The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is famous for celebrating coachbuilt art-deco classics and flamboyant land yachts from the Great Gatsby era. But this year, visitors should prepare for a brutalist revolution as wedge-shaped concept cars and fire-spitting 1990s endurance racers enter the lawn.
On Sunday 18 August 2024, the global collector car scene will gather once again on the shores of the Pacific coast to crown another king at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. While traditionalists will look forward to this year’s event for its featured classes celebrating the 125th anniversary of Packard, the heritage of Maserati and the artful coachworks by Pietro Frua, we’re particularly excited about two groups of rather contemporary unicorn cars: First of all, the selecting committee has dedicated two special classes to the wedge-shaped concept cars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s that radically changed the shape of the automobile and influence car design until this day. Expect game-changing razorblades on wheels like the Lancia Stratos Zero – which was penned by the late design master Marcello Gandini for Bertone – as well as Pininfarina’s Ferrari Modulo and Honda HP-X, but also more recent studies in minimalist design such as the Lo Res car that inspired Tesla’s Cybertruck.
Meanwhile, racing enthusiasts will count the days until the reveal of the full line-up of 1990s BPR and FIA GT race cars at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Named after their founders Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stéphane Ratel, the BPR Series began in 1994 and became the FIA GT Series in 1997. The McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Bugatti EB110, Mercedes CLK GTR, and Porsche 911 GT1, as well as exotics like the Lotus Elise GT1 and Dodge Viper all took part, competing on tracks worldwide. All of the race cars were homolgated from street-legal sports cars, and at Pebble Beach the iconic racers will be presented in pairs, together with their street versions.
This week, one of only two Bugatti EB110 Sport Competizione – avid readers might remember the 24 Minute race we staged in Vienna with both cars in 2019 – was spotted boarding a cargo plane in Europe heading for California. And we cannot wait to see it reunited with its competitors on the Pebble Beach lawn. Meanwhile, if you want to dive into the history the last Bugatti racing cars, we highly recommend to catch one of the last remaining copies of the EB110 book from the CD Shop.
