A Concours d'Elegance is an event open to both prewar and postwar collector cars, judged for authenticity, function, history, and style. Entrants are accepted through an application process, and classes are commonly arranged by type, marque, coachbuilder, country of origin, or time period. Judges select first-, second-, and third-place finishers for each class, and confer the pinnacle "Best of Show" award on one car from the group of first-place winners. The "Best of Show" award includes an engraved trophy and engraved Rolex watch.
J.B. Nethercutt has won the most Best of Show titles with six. The winning marques Bugatti and Mercedes-Benz are tied with ten wins each. Honorary judges, individuals who have made significant contributions to the automotive industry or motorsports, award subjective and memorial awards to recognize standout vehicles. Dozens of world-renowned luxury and supercar brands use the event to officially debut new models and showcase their future concept cars. Participating brands have included Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Rolls-Royce. The concours also hosts Pebble Beach Auctions, which focuses on high-end vehicles valued in the millions. Approximately 15,000 spectators attended the 2012 event.
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was founded in 1950 as an adjunct to the Pebble Beach Road Race, a race event sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America. The 1950 and 1951 Concours were held on a practice tee and driving range adjacent to the Beach Club, near the Del Monte Lodge. Thirty cars were exhibited on November 4, 1950, and 23 on May 27, 1951. In 1952, the event moved to the 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links. The event has continued since 1950 with one missed year in 1960 due to scheduling conflicts. Heavy rain in 1963 and 1965 made the lawn area unusable, and cars were shown at the old start/finish line of the road race. In 2001, a new category for preservation cars was introduced. The 2006 event saw 175 cars lining the 18th green and hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links with 25 judged classes. Cars were brought from 27 states and 13 countries, with 24 of the 175 cars from outside the U.S. The total estimated cost of vehicles at the 2006 event was US$200 million. The field was reduced from 227 cars in 2005 to 175 in 2006 to allow more judging time. In 2009, the Pebble Beach Concours included classic motorcycles for the first time. The Concours received the 2011 Motoring Event of the Year award by the International Historic Motoring Awards. The 2020 event was scrapped by the COVID-19 pandemic, deferring the 70th event to 2021. Each year's Pebble Beach Concours honors a featured marque, coachbuilder, or type.
Prospective entrants must submit an application for each car, and the Concours field is selected from the pool of applicants. Once a car is accepted, it cannot be entered again for ten years, with exceptions for ownership change, restoration, or if the featured marque is obscure. Many competing cars are valued in the hundreds of thousands, and more recently, millions of dollars. The Pebble Beach Concours is considered the premier concours in the world and is the centerpiece of over 50 related events. These include vintage racing cars at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at nearby WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and classic car auctions.
The Best of Show award is the pinnacle accolade, chosen from the three highest judged vehicles. It is considered the most prestigious award achievable at any car show worldwide. J.B. Nethercutt has the most Best of Show awards with 6 wins. Bugatti and Mercedes-Benz are tied as the most successful marque with 10 wins each as of 2024. Other awards include the J.B. & Dorothy Nethercutt Most Elegant Closed Car, Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible, Jules Heumann Most Elegant Open Car, and Strother MacMinn Most Elegant Sports Car.
Since 2008, Kazunori Yamauchi, president of Polyphony Digital and creator of the Gran Turismo series, has presented the Gran Turismo Award to an exemplary participant vehicle. Owners of the winning vehicle are offered the opportunity to have their car featured in the Gran Turismo series. In 2021, the Gran Turismo Award went to a 1969 Ferrari 512 S Berlinetta. The French Cup award, established in the 1980s, is given to the most significant car of French origin. In 2021, it went to a 1937 Delahaye 135 M Chapron Cabriolet.
World-renowned luxury and supercar brands use the event as an overarching auto show to debut new models and showcase future concept cars. Participating brands have included Acura, Audi, Cadillac, Corvette, Czinger, DeLorean, Ford, Hennessey, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Lucid, Pagani, Porsche, and SSC. The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport was revealed at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours. The event hosts the Pebble Beach Auctions, an auto auction centered around high-end vehicles valued in the millions. In 2022, the auction's total sales accounted for $469 million USD.
The proceeds of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance have supported the United Way of Monterey County and the Pebble Beach Company Foundation for a combination of 56 years. It also supports other local and national organizations. The 2016 event raised over $1.75 million, and the Concours has given more than $23 million to charities through the years.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.