Monterey in Captions


Story and Photos by Michael T. Lynch

Scroll down for photo gallery.

Tony Singer (straw hat) took time from running his Automobilia Monterey exhibition to oversee the restoration of this beautifully done Siata 208 S Bertone, entered in the Postwar Sports Racing class at Pebble. You can read more about Tony and his cars at (Tony Singer)

Best in Show at Pebble Beach in 2005 was awarded to the 1937 Delage D8-120 S Pourtout Aero Coupe. By 1937, Delahaye owned the Delage nameplate, but Louis Delage would occasionally commission a special car. When a new straight eight was developed for the D8 series, Louis Delage had a coupe designed for the model’s introduction at the 1937 Paris Salon. George Paulin did the drawings for Marcel Pourtout’s coachbuilding firm. Paulin had done the Darl’Mat Peugeots and was working on the Embricios Bentley and some of the Bentley’s styling cues can be seen in the Delage. The car is owned today by Emily and Stanley Mann. This is the couple’s fourth win at Pebble and creates a tie for second between the Manns and the late William Harrah, whose cars also won four times. Jack Nethercutt, who died last December, won the classic event six times. The only other multiple winners are Phil Hill, Auturo Keller and Ralph Lauren. All have won twice each.

At the beginning of the day, this Talbot-Lago T 150 C SS, entered by the Nethercutt Collection was generating a lot of buzz as a Best of Show contender. At the end of the day, it won its class, European Classics 1925-1939 Closed.

When Pebble Beach honors a marque, they do it right. This mouth-watering display along Carmel Bay includes the Alfa Museum's Tipo 159,Carlo Voegele's 158, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum's ex-Johnnie Mauro 308, Neil Hadfield's 12C and Ralph Lauren's 8C 2900 B MM Touring Spyder. Lauren's car won the Alfa Romeo Pre-War Racing class.

There have been many Alfa variations of the Disco Volante theme, but none are more striking than this 2000 by Touring. Another reason the Alfa Museum is a must see when in Italy.

Paul Russell (blue blazer) is interviewed about his stunning restoration of Ralph Lauren's Alfa 8C2900 B MM Touring Spyder. This car won the Pre War Alfa Race Car class. This car finished second in the 1938 Mille Miglia and found its way to Los Angeles after the war. It raced at Watkins Glen and Pikes Peak. Phil Hill used it to win the Del Monte Handicap in 1951, run on the old Pebble Beach road course. It was later owned by noted industrial designer, Brooks Stevens. The Alfa was recently part of the Speed, Style and Beauty exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

The Alfa 8C2900B is considered the pinnacle of prewar sports cars and perhaps this is the greatest of the 8Cs. The Alfa museum brought this one-off, Touring-bodied coupe which was created for the 1938 Le Mans race. The car totally dominated the race until almost mid-day on Sunday when a broken valve caused it to retire. It was leading by over one hundred miles at the time. The factory sold the car early in 1939 and the bill of sale was signed by Enzo Ferrari. Italian owners raced it after the war but then it was not used for some time, although it was never butchered. It went into a UK museum until the early eighties. An English buyer traded it to the Alfa factory for an Alfa 158 Grand Prix car and it has been in the Alfa Museum since.

Alfa 8C2900s were thick on the ground at Pebble Beach this year, with ten of them on the field. There was even a class just for them, won by Ray Scherr. There must have been some tough choices for the judges, because Bob Lee's car, pictured here, didn't even place.

They've been here before, but to see the Alfa B.A.T. 5, 7 and 9 concept cars together is an amazing sight. Thanks to Cars International, Ltd. of London.

David Smith (red tie) discusses the details of his Alfa 6C2500 Competizione with Ed Godshalk. This fabulous car was one of three, and the only survivor. It was originally purchased by Italian Franco Rol who drove it in the Mille Miglia four times, finishing third in 1949 after leading most of the way from Rome. It also took part in the Targa Florio and Dolomite Cup and won at Pescara. The Alfa then spent almost forty years stored under a lean-to in the Sleeping Beauties collection depicted in Automobile Quarterly. Smith found it in the back of an Alfa dealership in Belgium. It finished second in the Postwar Alfa Sports Racing class.

The prewar Alfa race car lineup includes Antonius Meijer's 8C2900A Boticella Spyder Corsa, Greg Whitten's P3 Biposti, Bruce and Jolene McCaw's 8C2300 Monza and Elliot Goldstein's RLSS Zagato.

Chip Connor's Alfa 8C 2300 Corto won a third place ribbon in the Prewar Preservation class. It was owned by Guilio Rimoldi from 1937 to 1987 and has never been restored. You can restore them as often as you want, but they're only original once.

American Specials were featured this year at Monterey. In the race for 1947-1957 Sports Racing cars over 2000cc however, the results reflected that era. European cars dominated with Rob Walton winning in a C-Type Jaguar. Joe Colasacco's Alfa 6C 3000 Coli coupe (pictured) wasn't far behind. A Lancia D24 and two more C-Types filled out the top five.

Bobby Rahal accepts the tributes of the corner workers after beating all the Corvettes in his Ferrari 250 SWB. This victory had a special meaning for two spectators. Bob Peters and Michael Lynch had been at Sebring in 1961 when journalist Denise McCluggage and jazz musician Allen Eager won the GT Class in a similar SWB. Later that year, Peters and Lynch did National Guard summer camp duty in Wisconsin and journeyed to Chicago for an SCCA National. On that occasion, Denise beat all the Corvettes with her SWB, just as Rahal did. Monterey has a wonderful way of recreating some of our fondest memories.