► Pebble Beach 2017
► Our concours picture gallery
► The glamour, cars and Cali coastline
This is it – the Monterey Car Week comes to a champagne and caviar-filled climax with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
It’s the glittering jewel in the car week’s calendar and arguably the whole reason why so many visitors converge on the Californian peninsula during mid-August.
Check out our roving gallery of the great cars, odd quirks and huge excess of one of the world’s foremost concours events.
It all starts with the Dawn Patrol
Getting up at 4am is a must if it’s your first visit to Pebble. All of the concours cars arrive super early and are guided through the golf lawn to their spots.
You can take a Brit out of Benidorm…
As the Dawn Patrol rolled on through the early hours, visitors were already starting to reserve spaces in front of the stage, where the best-in-class award would be handed out.
Perfect viewing opportunities
The early start meant a cold sea breeze and an overcast background, but you could get up close to the cars. And there are some truly eye-watering models on show here, including Niki Lauda’s Ferrari F1 car.
The Jetsons were in town
The ‘American Dream Cars of the 1960s’ class on show caught our eye. This is a 1960 DiDia 150 Coupe, originally owned by Bobby Darin. Built by Clarkaiser, the 150 Coupe has a paint job that is 30 layers thick, and crushed diamonds help bring out the colour. Subtle, it ain’t.
Regular concours attendees were there
This Abarth land speed record car was also at the 2017 Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in Italy – it even had the entry sticker still in the window. The world’s glitziest cars have a very jet-set lifestyle…
Every car looked up to expected concours condition
… but you have to remember that most attendees were very old cars. We spotted overheaters, stallers and other signs of elderly motoring as the cars rolled in. To be expected.
Excess was everywhere
It’s not enough to own a classic Roller; you have to own one with a copper grille.
It wasn’t just classic cars
Pebble Beach was the setting for the the BMW Concept Z4’s world debut. It looked handsome in ‘Energetic Orange’.
The Concept Lawn was popular
Along with the Z4, concepts and pre-production cars like the Mercedes-Maybach Concept 6 Convertible, Kia Stinger, Pagani Zonda Barchetta and VW I.D. Buzz.
Hollywood and racing greats visited
Jay Leno and Arnie were among the attendees, as was racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart.
Many were dressed for the occasion
Including the owner of this 1952 Delahaye 235 Chapron Coupe…
While others were, um, brave in their dress code
Pointy red shoes, boob tubes and lots of fake tan were among the fashion faux pas.
Almost everyone had a Panama hat, though
The crew of judges perusing the lawn early in the morning. What is it with events like this and hats like that?
Not all visitors were human
There were several dogs, obviously, but one show-goer had a parrot. As you do…
Ferrari’s 70th anniversary was honoured
A significant portion of the concours attendees in 2017 were Ferraris, and many were found in the parking lots. Is this the world’s most expensive traffic jam?
Italian coachbuilt masterpieces were out in force, too
Many of the coastal spaces were reserved by Isotta Fraschini cars. This IF Tipo 8A Super Spinto Castagna Cabriolet came all the way from Bratislava.
Cars owned by dictators were there
This 1958 Bentley S1 Continental Park Ward Drophead Coupe has changed hands a few times in the Middle East but was forcefully ‘requisitioned’ by Saddam Hussein. When his regime fell, this car was found vandalised and left to rot in his underground garage.
This was ‘Best In Show’
A Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer won the best in show, and it’s not hard to see why. The car was in stunning condition inside and out, and drew a lot of attention while the show was ongoing. There’s a 7.0-litre supercharged engine under the massive hood and its lightweight coachbuilt bodywork is from Barker of London.
All of this poshness a bit much? The Concours d’LeMons is your Monterey Car Week antidote