Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
For its 67th Concours d’Elegance, the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links was celebrating Isotta Fraschini and Carrozzeria Castagna.
Another interesting class was for the ‘California Specials that Raced at the Pebble Beach Road Races’ between 1950 and 1956, that led to the opening of the Laguna Seca Raceway in 1957.
A dedicated class was also reserved for the ‘American Dream Cars of the 1960s. And, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Prancing Horse, there were four different classes for Ferrari cars, instead of the usual two. The two additional classes were for the ‘Major Race Winners’ and the ‘One-off Speciales’.
On Fairway One, Ferrari North America was hosting the 70th Ferrari anniversary with 70 cars representatives of the entire story of the Maranello marque.
There was though plenty to see and for all tastes.

As it is the tradition, the crows are already present to welcome the participants. Here the 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (chassis 0728), first overall at the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien.
Alfa Romeos

But it all began on Thursday with the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance. We see here at the start a 1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ.

The Tour takes the scenic US1 South to Big Sur. Here another SZ, entered in period by Fabrizio Violati’s Scuderia Campidoglio Motori team in the 1961 Targa Florio and the four-hour Pescara Grand Prix. At Pebble Beach, this car was entered in the Postwar Preservation class.

Almost ten years before, the 1900 CSS Zagato coupé represented Alfa Romeo in racing as this car which made three consecutive appearances in the Mille Miglia from 1955 to 1957. It has also been entered several times in the modern reinterpretations of the Mille Miglia and the Tour de France.

5703 : First shown at the 1955 Turin Motor Show, this Alfa Romeo 1900 CSS, designed and bodied by Boano, was part for many years of the private collection of Mario Righini near Bologna. It was already shown at Pebble Beach two years ago before restoration (link to the 2015 report ?).

The Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato replaced the Sprint Zagato in 1963. This example, one of 112, first delivered and raced in Switzerland, is said to have retained its original bodywork, glass and mechanicals. The list of successive owners includes Albert Obrist and Bernie Ecclestone.
French Cars

In 1904, De Dion-Bouton was the largest automobile manufacturer, selling cars and supplying engines to other manufacturers. Powered by a single-cylinder engine, this 1909 De Dion-Bouton BV Type de Course is thought to be the only complete model in existence.

The 1907 Renault AI 35/45 HP is known as the Vanderbilt Renault as William Vanderbilt Jr. was one of the first people to purchase a Renault of this type. This car later went to Bill Spear, the Cunningham factory driver, and to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

A less flamboyant Delahaye 135 M chassis but still elegant, the body of this car is due to Swiss coachbuilder Graber and is one of two cars built in this style. The car was equipped with a Cotal pre-selector gearbox.
Italian Cars

But Isotta Fraschini is more known for the Tipo 8A of which we see two examples here. At left is a 1928 Castagna Imperial Landaulet and to the right, a 1930 Castagna Cabriolet. The IF was the most expensive foreign automobile sold in the US, more expensive than a Duesenberg Model J.

If the Cisitalia 202 is more known in the coupé form styled by Pinin Farina, Vignale also bodied a small run of lightweight cabriolets, some of which were in steel and aluminum, including this car.

In 1947, Enrico Nardi joined Renato Danese to build racing cars powered by the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 engine. This roadster, bodied by Motto, ran in the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in 1948 and 1949 before going to the USA where it ran at Palm Beach, Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen.
The Ferraris

Also owned by the Lee Collection is one of the most important racing Ferraris as this 166 MM Touring Barchetta (chassis 0008M), in winning in 1949 the Mille Miglia and the 24 hours of Le Mans, helped making the Ferrari name world-famous.

Another important winning Ferrari is the 166 MM Touring Berlinetta #0026M, driven by Giannino Marzotto to Ferrari’s third consecutive win in the 1950 Mille Miglia.

This 250 LM #5893 is the last winning Ferrari at Le Mans, already 52 years ago. In 1965, Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory were driving this car for Luigi Chinetti’s NART racing team. It then competed again at Le Mans and Daytona before being exhibited at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1970.

This 206 Dino went to Pininfarina to receive this coupe body featuring the first and only gullwing doors on a Ferrari. It was shown at the 1967 Frankfurt Auto Show before joining the Pininfarina museum. It is now owned by James Glickenhaus.

First public appearance in over 50 years for this 212 Inter Ghia Cabriolet, stored for 40 years and rediscovered in 2011 almost complete but without its engine which has now been reunited with the car.
British with Italian body

This unique coachbuilt Jaguar XK120, designed by Pinin Farina, was shown at the 1955 Turin Motor Show before being sent to Max Hoffman in New York for an important client. Its restoration took two years and was complete just in time for the Pebble Beach Concours.

This 1966 Aston Martin DBSC Coupé is one of the two Touring prototypes for the replacement of the DB6. Aston Martin decided not to put them into production, instead launching the William Towns-designed DBS in 1967.
American Dream Cars of the 60s

Bosley was involved in motorsport in the 1950’s. In 1966, he built the Mark II Interstate Coupé, based on a Corvette chassis with Pontiac V8 engine and fiberglass body. He named it the “Interstate” for its intended use on the new highways that were flourishing all over the United States.
California Specials that raced at Pebble Beach

The Cannon Mk1 Special’s chassis comes from a 1934 Dodge and the engine from an early Ford. In the inaugural Pebble Beach Road Race in 1950, the car, driven by Jim Seely, finished third behind Phil Hill’s and Don Parkinson’s Jaguar XK120s.

The Baldwin Mercury Special was built from a wrecked Ford Tudor and is powered by a Mercury V8. It finished fourth in the 1952 Del Monte Trophy race in Pebble Beach where it also competed in 1953 and 1954.
Good concise clips …..
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better..!
Very nice photos , however the Pininfarina XK120 was not shown at Turin 1955 , nor was it at Geneva 1955 which is widely claimed. Suspect it went directly to Max Hoffmann in USA.
Very nice restoration on the car though !
We shall have to inform the owners of that oversight..
Editor