A Show of Passion
SUNSHINE GLINTS OFF THE LONG, lustrous hood of a 1958 Ferrari 250GT LWB Spyder California, a cherry red sex bomb evocative of one-time owner, starlet Brigitte Bardot. Millionaires mingle with billionaires who mix with celebrities, car nuts and the world’s most influential automobile designers. Carmel’s bluebird skies provide the canopy, the Pacific Ocean the backdrop, and the storied 18th fairway at Pebble Beach the stage for the dazzling array of marques—Duesenbergs, Aston Martins and the crème de la crème of collector cars.
Welcome to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the greatest car show on earth.
The first Concours was held in conjunction with the first Pebble Beach Road Race in 1950. It was a quaint gathering of car buffs in the Del Monte forest with about 30 cars. More than half a century later, the Concours has blossomed into a glamorous, invitation-only extravaganza of nearly 190 rare and classic cars, attracting more than 25,000 spectators and international entries from as far away as Hong Kong.
The total cost of vehicles on display in last year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance hovered near $200 million. Looking ahead to the next Concours, which will showcase the historic Italian marque Lancia and Italian super sports car Lamborghini—as well as the General Motors centennial—begs the question, just who is insuring this lucrative niche?
Bonhomie is in the air. Corporate sponsor tents spill down the hill from either side of The Lodge at Pebble Beach. Ladies wearing flamboyant hats and gentlemen in seersucker suits lounge on blankets spread across the lawn facing the winner’s circle. Elaborately catered picnics and buckets of champagne dot the landscape. It is a tony affair, and you never know just whom you might run into.
Pink Floyd Drummer Nick Mason has entered his red 1934 Aston Martin Ulster. Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss is appropriately admiring one of the 17 Ferraris on display. American designer Ralph Lauren attends most years, as does “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. Leno, who entertains the crowd as guest commentator during the raffle awards, won his class in 2004 with his 1916 Crane-Simplex Model 5 Holbrook Skiff. Upon winning he remarked, “Is this a great country or what? Where a mere millionaire like myself can beat all these billionaires.”
However, the celebrity attracting the biggest crowds is not a person at all, but rather the gadget riddled James Bond car of “Goldfinger” fame, one of five built for the movie. This 1964 Aston Martin DB5 is competing in the Aston Martin Postwar Coach built class, complete with rotating license plates and a bulletproof rear shield.
But make no mistake: Despite the convivial atmosphere, this is a serious competition. According to Matt Shore, executive vice president and curator of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Ind., “It is not just a car show. It is a show about passion. Collectors spend decades getting here. This weekend is a celebration of this passion.”
Vetting is rigorous to say the least. “Winning here means a lot and it is a tough process,” says Pebble Beach Concours Chairman Sandra Kasky Button. “Only the most beautiful and rare cars are invited.”
The process is twofold: Class judges focus primarily on originality and authenticity, while honorary judges direct their attention to the more subjective task of rating cars for their design, styling and elegance. They determine the winners of many additional special awards apart from the class competition and Best of Show.
To be eligible to win Best of Show at Pebble Beach—the event’s top award—a car must first win its class. Class judges evaluate all of the candidates in a particular class to determine if they are correctly preserved or restored. A professional restoration costs $50,000 to $500,000andtakes one to two years, depending on the condition of the car and availability of materials.
“By placing this emphasis on originality and authenticity in class competition, the Pebble Beach Concours strives to make a significant contribution to the proper preservation of automotive history,” says Ed Gilbertson, Pebble Beach Concours chief judge since 1999.
For the 2007 Concours, the selection com- mittee of 10 judges sent out 1,200 invitations and received a few hundred submissions. After meticulously researching the cars, the final tally hovered around 190 with 24 judged classes and two featured marques—the Auburn Cord Duesen- berg group and Aston Martin.
The 1932 Ford, the quintessential hotrod that brought style and performance to the mass market and was immortalized in “American Graffiti,” cel- ebrated its 75th anniversary last year. The judges marked this important anniversary with a class of historically significant ’32 Ford hotrods, which are always named after the guy who built them or the person who owned the car when it gained most notoriety.
“Our goal each year is to produce a Concours that serves as the ultimate celebration of the automobile,” Button says. “We combine the setting with a show that attracts an international crowd and the finest designs from more than 100 years of the automobile, and you’ve created the Monte Carlo Grand Prix of classic car shows.”
Not just a pretty face, the annual affair has raised more than $10 million for charity over the years and more than $1 million in 2007 alone.
Building Up to Concours Sunday
The Pebble Beach Concours has grown into five days of official and unofficial events sprinkled throughout the Monterey Peninsula,each one adding to the excitement building up to Concours Sunday.
There is the Concorso Italiano, a celebration of all things Italian but centered around collectible Italian automobiles, motorcycles and boats. The coveted ticket is for The Quail, Friday’s “motor-sports gathering” at Quail Lodge, a casually elegant afternoon for connoisseurs of gourmet food, fine wine, vintage cars, jewelry and watches. Historic automobile races at Laguna Seca driven by racing greats like Parnelli Jones, plus the Rolex Road Rally around the Monterey Peninsula, and the Carmel Vintage Car Parade round out the festivities.
But you needn’t leave the Concours grounds at Pebble Beach to have a good time. For the two days leading up to the Concours, there are concept cars to gawk at, automotive collectibles to peruse at Retro Auto, and the official Gooding & Co. annual classic car auction.
Should you really catch Concours fever and have the sudden urge to impetuously purchase a 1956 Lancia, you could be in real trouble. Bon- hams & Butterfields, Russo and Steele, and RM all hold auctions on the Friday and Saturday prior. The combined total sales for the 2007 Monterey auctions: a staggering $134 million.
Due to the logistics of auctioning these pricey and rare cars, it is not for the faint of heart. Despite its $8 million Monterey sale and the record sale of the 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso, once owned by Steve McQueen, Christie’s closed its International Motor Car Department in September. Opened in 1972, it was the longest-standing name in collector car sales.
As Malcolm Barber, CEO of Bonhams & Butter- fields, said in an interview with Sports Car Market, “Dealing with sale locations away from your showrooms, transportation and insurance, and the potential liability issues involved with dealing in cars is a complex and sometimes difficult task.”
This article was published in Leader’s Edge Magazine in March 2008. While the focus is on insuring fine and vintage cars, the first half of the article describes the splendid experience you can have at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the greatest car show on earth.