Michael T. Lynch at Pebble Beach, 2016

Vicki and Michael T. Lynch, Pebble Beach, 2016.

This one is so good, I have to show you both front and rear views. This is not French. It is a Lancia Astura Aerodinamico by Castagna. The firm was founded in 1849 and when this was built in the 1930s, it was being run by Ercole Castagna, the son of the founder. He had built it into the largest carrozzeria in Italy, specializing in upper end chassis like Alfa, Lancia, Isotta Fraschini and Mercedes. Clientele consisted of captains of industry, highly placed politicians and film and other entertainment stars. This Astura has a 1934 chassis with the second series 3.0-liter V-8. Lancia envisioned it as competition for the hallowed Alfa 8C2900. The body was originally placed on an Alfa 8C 2300, which was shown at the 1934 Milan Auto Show. It was then removed and placed on this Lancia in 1935, when it raced in the Pescara 24 Hours. It is the only short chassis version of three or four similar bodies on Asturas, depending on the source. Obviously, Castagna took some styling cues from Joseph Figoni, although he was operating out of an atelier in Paris. The car won the Vitesse-Elegance Trophy at Pebble Beach. Owners are Ton and Maya Meijer from The Netherlands.

Bruce Meyer’s Iso Grifo A3C was presented in its 1965 Le Mans livery where it finished first in class, the marque’s greatest racing success. This one is unusual because the body is not the usual Drogo aluminum riveted style, but was done in fiberglass by Italian yacht manufacturer Cantirei Nautici Catarsi. It is also special in being the first A3C with independent rear suspension and inboard disc brakes. There were two of these at Pebble Beach. Bizzarrini was employed by Iso, and after leaving, his cars were called Bizzarrinis. The A3Cs were correctly included in the Bizzarrini Class.

What appears to be an 8/10th scale Bizzarrini 5300 Strada is actually a Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa. In an attempt to stabilize Bizzarrini’s always suspect finances, this car was an attempt in the mid-1960s to have a lower priced product to compete with Alfa and Lancia. Because of Bizzarrini’s collaboration with General Motors as his engine supplier, the Europa was built with many GM parts including a 1900 cc Opel engine. This was the same engine that was used in the Opel GT, an attractive car, but nothing like this. The Europa was introduced at the 1965 Turin show, but according to Winston Goodfellow’s definitive Bizzarrini, A Technician Devoted to Motor-Racing, only 12 were built before the firm imploded in 1969.

Adding to the Italian festival feeling was a class for Fiats with custom coachwork. This Fiat 1100E was entered by the Dutch company, Strada and Corsa. About ten of these were made in the early 1950s and besides the custom coachwork also had engine modifications by Carlo Abarth. The most striking feature is the dual tone paint echoing the Zagato logo.

Andreas Mohringer had a big week, winning Best of Show at the Quail with his Ferrari 375 Mille Miglia and showing this long tail Maserati Tipo 60/61 Allegretti Birdcage at Pebble Beach. It won the Postwar Sports Racing class, as well as the Phil Hill Cup. Originally built as a two-liter car, it was raced by Stirling Moss, who won with it at Rouen in 1959. At the end of the year, it was fitted with a three-liter engine and sold to Lucky Casner’s Camoradi racing team where it was driven by Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby and Masten Gregory. The original body was replaced by this streamlined version for Le Mans in 1960. After that it was sold to J. Frank Harrison who entered the car in the Elkhart Lake 200 in 1960. His driver, Jim Jeffords won the race. The car was later successful in vintage racing, most notably when driven by Stephen Griswold.

Jim Patterson’s Delahaye 135 Competition Court Figoni et Falaschi Coupe was in the Prewar Delahaye Class. Around 20 of these short chassis 135s were built and only three survive. The first owner was M. Jeancart of Paris. Figoni and Falaschi also built a Talbot Lago T 150 SS Teardrop coupe for him and the second style of the Teardrop shape is named for him. Other owners in the Delahaye chain included Doris del Rio, a leading actress in Hollywood, who began her career in silent films and made the transition to talkies. In the 1940s, she returned to Mexico and was one of the stars of the golden age of Mexican cinema. The 135 previously won its class at Pebble Beach and was featured on the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours poster.

An open variation of the body style above is the Revs Institute’s Delahaye 135 S Figoni and Falaschi Special Roadster, also on the short wheelbase. It was presented at the 1937 Paris Auto Salon where the crowd marveled at Figoni’s fender treatment that contributed to the impression of a flowing form. Scalloped pieces on the hood sides, as well as the brightwork filets at the bottom trimline also call attention to the sensuous curves. The interior was by Hermès, a luxury goods producer founded in 1837 and still vibrant today. Other advanced features, all patented, were a retractable front windscreen, a disappearing top, lightweight competition seats with tubular frames and a disappearing convertible top. At one time there was a center headlamp, but that was removed in a redo of the body in 1938, when the car also received front and rear bumpers.

The Mullin Automotive Museum shared this beautiful Delage D8-120 Chapron Cabriolet with Pebble attendees. During the war, the car was requisitioned by a Vichy General who had to leave France after the war or face collaboration charges. He sent the car to California, but was unable to get a U.S. visa and ended up in Argentina. He later sold the car to RKO studios. It starred in Gene Kelly’s immortal paean to France, “An American in Paris”. It was also in the Noir classic, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”, starring James Cagney. The best story concerning the car is that it came into the hands of an RKO employee who made an offer to studio head Howard Hughes, to trade his retirement package for the car. Hughes accepted. The Delage was awarded second in the Chapron Delahaye Class.

This prewar Alfa 6C 2500 SS Touring Berlinetta has a storied history. It is thought to have been gifted by Mussolini to his mistress, Clara Petacci, and used as their escape vehicle when they tried to get to Switzerland, before the partisans captured them. The car was confiscated and ultimately sold to an American Air Force officer who brought it to the U.S. A noted owner was Ronald Keno, father of the antique specialists and vintage racers, Leslie and Leigh Keno. The body by Touring is exquisite. Details such as the vents on the fender skirts and the sweep of the top of the trunk lid make it a visual delight. The owners are Kenneth Sterne and Imtiaz Mohammad Shaikh. The car won the European Classic Early Class as well as the J. B. and Dorothy Nethercutt Most Elegant Closed Car Award and the Art Center College of Design Award.

Fashionmeister Lawrence Stroll’s Ferrari 330 P4 Drogo Spyder won the Ferrari Competition Class and the Gran Turismo Trophy. It is no stranger to winning, having finished as follows in 1967 Sports Car World Championship events; first at the Monza 1000 Kilometers, second at the Daytona 24 Hours, third at Le Mans and fifth at the BOAC 500 miles. It has been restored to the livery of the BOAC event. One of its owners was Bernie Ecclestone, the major domo of Formula One.

Jim Hull’s Delahaye 135 MS Chapron Vedette Cabriolet was at the 1948 Paris Auto Salon. Vedette is French for star or celebrity and this car certainly lived up to its name. There were only three others with similar bodies. You have to love the see-through steering wheel. First sold in Paris, it came to America when Otto Zipper bought it. Zipper was a Porsche, Ferrari and Audi dealer in Los Angeles who also dealt in prewar sporting cars like Bugatti. He also ran a successful racing team. It was shown by Jim Hull, long-time man-about-French cars.

The number 71 car in the background is the only one of three BMW roadsters that ran in the 1940 Mille Miglia that had a body by the factory. The other two were done by Touring of Milan. It is owned by Oscar Davis and has not been restored. “VeloceToday” concentrates on French and Italian cars, but it should be noted that there were some remarkable BMW cars and motorcycles on the Monterey Peninsula during Holy Week to celebrate the firm’s 100th anniversary. This was definitely one of them. The peaked fender line on the car led to the factory nickname, Trouser Crease.

Most people are unaware that the Bugatti Type 44 was Bugatti’s mainstay, with over 1,100 being made. This is a Fiacre model – four survive out of eight, and this is the only unrestored one. It was entered in the Prewar Preservation Class. They were built to a Jean Bugatti design. The engine is three-liter straight eight, based on the Type 35 racing model. Bradley Farrell owns the car. When I saw someone sitting on it I was about to say something to the sitter. Luckily, before I ran my mouth, I saw that the gentleman had an entrant badge. Even at Pebble Beach you are allowed to sit on a car, if it’s yours.

Roger Willbanks Delahaye 135 MS Figoni and Falaschi Narval Cabriolet is named after a Narwhal, a toothed, medium-sized whale that swims in arctic waters. It has a long protruding canine tooth that gives it a Unicorn look. Certainly the Delahaye has a prominent proboscis, although it is thankfully unlike the whale’s. With its fully enclosed wheels and liberal use of trim, the car is a true Figoni art deco fantasy. Introduced at the Barcelona motor show in 1948, it was sold to the owner of the Palace Hotel in Madrid. It won its class at Pebble Beach in 1987. In 1992, when there was a special display of Delahayes, this car was featured on the Pebble Beach Concours poster, rendered by artist Bill Motta, a member of the Automotive Fine Arts Society, who displays his work in the AFAS tent on the Pebble Beach show field each year.

After Bizzarrini closed the doors on his manufacturing plant, he still made an appearance at the 1968 Turin Show with this striking Bizzarrini P538 Italdesign Manta Concept. Entered at Pebble Beach by Albert Spiess, this was one of the first designs by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s new firm, Italdesign. Built on the P538 Le Mans Chassis, it was powered by a Chevrolet V-8 in competition tune. The entire presentation was startling, but one of the most discussed features was the central steering layout, with passengers on both sides of the driver. This was 25 years in advance of the McLaren F1 GT using a similar layout. The Manta was “Road & Track” magazine’s cover car in the March 1969 issue and took third this year in the Bizzarrini Class.

The Robert M. Lee Automobile Collection entered this Delahaye 165 Figoni and Falaschi Cabriolet. It won the Prewar Delahaye Class and was one of three nominees for Best of Show. It wowed the crowds at the 1938 Paris Salon and is one of the most sporting Delahayes ever. Built on a racing type 145 chassis, power is provided by the same V-12 engine as Delahaye’s period Grand Prix and sports racing contenders. An almost identical sister car was built and shown at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. A previous owner was Adrian Conan Doyle, son of Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes books.

This Delahaye 135 M Figoni and Falaschi Cabriolet is from the Mullin Automotive Museum. The striking filigreed headlamps had once been modified while the car was in the care of Indian collector Prince de Berae Mukarran Jah. When Peter Mullin had the car restored, it was returned to its original configuration with help from Claude Figoni, the designer’s son. The first French buyer was a friend of Joseph Figoni and the car appeared at the Paris Auto Salon. It has won many prizes including one on its home turf, the Chantilly Concours, in 2014. The headlight and driving lamp treatment along with the carefully shaped fully enclosed fenders make this one of Figoni’s most sublime designs. It finished second in the Delahaye Postwar Class.

This Delahaye 145 Chapron close-coupled coupe is a fine example of a thinly-disguised sports racing car with its Type 145 chassis and 165 V-12. It began life as a two seat open racer. Entered by Lucy O’Reilly Schell’s racing team in 1938-9, it achieved some good placings in important races. Coachbuilder Henri Chapron bought two of Schell’s four 145s and used them as the basis of road cars. This one went to a French customer and, for a time, was fitted with a six-cylinder Type 135 engine, because the V-12 was too complex for the owner to maintain. It was imported to America by William Procter of Procter and Gamble. A later American owner found the original engine and after a multi-year rebuild, it was reinstalled. It is now part of the Mullin Automotive Museum collection and was awarded second in the Chapron Delahaye Class.

It should be mentioned that the Mullin Automotive Museum brought eight cars to various events during Holy Week, including four at the Pebble Beach Concours. Peter and Merle Mullin take their position as caretakers for these fabulous cars seriously and should be commended for sharing them with the public, both in their museum and at automotive events around the world.

This Delahaye 135 M Figoni and Falaschi Cabriolet was entered by Ed and Carroll Windfelder. Eighteen of these were made and named El Glaoui for customer Tami El Glaoui, the Pasha of Marrakesh. This is one of nine of these four-seat cabriolets to survive. It came to New York in the 1960s for the Marquis Bernard-Alexis Poisson de Menars who had his coat of arms installed on the steering wheel boss. It finished second in the Delahaye Postwar Class.

This lovely Type 57 Bugatti was bodied by Letourneur et Marchand as a four place cabriolet with three-position top. It was delivered in 1937 to Bugatti’s favorite kind of client, royalty – Baron George de Cocq and his wife, the Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay. Hidden away during the war, it was sold after the hostilities to well-known U.S. Bugattiste, Dr. Milton Roth. It has since returned to France, moved on to the Netherlands and is now in the hands of another U.S. doctor, J. Craig Venter and Heather Kowalski.

This Bugatti Type 57S Gangloff Atalante Coupe was the company’s most sporting model. With its low chassis and race-proven 3.3-liter engine, it was unlikely to meet anything on the French Route Nationals that could keep up, with the exception of the 57 SC, the supercharger of which gave a further 40 horsepower. This Atalante was ordered by a French doctor who was active in the Resistance during World War II. The Rare Wheels Collection went home with a first place in the European Classic Late Class. The green ribbon signifies that the car took part in the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance.

Jerry Pantis brought this Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia Pinin Farina Berlinetta from Montreal. It didn’t win anything, but perhaps it should have. It was beautifully turned out. It also has a Mille Miglia and Tour of Sicily race history. The beautiful restoration was done just last year.

The Petersen Museum’s Delahaye 135 M Figoni and Falaschi Cabriolet mimics the similar car from the Mullin Museum. Folding the windscreen flat gives it an even more aggressive stance. Only ten of these were made and three survive. It was bought new by an Algerian gentleman named Fould. In 1992 it was found under a tree on an Algerian farm and a British car finder made the purchase for only 60 Pounds.

Gabriel Voisin is better known in aviation circles that among car collectors. He started the world’s first commercial aircraft manufacturer and built 50,000 planes. He dabbled in prefabricated housing and then turned to automobiles. Less than 150 of the 27,000 cars he built survive. He brought aircraft practice to autos and the unfamiliar fabrication and aesthetics of his cars aroused both interest and scorn. He was undeterred and produced some of the most interesting cars of his age. This, while spending a great deal of his time attracting beautiful women to his side and establishing a celebrity clientele that included, Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier, Le Corbusier, Anatole France, Rudolph Valentino and. H. G. Wells. Steve and Marilee Hamilton entered their Voisin C25 Cimier in the European Classic Early Class, taking third. Twenty-eight of the Cimier body style were built and the four-seat coupe was the most sporting of the line. The patterned upholstery is a copy of the original and was typical of Voisins of the period. The Hamiltons are third in the chain of ownership.

Richard Mattei had been to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance twice before, but never as an entrant. He brought this Lancia Astura Pinin Farina Cabriolet that won Best of Show, first in the European Classic Early Class and the Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible Award. A series of six of these, known as the Tipo Bocca, was built for the Lancia dealer in Brescia, Italy. A later owner of this one was rocker Eric Clapton, who has been quoted as saying the car provided, “the most fun I’ve had offstage and out of bed.” His choice of cars seems to be the equal of his choice of Robert Johnson songs. The details are sublime. There is a power convertible top, a basket woven interior, curved side glass and wood grained instruments. The latter are not metric leading to speculation that the first customer was British. The engraved brightwork trimlines run completely around the car and the rear three-quarter view may be the best because of them. There have been years where the best of show choice led to some head scratching among the wags, but this was not one of them. A fantastic car and a deserving winner. Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

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