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have no idea how many people
submitted entries for the
GT350 class of the 2015 Pebble Beach
Concours d’Elegance. The class for
these cars wasn’t widely publicized. In
fact, information was mostly spread
via word of mouth. If more people had
known about the GT350 class there
would probably have been a lot more
entries to choose from for the eight
cars needed. I’ve been involved in a
few concours events over the years
and have been to Pebble three differ-
ent times. Pebble Beach is in its own
league. It is the top car show in the
U.S. It’s dead serious, old school and
old money.
There was no set fee to enter the
concours, but it was understood that
participants make a charitable dona-
tion to the Pebble Beach Company
foundation. At the top of the entry
form was a list of suggested donations,
starting with a check box for $149,000
and above. I told John Atzbach I sent
in a check for $151,000, figuring I just
bought myself the trophy. In reality,
my check was for $1,500. The form
also contained a section for the history
of the car (300 words or less), prior
awards and six photos. All of this was
to help the acceptance committee de-
termine who would get in and who
would not. Pebble raised $1.9 million
this year. That’s one of the things that
makes it, truly, the big time.
Last year I entered 5S003 at
Amelia Island and despite the effort it
took to prepare the car and get it
nearly 3,000 miles to northern
Florida, it was a lot of fun. I’m not sure
the average Shelby owner knows that
Pebble Beach is different from every
other concours shows – even SAAC
concours events. It is a U.S. version of
the European tradition of automotive
show competition in the area of ele-
gance that began in the 1920s. Women
in stylish dresses and hats were very
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Winter 2016 48
– Story and Photos by Mark Hovander
I