A Day at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

If you love cars shows you know that the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance IS the one to attend at least once in a lifetime. This most prestigious of events is not as much about the cars, but more about a lifestyle that most people only dream about. It is the car culture taken to a whole other level. If you have been following the blog lately you have seen some of the fine works of rolling art that caught my attention, this post however is about the experience of being there and what a fine day it was!

Through these walls is classic car heaven... and lots of fine art, and memorabilia.

Ferrari 250GTO 50th Anniversary at Pebble Beach

Ferrari 250GTOs as far as the eye could see. If you are a fan of this famous race car, the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was the place to be this past August. Twenty two of these Italian thoroughbreds including the first car to be built, were a highlight of this show. It was great not only to see but to hear these fabulous machines. Most interesting, 4 of the 22 cars that were on display reside in the Pacific Northwest. What's up with these owners that we never get to see these rolling pieces of history around our local events? With many of these changing hands in the multi-million dollar range it is not surprising they only come out for special occasions.

Chassis 4757GT - Built in 1963, this car war rebuilt several times before retiring in 1965.

Pebble Beach 2011 - 1960 Plymouth XNR Ghia Roadster

Created by Chrysler's design chief Virgil Exner and built by Ghia in Italy, the Plymouth XNR is a cool design study in asymmetry. A surprise to see it at Pebble Beach. It really evokes the design spirit of the late 50's. Definitively one of my favorites of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Check out Jay Leno's interview of the owner of this unique piece of rolling sculpture.

Pebble Beach 2011 - 1954 Hudson Italia Touring Coupe

An interesting Italo-American hybrid built by Touring of Milan on a Hudson Jet chassis. This one is the last one of the series of 26 cars built.

Click on the images to enlarge

Pebble Beach 2011 - 1934 Ford Model 40 Special Speedster

I saw this beauty in a magazine not too long ago. Really special to see it "in the metal". There are plenty of details about the history of this Edsel Ford's speedster at the Ford Media site. You can also take a look at the interview done by Jay Leno during the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Pebble Beach 2011 - 1915 Mercedes Model 28/60 HP

I was attracted to this beautiful Mercedes 28/60 town car by its interesting headlights. I never realized that some owners back then had summer/winter coach work that could be swapped over the same chassis. Apparently this one started life as a touring car and later on the owner had a town car body built for the winter. That is a vintage Louis Vuitton luggage set on the roof. I really can't do it justice here so go check out the video at Jay Leno's Garage for more on this unique car...

Pebble Beach 2011 -1969 Mercedes Benz 600 Presidential Landaulet

Rare enough to see a Mercedes 600 but incredible to see first hand one of the 10 top-of-the-line six-door presidential landaulets ever built.