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Not having been there in years, the ab-
sence of many surprised me. Bentley, Fer-
rari, BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini and
others now rent incredible villas at Pebble
Beach for the week. These are palatially
gated properties large enough to display
the newest models in a courtyard or circu-
lar drive in front of a main house large
enough for a “Gatsby Style” party. I saw no
map of their locations, so assumed atten-
dance to these functions were by invitation
only, but if you stumbled in with a media
pass you were welcomed. The general pub-
lic could walk past the gates to see the
cars, but may not be able to attend the pri-
vate parties within. A visit to all of them
would make a fine coffee table book of cap-
tioned photos and comments. A 2016 proj-
ect, perhaps.
Somewhere along the way I ran into
someone I had met at Amelia Island in
2014. He had described himself as a go-fer
on the Newman-Haas race team back in
the day, active now in the restoration busi-
ness. He told me about six show cars he
worked on, now resting in a rented garage
he pointed to across the bay. They were
brought in from LA for Sunday’s Concours.
The home owner cleared his garage each
year to rent it for a week of event storage
and prepping. Guests are invited to the
house to view “his collection.”
Sunday morning I strode into the Peb-
ble Beach Concours at 7:15 a.m., just early
enough to watch some of the cars being
driven onto the show field. The sun bright-
ened the sky behind the coastal moun-
tains, but had not yet risen above them. In
light fog penetrated by early morning
light, the property looked serene. Even at
that hour, before the field officially opened
to the public, there were enough volun-
teers, owners with entourages of relatives,
well-wishers, car dusters, detailers, restor-
ers, and photographers – known as the
“Dawn Patrol” – trying to take photos be-
fore the deluge of humanity surrounds the
cars to make it impossible to exclude peo-
ple from the images. No matter. Automo-
biles look abandoned without us. No story
emerges. What are they doing there? Why
are they alone? Automobiles are machines
born of purpose; more interesting in use
than in resting.
I walked the show field, trying to take
it in while it was still relatively un-
crowded, but that proved impossible; not
because there are too many cars, but be-
cause their quality and variety is so great
it begs you to linger. Pick out a few, speak
to the owners, and time has disappeared.
You can never see all of them in any depth,
but you can return to next year’s selection.
One of the displays I enjoy the most,
are the unrestored cars. The rougher the
better. There were only a few and I wish
there were more of them. Not that quality
restorations aren’t enjoyable, there is
something special about an owner willing
to display a great car in deteriorated con-
dition. Some people find it sad. I find it
beautiful, like an aged portrait with all of
its history. This is one of the reasons I love
the Simone Museum in Philadelphia. It’s
filled with great, unrestored race cars. I
wince at the condition of the Daytona
Coupe, but I like it the way it is.
It takes a year or two to restore a car
to a higher quality than original manufac-
ture. It takes decades to make a great
preservation car. You can’t add patina to a
cosmetically nice or restored automobile.
Maybe an artist can, but would anyone do
it? A car can age well like a fine wine for
decades, in the opinion of some people, im-
proving it. I believe in property rights. If
you own it, do what you wish with it.
Thank you to owners of preservation cars
for leaving them as they are; for having the
courage to display them unrestored. Save
the restoration cost and buy two. Simone
did OK.
I toured the Automotive Fine Arts So-
ciety pavilion. Sometimes I think I like the
paintings more than the automobiles and
this year was no exception. I love the
scenes artists place the cars in with the
significance of the automobile within. A
sports car parked in a narrow street in an
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Winter 2016 45