Pebble Beach and the Grand Sports

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

The history of the “Contest of Elegance” dates back to 17th century France, when aristocrats paraded their horse-drawn carriages in Parisian parks during summer weekends and holidays. Today the oldest Concours is the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, first held in 1929. The first Concours in North America was in 1950 at Pebble Beach.

There were numerous Concours in France between the wars, but back then the idea of elegance encompassed more than just the car. It typically involved a woman and her clothes, her jewelry, her hairstyle, her accessories (hat, purse, scarf, shoes), and most importantly, the dog. Of course, during this period many of the most beautiful cars ever made were produced in France, some of which can fortunately be seen at the Pebble Beach Concours every year.

The Pebble Beach Concours is not only the most famous one in the US, it is the most famous one in the world for historically correct and significant automobiles, and it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. It is a triumph of organization, carried out with military precision. Someone once said, “Greatness results partially from what we call “Inspiration,” but it is achieved by consistent, relentless effort.” That is certainly the case here. Let’s take a look behind the curtain to see how it all works, because it is a great story.

First, we should acknowledge that the Pebble Beach community includes 3 resorts, 4 golf courses, and the famous Seventeen Mile Drive. The scenery is spectacular, which is why more than 1.5 million visitors take the drive every year! It is an ideal setting for a show. We can quote an old golf saying, “Drive for show,” (although the real saying is “Drive for show, putt for dough.”) And there is plenty of dough in Pebble Beach.

Each year’s show, now the 71st, is planned years in advance. The first order of business is to decide on the honored categories. This year they were:
-Le Mans racecars, divided into 2 categories: up to 1962 and 1962-2020. There were 29 cars on display and 14 of the 29 were winners.
-McFarlan (sometimes called “the American Rolls Royce)
-Centennial of Lincoln
-Talbot Lago Grand Sport (36 total production)
-Alfa Romeo 8C 2300
-FIAT Otto Vu
-Graber coachwork 1925-1970
-Unorthodox Propulsion

Everything starts with the Selection Committee, which meets in March for 3 days to review applicants and finalize the class entries. This is a group of around a dozen experts who choose the cars invited to participate in the featured classes. Here, you first must be invited to apply. Keep in mind that there are perhaps 1000 cars applying for 200 spots. While invited applicants are perhaps close to the number of spots, there are hundreds more who contact the show on their own to apply. The official acceptance and rejection letters are mailed in April. This year the cars came from 21 countries and 32 states, and there were 29 classes.

Chief Judge Chris Bock says that the committee members “want to make sure that the cars are what they present themselves to be and that they’re authentic and original.” The selection of an individual car might require hours of research, reviewing supporting evidence and documentation provided by the owner and restoration shop.

When the car is judged on the field, cars are evaluated in their classes, perhaps 8 or 9 cars in a class. In addition, there are the technical judges who are specialists in a particular marque, model, and year of production. There are about a hundred of these technical judges. There are also about 50 honorary judges, but they are not judging mechanical components. Points are deducted for over restoration, inaccuracy, and “imperfections.” Points are given for “presence,” beauty, style, and even color. Cars are judged for accuracy of restoration or preservation integrity. Mechanically, everything has to work. The scoring is adapted from one used by the Classic Car Club of America, which totals 100 points. However, the judges can award up to 3 additional points for special factors, such as elegance, presence and historical significance, thus a perfect score is 103 points. This is important when there is more than one car that scores 100 points, and yes, it has happened.

The cars that pass the technical judging and win first place in their class are invited to the Winner’s Circle. The judges tour the Winner’s Circle and cast their ballots. The stress and excitement at that point reach a fever pitch.

My favorite comment is by Chief Judge Chris Bock: “It’s easy to get caught up in the details, but sometimes we forget to step back and just look at the car. At some point, beauty has to trump a sluggish windshield wiper.”

A bit of background here. The Selection Committee this year consists of 16 people. The Volunteer Executive Committee has 14 categories. There are 81 corporate sponsors. On the putting green in front of the Lodge, there are 18 concept cars. There are 28 entry classes. There are 22 judging teams. There are fully 29 awards and trophy categories. It is a bit overwhelming.
The categories this year were quite extraordinary. From my somewhat biased perspective, I would say that the Alfa 8C 2300 (and 6 C too) would have to rank as one of the Top Ten automobile designs in history, period.

Of course, the centenary of Le Mans, the most famous race in the world, is quite spectacular, even if the real centenary is actually next year. This is really a mandatory class selection.

The history of Lincoln has in my opinion been neglected relative to some of its peers, and it is high time for Lincoln to be in the spotlight.

The FIAT 8V and the Talbot Lago are among the most desirable cars ever, but perhaps not so well known in the US. I remember going all over Northern Italy with the late Chris Dickel to get trim parts, including a whole dashboard, for his 8V. What a wonderful time that was. Mere words cannot describe the beauty of the Talbot Lago selection here. It takes your breath away. There are 28 cars known out of the original production of 36 cars.

I must congratulate the committee on the Unorthodox Propulsion category, where I got to see in person cars I had only read about for many years.

When all was said and done, the Best of Show award went to a 1932 Duesenberg Model J Sports Torpedo, with a body by Figoni! Interestingly, this is the first time since 2013 when an American car was chosen for Best in Show. Amazingly, sometime in the 1960’s the body and chassis of this car were separated and sold to two different owners (!). The current owner was able to acquire both cars and provide a perfect and historically correct restoration, which took 3 years. This is such an astounding backstory it undoubtedly played a role in the judge’s choice.

I would add that there are so many fascinating cars on display that after the first few hours, you get an emotional and sensory overload. At least I did. But of course, you would not want to miss it next year, not for all the world.

We should acknowledge that the show has raised over $35 million for charity. Driving around the Monterey Peninsula, you might conclude that everyone is wealthy, but this is decidedly not the case. The County has an overall poverty rate of around 14%. According to the county Food Bank, Monterey County is the childhood poverty capital of California, with a child poverty rate of 30.3%. We must acknowledge the tremendous contribution that the Pebble Beach show has made directly, and indirectly, with over $67 million spent locally during the 2019 Car Week. The Foundation supports more than 90 local charities, and impacts the lives of 10,000 local children annually.

Talbot Lago Grand Sport Class

The information about the Grand Sport Talbot Lagos below was obtained from the standard work on the subject, Talbot Lago Grand Sport Volumes I and II, by Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson, published by Dalton Watson. The captions are composed by the Editor.