Pebble Beach 2019

It all started in 1950, the Pebble Beach road races had become such a large attraction that fans were flocking from hundreds of miles away to see the heroes of the era driving exotic machinery around the tight and twisty Pacific coast roads. Sterling Edwards had noticed that a lot of these drivers would bring stunning road cars to the event and whilst engaged in driving duties they sat in the Car Parks. And so it was decided that on the Sunday there would be a Concours D’Elegance on the 18th Fairway utilising these cars and the incredible setting. The Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance was born.

Tragically Ernie McAfee was killed at the 1956 Pebble Beach races and so racing was relocated to the “Laguna Seca” circuit. Not before long the scale and attraction had not only overtaken the scale of the races but soon this Concours became the greatest attraction in what we now consider the classic car world. What has spawned from this single-day event is now more of a week-long festival, “The Quail” Concours on the Friday is almost as big an event, and there are two weekends of racing bookending a week-long series of events. The famous Monterey Auctions have become in recent years almost as big an attraction as the other events, and in 2019 close to 800 collector cars were offered over 3 days. This scale brings buyers sellers and dealers from all over the world to this Mecca of Classic Car indulgence.

Naturally DK have always had a presence in Monterey we have previously shown at “Pebble Beach” and at “The Quail” and have bought and sold numerous cars through the Auction Houses. This year DK’s Acquisition Consultants James Cottingham and Harvey Stanley were both in California. They took with them an F40 GT and 500 TR from DK’s Chorleywood HQ. With the F40 GT, they took part in the 2019 Quail Rally. Both the Testarossa and the F40 GT were invited by Ferrari to be shown on the 1st Fairway at Pebble Beach for “Casa Ferrari”.

For the F40 it was an opportunity to show the world this road based racer, the Tour showed clearly how these F40s are equally as well suited to the road as to the track and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was amongst the most photographed cars of the week. It was also an opportunity to show off DK’s newly developed F40 front lift kit, a huge upgrade from the original Ferrari option.

The 500 TR was returning (albeit briefly) to the USA, the car left America in 2012 well in need of restoration. That restoration was completed in 2015 by ourselves, ahead of competing in the all Ferrari race at the Goodwood Revival. The following year the car was shown at the Salon Prive Concours where it duly took the “Best of Show” award.

Kind Thanks to Blake Jennings for images of our F40 GT.