Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance; The best moving motoring museum someone could ever witness!

By Richa Aggarwal

The most prestigious event of its kind.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is considered the most prestigious event of its kind. It’s the world’s best annual display of historic and beautiful cars. It’s an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Since 1950, Pebble Beach has been a host to the finest exhibition of show cars in the world. In this awe-inspiring drive that traces portions of the famed 17-Mile Drive, hundreds of vintage cars traverse the roads and show off their impeccable elegance. Around the picturesque sea-side roads people witness these million-dollar cars roar like the best moving motoring museum that someone could ever witness. The Concours also serves as gracious host to some of the most anticipated concept and new cars debuts each year in competition between extraordinary historic automobiles.

Dream Competition.

Pebble Beach Retro Auto has been the destination for the true automotive enthusiast featuring elegant and thoughtfully curate collection of exhibitors offering rare collectibles from automotive past and latest luxury goods and technological tools to enhance today’s driving experience. Car collector’s worldwide dream of competing at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance where the 18th fairway of Pebble beach Golf Links is the stage and the rolling Pacific Ocean serves as backdrop.

An unbeatable combination of beauty and technology.

Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula in California thrive each August as the center of the motoring universe. Offering an unbeatable combination of beauty and technology the area hosts the convergence of two major events, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Whether it is sophisticated German technology, sleek Italian coachwork or delightful minis Pebble Beach Automotive Week has something to offer every enthusiast.

The top-ranking collector car competition in the world since 1950.

Started in 1950, this concours is the top-ranking collector car competition in the world. Initially modeled on the early European Concours that showcased new cars, most modern concours trace their roots from this event. The Pebble Beach Concours shifted its focus to collector cars in 1955 and the other concours soon followed the suit. It has also taken the lead by including racing greats and offering featured marques and special classes as early as 1953 introducing displays of dream cars and concepts in the 1980s and driving events emphasizing on the importance of preservation in 1990’s. The gavel first fell at Pebble Beach back in 1990 and the Pebble Beach Auctions presented by Gooding and Company are amongst the most attended and highly anticipated collector car events of all Pebble Beach Automotive Week that have set numerous world records.

AFAS to promote automobiles as worthy subjects for master-quality fine artwork.

The latest creations by the finest automotive artists are displayed annually at the Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) Exhibition located on the show field of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. In 1983 a group of respected artists with automotive interests formed AFAS to promote automobiles as worthy subjects for master-quality fine artwork. They organized their first major exhibition at the 1986 Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance and it was such a success that it quickly became a regular feature. During 2001 a new category for preservation cars was introduced. The category was designed to “bear witness to the passage of time.” The 2006 event showcased 175 cars lining the 18th green and hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links with 25 judged classes, with cars brought to Pebble Beach from 27states and 13 countries including the U.S. 24 of the 175 cars in the field came from outside the U.S. representing Italy, England, France, Switzerland, Australia, China, Germany, Mexico, Czech Republic, Netherlands and the Philippines. The Cocours received the 2011 Motoring Event of the Year award by the International Historic Motoring Awards. Pebble Beach Concours honors a featured manufacturer, coachbuilder or type every year.

1937 Alfa Romeo won the crown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2018.

The Concours draws together 1200 media members representing a multitude of general news, trade, style and entertainment outlets from around the globe. A 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta won the crown as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2018 Best of Show after the judges finished evaluating the style, history and accuracy of preservation of each car. Among the 2018 assemblage of pre- and post-war beauties, we saw special classes for the Italian Marque Osca, the short-lived but innovative Tucker, Eisenhower-era convertibles, and motorcars of the Raj. Here are some of the winners. The winning 1937 Alfa Romeo was far from the only stunner as usual. We polled our editors and contributors for some of their favorites spotted Sunday on the 18th fairway. The total sales reached $368 million in 2018. The Concours is the highlight to a week of major car auctions. More than 20,000 people gathered for the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance. The highest ever auction price went to the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that was sold for $48.4 million at RM Sotheby’s and the most expensive American car sold at auction went to a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Roadster which was sold for $22 million at Gooding & Co. 1,341 vehicles were sold with a median price of $95,200 up $5,000 from a year earlier and a sell-through rate of 61% in three days and six auction houses. The total sales number was significantly more beating the estimates of $342 million. The likes for Audi, Buggati and Mercedes- Benz increased.

This trip will take you back in time.

Over 200 glorious vintage and antique cars with enough stories and histories of Maharajas attached to it to fill volumes of books and expectantly there’s a lot of curiosity among the show goers regarding them. The best cars here are from India. The 1935 beautiful Bently belongs to Jagdish Thackersey. Amal Tanna’s bright red 1921 Fiat 501 S Corsa race car looks factory fresh from a comprehensive restoration. The car originally belonged to the Maharaja of Patiala who was known for his fondness for Rolls Royces. He had 44 Rolls Royces! Maharaja of Nawanagar had a greater affinity for the British marquee, having had 20 Lanchesters to his name. Lanchester’s own advertising declared, ‘No Lanchester should overheat in traffic in any city in the British Empire.’ Of course, you can’t talk Indian royalty and not talk Rolls-Royce. The car is today owned by Roshini Jaiswal. It was a proud moment for the Indian classic car movement, an Indian auto historian, Honorary Judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the man behind the ‘Motor Cars of the Raj’ classes, Manvendra Singh was honoured at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours. The prize-winning 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Gurney Nutting Streamline Coupe was originally commissioned by the Maharaja of Jodhpur. The Tour d’Elegance that has the show cars take to the road for a drive, a moving museum if you will. That being said, if you have a passion for vintage cars, you have to find a way to see the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s a trip that’ll take you back in time. 

The world’s premier event for collector car enthusiasts.

The name Pebble Beach has long been synonymous with excellence and style and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is now widely regarded as the world’s premier event for collector car enthusiasts. Opportunities abound at the concours. With the support of the partners the concours has contributed over $25 million to charity.

Realm of the wealthy.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is considered to be the realm of the wealthy and the most powerful people in the world whose names appear regularly in the pages of Forbes and Fortune magazines, the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

The world’s best annual display of historic and beautiful cars.

The competition is a unique competition of elegance in which the automobiles and motorcycles are judged for their historical accuracy, their technical merit and their style rather than of speed. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is one of the most competitive events in the automotive world. The Wall Street Journal says, “The Pebble Beach Concous d’Elegance is the world’s best annual display of historic and beautiful cars.” Since 1950, Pebble Beach has been the host to the finest exhibition of show cars in the world.