar honour went to this former team Ecurie Ecosse, 1955 Jaguar D-Type, which won the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1956. It sold for $21,780,000 (USD) at RM Sotheby’s.
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The Tour
It's a requirement that cars have to be able to start and run to be eligible for an award in the Concours. What better way to demonstrate that ability than taking part in the Tour.?
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Great driving roads
It's a way to experience some great driving roads such as the peninsula's famous Seventeen Mile Drive. And for spectators to see them along the way.
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Spectacular scenery
As well as to take in some spectacular scenery along the Pacific coast.
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Grand Classics at The Lodge
The main event for classic car aficionados, however, was the Pebble Beach Concours, where Grand Classics such as these took centre stage in front of The Lodge.
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The perfect setting
It’s the perfect setting for cars like this 1939 Bugatti Type 57C VanVooren Cabriolet.
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Elegance
The common theme throughout the Concours is Elegance. it's apparent in the cars...
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More elegance
And in the setting and the people in attendance.
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Stars among the cars
While the cars were clearly the stars of the show, there were plenty of human stars there as well. The who’s-who of the automotive world on hand included Sir Jackie Stewart...
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Jay Leno
And, of course, Jay Leno, shown here chatting with Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali.
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Fit for ‘The King’
There were cars of the stars, too, like this BMW 507 once owned by Elvis Presley.
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Current concepts
It wasn’t just the old cars that attracted attention at Pebble Beach, however. The prestige of the event and the affluent crowd it attracts has equally enticed today’s automakers to the Concours as an ideal place to display their current and future wares. Many are assembled in the forecourt of The Lodge, shown here under cover awaiting dawn.
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Bugatti Vision GT
Among those concepts was this Bugatti Vision GT, developed first digitally for the PlayStation video game Gran Turismo. It made its North American debut at Pebble Beach.
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Lamborghini Centenario Roadster
Lamborghini seized the opportunity for the unveiling of its $2.3-million (USD) Centenario Roadster by CEO Stefano Domenicali.
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BMW 2002 Hommage
Several automakers held separate private events for media and customers to introduce concepts or new models before showing them at the Concours or the Motorsports Reunion. BMW, for example, revealed this 2002 Hommage concept.
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BMW Centennial celebration
BMW was front and centre at the Motorsport Reunion as well where it was the honoured marque in tribute to the centennial of the brand's founding. Can you identify all the BMW race cars displayed here?
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BMW 328
This one is an original BMW 328, the brand's first sports car, built between 1936 and 1940. A similar model won its class in the Mille Miglia in 1938.
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1975 BMW 3.0 CSL IMSA racer
Of more recent vintage is this 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, which terrorized the competition in IMSA racing in the ‘70s. It’s still one of the prettiest sedan racers ever.
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Vintage racers
While BMWs were in abundance, given their honoured status, they were but a small part of the colossal field at the Rolex Motorsport Reunion. There were plenty of truly vintage racers...
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Mercury Comet racer
Some relative oddballs like this rare Mercury Comet racer...
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Shadow Can-Am cars
And the crown-pleasing thunder of these spectacular Shadow Can-Am cars.
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Ferrari 250 GTO
And yes, that's a real gazillion-dollar Ferrari 250 GTO really racing in the marine-layer fog that characterizes mornings in Monterey.
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The Corkscrew
Just as famous as many of the cars themselves is Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca's infamous 'corkscrew' series of turns – an ideal vantage point for watching races, vintage or otherwise.
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Ford GT40s
There were sports cars back at the Concours, too – including a phalanx of Ford GT40s honouring the 50th anniversary of that car's first victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. These were the three finalists in Concours judging for that special class.
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Best of Show finalists
The three finalists for Best of Show were (from left to right): a1931 Stutz DV-32 LeBaron Convertible Victoria; a 1938 Delahaye 165 Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet; and a 1936 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina Cabriolet
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Best of Show!
The Best of Show winner at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was this 1936 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina Cabriolet. One of just six built, it was once owned by musician Eric Clapton and is now owned by first-time Pebble Beach entrant, Richard Mattei of Paradise Valley, Arizona.
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