Featured This Issue
The Legacy of Pebble Beach
Since its modest start in 1950 as a post-race car show on the Monterey Peninsula, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has evolved into the most prestigious collector car competition in the world. Each August, the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach becomes a stage where automotive history is judged not just for shine but for authenticity, provenance, and artistry. Best of Show at Pebble isn’t just a trophy. Winners become automotive royalty.
The week begins with the Tour d’Elegance, a 70-mile rolling showcase that winds along 17-Mile Drive, Pacific Coast Highway, and into Big Sur before looping back to Pebble Beach. With mist hanging low over cypress groves and the Pacific pounding against cliffs, the Tour provides a chance to see these museum-grade machines as they were intended: moving, breathing, and alive. Participation isn’t just ceremonial. Should there be a judging tie-on Sunday, completion of the Tour breaks it. For the owners, it’s both a parade and a pressure point. For the crowds lining the route, it’s free theater.
At the Lodge: Where Valets Are Front-Row Curators
Sometimes the best seat in Monterey isn’t on the 18th fairway. It’s at the porte-cochère of The Lodge. The valets here orchestrate a constantly changing display, receiving and retrieving everything from brass-era Packards to brand-new hypercars. For spectators, it’s the ultimate blend of car-spotting and people-watching. Concours entrants chatting with hotel guests, celebrities slipping out of SUVs, collectors easing irreplaceable machines into tight spaces with the trust of white-gloved attendants. The valet stand becomes a theater of its own, where horsepower meets human character in fleeting but unforgettable moments. And if you get hungry, make sure to meet Huey on the deck of the Still Water Bar and Grill and have a burger and great glass of California Cabernet, or Pino Noir.
Concours Village & RetroAuto: The Cultural Marketplace
Across from the auction tents lies Concours Village, a temporary city where manufacturers unveil concept cars, artisans sell handcrafted luggage, and luxury brands court enthusiasts. It’s equal parts bazaar and future showroom, buzzing with energy from sunrise to sunset. Inside the RetroAuto pavilion, collectors hunt for rare automobilia, original posters, enamel coachbuilder badges, vintage motoring books, and scale models. For many attendees, RetroAuto is as irresistible as the show lawn because the right print or Le Mans poster can be just as satisfying as a seven-figure hammer price.
The Classic Car Forum: Ideas with Chrome Trim
The Classic Car Forum is Pebble’s think tank, drawing historians, designers, collectors, and celebrities into conversation. This year, the spotlight fell on Jerry Seinfeld, who joined Spike Feresten, Paul Zuckerman, Matt Farah, and Jonny Lieberman for a live edition of Spike’s Car Radio. Equal parts comedy and profound car culture commentary, their session captured what makes collecting human. The quirks, the obsessions, and the joy of cars that spark conversation just as easily as combustion.
The Auctions: A Spectacle of Steel and Strategy
Monterey auctions are their own sport, and in 2025, the six houses of Bonhams|, Cars at Quail Lodge, Broad Arrow, Gooding Christie’s, Mecum Monterey, and RM Sotheby’s all battled for the gavel spotlight and collectors’ wallets. Each auction house offered a carefully curated catalog, ranging from prewar Bentleys to modern hypercars. RM Sotheby’s delivered the usual fireworks, while Gooding Christie’s leaned on its Pebble Beach prestige. Bonhams made a strong comeback, Mecum filled its tent with horsepower for everyman collectors, and Broad Arrow carved a niche with contemporary rarities. Every evening, headlines were written not just in final numbers but in who had the nerve to raise their paddle one last time.
17-Mile Drive: A Rolling Concours
Between the official events, the Monterey Peninsula itself becomes a stage for all things automotive. Driving along 17-Mile Drive, it’s impossible not to stumble upon a Ferrari Daytona idling at Spanish Bay, a pre-war Alfa gliding past the Lone Cypress, or a modern Bugatti easing through Carmel traffic. Many visitors say their best Monterey memories aren’t in ticketed venues but on these roads, where the entire peninsula becomes a rolling, unpredictable and exciting gallery.
Werks Reunion: The People’s Porsche Party
On Friday, Porsche Club of America’s Werks Reunion took over its own field. Thousands gathered around rows of 911s, from early short-wheelbase survivors to modern GT cars still warm from track duty. Awards spanned categories like originality, preservation, and custom flair, proving Porsche’s culture is as broad as it is loyal. For enthusiasts, Werks feels intimate, approachable, and deeply personal. A reminder that passion doesn’t need a concours lawn to feel important.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering: Couture for Cars
If Pebble is high court, The Quail is haute couture. With a limited guest list and all-day gourmet dining, it offers an experience as rarefied as the cars on display. Manufacturers time their global debuts here. This year highlighted by supercar unveilings alongside historical icons. Best of Show went to a Ferrari F50 GT1 prototype, a reminder that the 1990s are now officially collectible pieces. The Quail manages to be both decadent garden party and motorsport shrine, a balance few events can strike.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion: Noise as Nostalgia
At Laguna Seca, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion delivered what no static display can; the sound and fury of history at full throttle. The high pitch whine of F1 engines, celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Formula One, alongside the deep-throated rumble of original IROC cars, and the North American debut of the Porsche 963 RSP, left goosebumps on everyone. With F1 champion Jenson Button as Grand Marshall, this year’s event featured 400 period correct race cars, competing in 14 race groups. Those paying attention would have seen Jeff Gordon, Dario Franchitti, Jenson Button, Mark Martin, and Kurt Busch wandering through the paddocks. Fans crowded the Corkscrew, listening to flat-sixes, V8s, and straight-sixes scream in mechanical harmony. It’s the week’s visceral counterpoint to Pebble’s perfection, where patina is celebrated, and every lap is a living history lesson.
Ferrari Parade & Casa Ferrari: Rosso on the Green
For tifosi, Casa Ferrari is sacred ground. The Italian marque once again staged a parade of classics and moderns, culminating in a sea of red across the 1st fairway of Pebble Beach. From vintage 250s to the brand’s latest hybrid supercars, Ferrari’s presence was once again both spectacle and statement. For a few hours, it seemed as if the peninsula belonged entirely to Maranello.
Dawn Patrol: When Fans Rise with the Fog
No tradition at Pebble has more mystique than Dawn Patrol. Before first light on Sunday, the Lodge brilliantly lit behind the spectators, enthusiasts gather at the ropes, coffee and donuts in hand, waiting to watch the entrants roll onto the dew-soaked 18th fairway as the sun rises. Hagerty’s giveaway caps have become cult tokens, sparking stories, rivalries, and even memes. This year’s “Yawn Patrol” parody made the rounds as many attendees were up hours before the first car arrived on the show field at 4 am to get a coveted spot behind the ropes. At its core, Dawn Patrol is reverence in its purest form, witnessing art awakening with the morning fog of Carmel Bay.
Special Awards: Layers of Recognition
Pebble’s prize structure ensures that recognition flows beyond Best of Show. The Most Elegant Convertible, Most Elegant Closed Car, the Briggs Cunningham Trophy, and dozens of other honors celebrate excellence across eras and styles. For many owners, winning a class or special award is just as meaningful, confirming their car’s place in history and the thousands of hours invested in research and restoration.
Best of Show 2025: A Wooden Bullet Takes the Crown
When the judges crowned the 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C “Tulipwood” Nieuport-Astra Torpedo, the fairway erupted in applause. Commissioned by André Dubonnet and clad in mahogany strips riveted like an aircraft fuselage, the car is lightweight yet strong and is as much sculpture as it is machine. For Lee R. Anderson Sr., the car’s owner, it was his second Best of Show triumph, and a validation of Pebble’s growing appreciation for bold, singular designs that defy category.
At Days End: Another Concours in the Books
By late afternoon, the trophies had been presented, a Rolex handed over, and the crowd drifted back toward Carmel, Laguna Seca, and airports filled with private jets and poster tubes. Yet the real takeaway is the community. At Pebble, enthusiasts become archivists, cars become ambassadors, and history becomes present tense. In an age of software updates and battery ranges, the Concours reminds us that humanity’s love affair with the automobile is far from over. Elegance can still surprise. Next August, the cycle will begin again as the fog lifts once more on Concours Sunday.