Pebble Beach, 16th of August
Thursday is the day during the Monterey Classic Car week when
spectators have the first opportunity to see some of the cars that
will be at the lawn on Sunday for the big final. The Pebble Beach
Tour was introduced some years ago to show that the
participating cars are not just good looking trailer queens but that
they have the ability to take at least a few miles under their own 4
wheels.
Early in the morning the cars are unloaded from the horde of big
trucks standing opposite of the Gooding&Company tent.
Hundreds of people come to have a first look at the car in various
classes ranging from Edwardians to sports cars from the sixties.
This year classes include two classes of former Maharaja cars, a
class for Mercer and the featured coachbuilder Saoutchik.
Especially the later should be contender for the Best of Show as
usually the winner is a pre-war car with a special, mostly one-off
body. The entrants in this class range from a duo of
Mercedes-Benz to Hispano Suiza, Delage and Pegaso.
Especially the Delage was one of the favourite cars of the visitors
but it is way too early to speculate about a potential winner as
several cars did not take part at the tour. Although the
participation in the Tour might be crucial at the end in case of
equal point by the jury, the last two years proved that a
participation is not necessarily required to be crowned at the end
so another car might appear on Sunday taking home the coveted
trophy.
The Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 with Figoni body might be another
contender as the car already won the Best of Show on the other
side of the Atlantic, at this year's Concorso d´Eleganza at the
Villa d´Este.
Ferrari is again represented with two separate classes including
the brutal 410 Sport on the one side, an elegant 212 Inter Pinin
Farina Cabriolet on the other. But highlight in this class was
without doubt the one-off Ferrari 375 Plus with Pinin Farina body
that once belonged to King Leopold of Belgium. This car is in
immaculate condition but not all Ferrari are restored that way as
the tiny 500 Mondial Berlinetta in unrestored condition in the
preserved class proves.
The Tour starts early in the morning at 8:30 am with the cars
divided in three groups running down highway number one the
turning point on Big Sur. This street at the oceanfront of the
Pacific is a superb setting to take pictures of the car rather than
on the crowdie golf course on Sunday and many people came to
take this opportunity. After a lunch stop in the town centre of
Carmel-by-the-Sea the cars were loaded again on the trucks to
get a final detailing for the concours.
After the Tour we made our way to the Quail Lodge to have a first
look on the field for tomorrows Motorsports Gathering. As usual
there are already some very spectacular Ferrari in an own class,
other classes include the ISO history.
But not only old cars could be seen as several manufacturers set
up their tends to show their newest toys to the solvent visitors of
tomorrows event. Bugatti for example had another special series
of the Veyron there, the white-blue Vitesse model. Although most
of the cars were already covered one can look forward to the
gathering as there will be great cars as usual but tomorrow
morning we will find out...
Text & images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarphotography.de
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