It's not too unusual to see a vintage car "out for an airing" in our area in the summer. But to see over 100 of them would be unusual. The Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance in California, is just such a car event, but as Jody Victor tells below, it is more than just a show.
Jody Victor: The Tour d'Elegance is a car show, but it also proves these beautiful cars from the past are more than just works of art - they were built to be driven and are still driving today.
Ten years ago J. Heumann, then chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours, had grown tired of critiques by the english motoring press that referred to the cars at Pebble Beach as "trailer queens," a disparaging term used to describe a behicle that is perfectly restored, carefully moved from the trailer to the display, and quickly returned to the trailer - and rarely, if ever, driven on the open road.
As a driving enthusiast, Heumann wanted to see cars that compete on the lawn at Pebble Beach on the basis of beauty and authenticity prove their mettle in a driving event - thus the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance was born.
On Thursday August 16th, more than 150 of the finest cars from the last 100 years - cars that graced the golf links at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday August 18th - joined in the tenth-annual PB Tour d'Elegance.
The Tour kicked off four solid days of automotive events throughout the Monterey Peninsula, culminating with the Concours d'Elegance, where one car is named Best of Show from among individual class winners.
Each year the Concours honors particular automotive marques, or what would nowadays be called brands. This year's honorees are Aston Martin and Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg, and these marques were well represented on the Tour. The beautiful duesenbergs from the 1930s that rolled along the Peninsula included Clark Gable's car, and more than half of the 40 Aston Martins from all over the world that also graced the field on Sunday, drove the Tour.
It must have been a real treat to see those cars driving along the coast to Big Sur or on the streets of Carmel.
Thanks, Jody!