Between 1954 and 1956, Maserati built 60 A6G/54s of which ten convertibles and seven coupés were bodied by Frua. This car is the only surviving A6G/54 Series III Frua coupé.
Again this year Belgian photographer Hugues Vanhoolandt has outdone himself at Monterey. We present the first of series of “Gallery Vanhoolandt” articles from This year’s California Car Week.
Photos and captions by Hugues Vanhoolandt
For the 64th edition of the Pebble Beach Concours, the Ruxton, the first front-wheel drive American production car, was in the spotlight with 16 of the 19 known to exist being there.
Coachbuilder Fernandez & Darrin was another highlight this year. Here is a pair of Hispano-Suizas, a J12 Coupé de Ville and a K6 Coupé Chauffeur, built for Anthony de Rotschild in 1934 for him and his wife.
The Concours celebrated the centennial of the 1914 French Grand Prix in which Mercedes-Benz finished one-two-three, to the French public's despair. One month later, WW1 began.
There was a special class dedicated to the Tatras, built in the Czechoslovakian Republic and designed by Hans Ledwinka. These cars were well in advance of their time. This T87 was introduced in 1934.
Mercedes-Benz also had their ’Streamliner’, built in 1938 on a 540K basis for an endurance race between Berlin and Rome that never occurred. It is the first time that the car is seen in public after a three year resurrection.
Also a streamlined car is this 1939 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS, designed by Georges Paulin and built by Marcel Pourtout. This is the last of four cars, completed after the war and successfully raced by French amateur Pierre Boncompagni, alias ‘Pagnibon’.
Also from Talbot-Lago, this elegant coupé by Franay built on the short T26 Grand Sport chassis. Three GS chassis were clothed by Franay, a cabriolet and two coupés.
This 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante was once part of the William Harrah Collection and earned the Best of Show award at Pebble Beach in 1976. It is the 57SC model, S for ‘surbaissée’ (lowered) and C for ‘compresseur’ (supercharged).
This is a unique Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S bodied by Pinin Farina in 1946, first shown at a concours since Monte Carlo in 1947 where it won the Grand Prix d’Honneur.
The famous Ferrari Testa Rossa was also honored this year. Here is a 1957 car (0718 TR) at the start of the Pebble Beach Tour. It leads a rare 1954 250 Monza which is the first Ferrari to wear the pontoon fender body, later applied to the Testa Rossas.
No less than 20 Testa Rossas were reunited on the Pebble Beach lawn.
Another Testa Rossa, a 1957 625 TRC Scaglietti Spyder. This car is believed to be the most winning Ferrari ever, claiming the most first in class and overall wins in races of the period, driven by Cunningham, von Neumann, Ginther, Miles, etc.
The 1952 Ferrari 225 Export Vignale Spyder 0216ED was built for Ferrari driver Jose Froilan Gonzalez and ran many years in Argentina. It is a unique example with distinctive scalloped wings.
Another Vignale creation, this time on a 1954 Ferrari 212 Inter of which Vignale produced 13 examples in berlinetta configuration, each unique.
Still Vignale, still a 212 Inter. This one (0267 EU) was the 1953 Turin showcar.
This 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France is the prototype 14-louver model of the nine examples built. With wins in four editions of the Tour de France, the 250 GT berlinetta became known as the “Tour de France”.
Long time a part of the Pininfarina collection, the Dino 206 Competizione, now owned by Jim Glickenhaus, was first shown at the 1967 Frankfurt Auto Show.
In the Postwar Preservation class, the Ferrari 275 GTB/4 of Paul Stewart, accompanied by his father Jackie, took third in class.
For the first time since 1968, a post-war car took Best of Show with the Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupé (0402 AM) of Jon Shirley. This is also of course the first Ferrari to win.
For its 100th anniversary, Maserati was also honored with various production and race cars. Here a very original 300S (3056) built in 1955 for the Spanish gentleman driver Francisco Godia.
A 1957 250 S (2431) and a 1955 300 S (3053), both with Fantuzzi body. The 250 S was once driven by Carroll Shelby and the 300 S is a 3rd place finisher in the 1955 Sebring 12 Hours.
This Tipo 4CLT was built in 1949 for Automobile Club Argentina and was raced by Juan Manuel Fangio in Europe before returning to South America for the 1950-52 seasons.
1951 A6G 2000 with a rather conservative design by Pinin Farina.
This Zagato bodied A6G/54 has a unique body and is one of just two Zagato-bodied Maseratis with a 'double bubble' roof.
Fantastique toutes ces voitures exceptionnelles . Mon rêve aller au moins une fois à Pebbe Beach et Monterey . Mon âge avançant il va falloir faire vite pour le réaliser , mon rêve .
Pete,
It was a privilege and a stroke of luck for me to be able to accompany Hugues at the Quail and the Concorso. After working with him, I have decided to never attend another car show in California unless he is accompanying me! What an extraordinary talent. Whenever I try to photograph a car, somehow people mysteriously appear out of nowhere in the viewfinder. He does not seem to have this problem. How does he do it?
Interesting to see that Pinin Farina-bodied Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S from ’46. That must have been the “inspiration” — without payment, I’m guessing — for the 1949 Kurtis Kraft, later licensed as the Muntz Jet as late as ’54.