The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is one of our favourite events of the year, taking place in August on the iconic 18th Fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links. It forms part of Monterey Car Week, which brings together the automotive world with a series of special events and auctions (which achieved some fantastic results), culminating in the Concours on the Sunday. This year was particularly special, being both the 75th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and also Sandra Button’s final appearance as Chairman before handing over the reins to Vince Finaldi.
Tom and Emma travelled to California and assisted a very good friend and client of the business in the Concours, with their 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider by Touring, chassis 412023, which is a car that we sold them in 2024. Only seven Touring Lungo Spiders were ever produced and chassis 412023 is the most original survivor.
Over the past two years, the car has been undergoing preservation works with Chris Charlton’s Classic Car Services in Maine, who coincidentally restored the overall Best in Show winner, the 1935 Duesenberg SSJ. The end result of the preservation work was truly spectacular, with the Alfa being one of the highlights of the show field, receiving an incredible amount of attention and praise from people who truly appreciated the work that had been undertaken to protect the originality of this very special example.
The Alfa formed part of ‘Class J-1: European Classic Under 4 Liters’, alongside a great selection of pre-war cars. Ultimately, Best in Class was awarded to a Bentley 3-Litre Speed Martin Walter Tourer, with the Alfa finishing a respectable 3rd. Following the class presentation, the car was called back to the stage to receive the prestigious Briggs Cunningham award, which is given to the most exciting open car of the whole concours.
In addition to the Alfa, it was wonderful to see another former flame of ours, the 1974 Lancia Stratos, chassis 001527 which was awarded Best in Class in Class L-2: Postwar Preservation. At the time of our sale of the car, it was one of the most original examples in existence, having never been taken apart or restored and it is wonderful to see the new owner fully embrace this.
Alongside the spectacular cars on display, it was a wonderful chance to catch up with friends and clients alike. We are already looking forward to next year’s edition and send our thanks and very best wishes to Sandra as she embarks on her new endeavours and also to Vince as he steps into his new role.
