Pebble Beach 2014 was a spectacular show – 16 of the 19 known Ruxtons on the field, 20 of the Ferrari 250 Testarossas were there, and special classes for Tatra, Fernandez et Darrin Coachwork, Maserati Centennial, early Steam, and even Eastern European Motorcycles! And, the amazing thing is that they can declare these classes with cars that are both rare and hard to get on the same field, and yet they appear for our enjoyment! That’s the pull of Pebble Beach for you!
As you know by now, this 1954 Ferrari 375 MM with Scaglietti coachwork won the best in show award. It’s the first time a postwar car has won the show since 1968 ! And, it’s quite a car – big 375 chassis, a 4.5 litre V-12 engine, and custom coachwork for famous original owners, the director Rosselini , and gifted to the actress Ingrid Bergman. It’s a watershed year for the postwar car collector to be sure. And, I think it’s important for those of us who like the pre-war cars to be grown-ups about this, and to NOT act like Bill Murray, shown below in his famous Ghostbusters movie rant!
Here’s the first car on the field, an American Underslung from 1910
1932 Ruxton with Joseph Urban paint scheme.
1968 Ford GT40 Mark III coupe. One of only 7 built for street use.
1929 Ruxton C Baker-Raulang Roadster. The woodlites are a nice touch.
the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Streamliner – rebuilt by the Mercedes-Benz Classic center from a chassis that had been identified in the M-B Museum.
Slightly less streamlined is this 1910 Fiat S61 Racing.
One of the Streamlined Tatras
Ferrari 250 TestaRossa Fantuzzi Spyder
A Vault Cars Alumni – 1934 Packard Super 8 Sport Phaeton discovered as a restorable car almost a decade ago, now fully restored and rolling on the Field !
A trophy winning Duesenberg J Beverly sedan.
Ferrari 250 TestaRossa with Scaglietti coachwork.
1937 Packard Twelve Rollston Convertible Victoria
Hispano-Suiza
Ruxton roadster
1937 Mercedes Benz 540K Cabriolet A – which we’ll see later getting a trophy
Well I absolutely loved this – a PininFarina bodied ’46 Alfa-Romeo 6C 2500 S . Look at those Portholes! They really showed those Buick Roadmaster guys, with 6 Portholes instead of just 4 ! The last time this car was shown was at the Monte Carlo Concours in 1947 !
1935 Cadillac V-12 370 D. This was a Southern California fixture for many years, it won a ton of trophies – including Pebble Beach first in Class ’77 – for Jack and Carol Frank. Now under new ownership, and good to see it out !
The pressure to finish the paint was so intense before the concours they didn’t have time to remove the masking tape on the headlights! Ok, in reality they’re just protecting the polished brass until the moment of the arrival of the judges!
Another reason to enjoy Pebble Beach – an entire class for the 1914 French Grand Prix, which showed the technical direction for many years forward ! This car, a 1913 Peugeot used dual overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder, and only 3 litres, at a time when the big Fiat race cars had 15 litres!
Another favorite, a Maserati 5000 GT Touring. A giant 5 litre V-8 with overhead cams was the race-inspired powerplant for this car. Only 32 of the 5000GT’s were produced!
1933 Packard 1006 Twelve Fernandez et Darrin cabriolet deVille originally built for US Ambassador and Senator Dwight Morrow.
1929 Duesenberg J Murphy convertible sedan. The eventual winner of the Duesenberg class.
Streamline moderne personified in this 1937 Chrysler Imperial C-15 LeBaron Town Car – built new for Walter P. Chrysler’s wife!
this 1933 Cadillac V-16 was once owned by the actor Robert Montgomery and has been freshly restored.
1915 Pierce-Arrow 48 7 Passenger Suburban – I love the arched rear door – just the thing to enter the car while still wearing your top-hat, monopoly-man style! It was originally owned by Milton S. Hershey, the Chocolate mogul.
1929 Rolls-Royce PI Brewster Riviera town car, as delivered by Brewster with gold trim and canework! Because merely driving a Rolls Town car wasn’t enough, it had to out-do all those OTHER people lining up at the opera house back in ’29!
A 1933 Packard 1005 V-12 Coupe – one of only 2 known.
The Bojangles Robinson Duesenberg 1935 – done by Bohman & Schwartz.
1938 Packard Darrin – the second Packard Darrin built, and built for Clark Gable!
1931 Bugatti Type 50 Million-Guiet coupe. This car, in addition to being a stunning Bugatti, has Sting-Ray upholstery inserts. No, not Corvette Sting ray, the ocean-going stingray creatures!
Legendary Lincoln Collectors Jack and Bill Passey pilot this ’33 KB on to the field.
Great looking Rollston SJ Duesenberg.
1936 Horch 853 Cabriolet
Fido watches the Horch drive by !
1933 Duesenberg SJ Brunn Riviera.
1917 Crane-Simplex by Farnham & Nelson. Dual cowl victoria phaeton , has to be one of the earliest dual cowl phaetons! OK, I’m open to being proven wrong on that statement, but it’s pretty darn early! Also note the guy with the red folder riding in the “mother in law seat” ! He’s braver than me, I would be very afraid of any right turns while occupying that chair!
1928 Chrysler imperial in preservation class.
At first I wondered why a Ford Model A was allowed on the field – only to find out later that it was built for Edsel Ford originally, and customized with Grebel headlamps and dual cowl for the rear passengers!
1929 Hispano-Suiza H6B Hibbard and Darrin Cabriolet
1936 Delage D6-70 by Figoni & Falaschi
This 1933 Chrysler CL Imperial custom LeBaron Phaeton found it’s way into the winner’s circle. Note the custom touches on this car compared to a “standard” CL. 
1929 Jordan G Playboy Roadster. Another car we don’t see too often.
Ruxton Phaeton . Michelle took over the on-field photography while I was in getting the Judges Briefing!
Here’s the White Steamer couple, all dressed up for 1907
1934 Hispano Suiza J12 Fernandez et Darrin Cabriolet
“the Twins” – well not really twins, but a pair of 1934 Hispano-Suizas from Fernandez et Darrin, ordered new by the Rothschild family. J12 foreground, K6 background.
1933 Duesenberg J Fernandez et Darrin Convertible Victoria. the Greta Garbo Duesenberg. Wow. Here’s my pick for the car of the day that should be in my garage!
Sadly, there was some guy clunking up the photo behind the beautiful Lalique mascot, and even more sadly, I am far, far too slothful to photoshop him out!
Female nudes have always been a popular source of inspiration for hood-ornament makers!
A good shot of one of the Tatras.
This Tatra, a later one from the Iron Curtain era, has a Czech officer uniform in the back!
1914 Grand Prix Mercedes
The insignia of Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski, the original owner of this 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III.
1911 Hotchkiss AD Amiet Enclosed Limousine – in the preservation class. Take a minute and look at some of the design details!
1934 Packard 1108 Twelve by Dietrich, another winner’s circle inhabitant !
Here’s the 1952 Jaguar with aerodynamic factory modifications to take the speed record at 172 Miles per hour back in 1953 at Jabbeke, Belgium. Jerry Seinfeld was observed walking by this car, muttering something about “hey, we had that Bubble Boy episode……………”
6 Weber Carburetors with 2 throats each – must be a V-12 in there!
Ferrari 250 TestaRossa display.
1930 Bohmerland Motorcycle from Czechoslovakia. Originally conceived for military use, it looks very heavy-duty!
1964 Zweirad Union Kavalier type 115 , and, according to the catalog, was known as the “Tin Banana” !
An interesting accessory