Nearly two-thirds of all of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Best of Show winners are returning to the Concours this year as a featured class. Here’s a look at the histories of Best of Show winners both before and after they won.

1950, 1950 Edwards R-26 Special Sport Roadster

California industrialist Sterling Edwards wanted to make and sell his own American sports cars, using racing to promote them. Towards that end he had a one-off special fabricated with a custom tubular steel frame, a flathead Ford motor, and a hand-formed aluminum body. Engineer Norman Timbs designed the tube frame and powered it with a 125hp, 153 cubic inch flathead Ford V8, modified for racing by Eddie Meyer Engineering. It had independent suspension front and back, a braking system borrowed from a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft, and a body fabricated by race car builders Emil Diedt and Lujie Lesovsky. The four seat R-26 had a removeable metal hard top roof, leather upholstery, and a windshield that could be also be removed and replaced with racing screens. Edwards wanted to win the inagural Pebble Beach Road Races and almost as an afterthough he entered the concours held in connection with the races, taking home the first Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Eventually the car ended up in the massive and eclectic collection of Lee Roy Hartung. It sold for $143,750 in 2011, a likely bargain for a Pebble Beach Best of Show.

1955, 1931 Pierce-Arrow 41 LeBaron Town Cabriolet

This was the first “classic” car to win the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance’s Best of Show award, in 1955. Previous winners were all fairly new postwar cars. Phil Hill, who also won that year’s Pebble Beach Road Races feature event, showed the car in which he learned how to drive. Hill would go on to win the Formula One world driving championship, the first American to do so, and the Pierce-Arrow is still in his family.

1958, 1930 duPont Model G Merrimac Town Car

Jack Nethercutt co-founded the Merle Norman cosmetics company, whose success allowed him to fill two museums with his collections of automobiles, automated mechanical musical instruments like music boxes, organs and pianos. This 1930 duPont town car was his first restoration project and the first of his record six Best of Show wins. The duPont continues to be part of The Nethercutt Collection.

1961, 1930 Packard 740 Custom Eight Roadster

If the Packard 740 Custom Eight Roadster was made today, we’d probably call it a grand touring car, a combination of comfort and sport. This particular 740 was delivered new by famed Los Angeles Packard dealer Earl Anthony, thought the identity of the original owner and the first 28 years of the car’s history are not known. In 1958, Scott Newhall, executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle bought it for $100 and proceeded to restore it to a level worthy of winning Pebble Beach’s Best of Show in 1961 and it has had a close connection to the Pebble Beach Concours ever since. Newhall sold the Packard to Wilet Tryon, the brother of Pebble Beach Concours co-chairman Lorin Tryon. Mr. Tryon showed and toured the car frequently. Chris Bock, chief judge of the Concours purchased the Packard in 1987, selling it two years later. The buyer rebuilt the engine, changed the final gearing to allow for more relaxed highway driving, and proceeded to drive it for thousands of miles, though he, and his son who inherited it, left the rest of the classic Packard as restored by Newhall. The car changed hands again in 2019, when it sold for $103,040, a bargain for a Pebble Beach best of show.

1962, 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost London to Edinburgh Tourer

The 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is not just the oldest car to have won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it’s also the only prewar car to have won, as in made previously to World War One. Shown by Alton Walker, who was instrumental in getting the Concours off the ground, working to add a European style car show to the scheduled Pebble Beach Road Races, the Silver Ghost won Best of Show in 1962. Walker had eclectic automotive tastes, driving a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, but Rolls-Royce was his favorite marque. The Silver Ghost is currently owned by collector Sam Mann, who has taken four Pebble Beach Best of Show wins himself.

1963, 1931 Pierce-Arrow 41 Custom LeBaron Club Sedan

William Harrah was a pioneer in the gaming and entertainment industries. His casino in Reno, Nevada was a marquee venue for performers as well as the location of his fabulous car collection, open to the public. In 1963, Harrah took up the challenge from fellow collector J.B. Nethercutt, with this LeBaron bodied ’31 Pierce Arrow, and took home Best of Show. The car is currently owned by Charals and Diana Haagen of Malibu, California.

1964, 1932 Bugatti Type 50 Coupe Profile

Starting in 1930, Ettore Bugatti’s son Jean was responsible for the design and styling of the factory bodies fitted to the cars made by their family firm. The 1930 Type 50 was Jean’s first creation and it bears much of his characteristic styling language. It was powered by a supercharged 4.9 liter engine of Ettore Bugatti’s design, cast in one piece, with double overhead cams said to be inspired by Harry Miller’s racing engines. Both short and long wheelbase (to accommodate four door sedan bodies) versions of the Type 50 were made between 1930 and 1934, a total of 65 vehicles. Hotelier William Harrah owned this 1932 Bugatti Type 50 Coupé Profilé for many years and won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1964. The Bugatti is currently in the collection of the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands.

1966, 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale Binder Coupe de Ville

It’s fitting that the car generally considered to be at the pinnacle of collectible automobiles, the Bugatti Type 41, also known as the Royale, won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance when shown by William Harrah in 1966. The majestic Royale stretches 6 meters long on a wheelbase of 4.3 meters and it is powered by a straight eight engine with a massive 12.7 liters of displacement. Small wonder that the Royale’s engine was also specified for use in the French railroad system. Likely the most expensive car of its era, the chassis sold for between $20,000 and $25,000, to which buyers had to add another fifteen to twenty thousand dollars for custom coachwork. Just six Bugatti Royales were built between 1927 and 1933.

This particular Royale, chassis #41111, was commissioned by Parisian fashion retailer Armand Esders. It initially wore a large, two-seat roadster body coachbuilt by Henri Binder. A few years later, Binder replaced that body with a formal coupé de ville, armor plated with bulletproff glass, reported to be for King Carol of Rumania, but he never took delivery of the car.

As with other important French cars it was hidden from the Nazi occupation forces during World War II, in this case crated in stashed in the sewers of Paris. On display for more than 20 years at Harrah’s Automobile Collection in Reno, Nevada, when that collection was divested, General William Lyon bought it. Since then the Royale was acquired by Volkswagen AG, which owns the revived Bugatti brand and Ettore’s Molsheim headquarters.

1969, 1934 Duesenberg J Murphy Style Dual Cowl Phaeton

Duesenberg took its first Best of Show in 1969, with a Murphy bodied dual cowl phaeton shown by J.B. Nethercutt, his third overall win. As with his other winners, the Duesenberg J still belongs to the Nethercutt Collection.

1970, 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Royal Limousine

One of the phrases you sometimes see in an auction listing is “said to be,” in other words, it’s not a verifiable part of the car’s provenance. As Daimlers have had a long history with the United Kingdom’s royal family, it’s not surprising that when J.B. Nethercutt bought this 1931 Daimler Double Six limousine in the UK in 1968 he was told by the seller that the car had been in service at Buckingham Palace. Nethercutt was skeptical as the car, when he found it, was located in the chicken coup of a modest rural home in Kent. After a restoration that took a year and a half, Nethercutt drove the Daimler cross-country to the Classic Car Club of America’s 1970 annual meet, where it took first place with a score of 97 points. After the car returned to California that summer it won Best of Show at Pebble Beach, Nethercutt’s fourth win. Again, this car remains part of the Nethercutt Collection.

1971, 1927 Mercedes-Benz S Open Tourer by Gangloff

A prewar Mercedes-Benz competed in the very first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1950 but it took another 20 years before the marque would take Best of Show. This 1927 Mercedes-Benz S Tourer took Best of Show for owner Owen Owens in 1971. The car is currently part of The Keller Collection at The Pyramids, in Petaluma, California.

1972, 1922 Hispano-Suiza H6B Labourdette Skiff Torpédo

When the Hispano-Suiza H6 was introduced at the 1919 Paris Auto Salon, it was considered by many to be the most advanced luxury car then made. This particular car, a H6B, was first delivered to a Mr. Sanz of Paris in 1922. That’s about all that’s known about the car’s early history, other than it originally had a formal body by Million-Guiet, but by 1927 it was rebodied by Henri Labourdette as a skiff/torpedo. After that, the car disappeared for three decades until collector Jules Huemann found it in poor condition at a probate sale in 1963. Heumann spend nine years restoring the car himself, no little feat. Heumann won Best of Show in 1972, later driving it throughout the United States and Europe. The Hispano-Suiza H6B is now part of The Keller Collection.

1973, 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A

Of the 419 540K models produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1936 and 1940, just one bears a Special Cabriolet A body by Sindelfingen that combined the lines of the Cabriolet with the raked, v-shaped windscreen of the Special Roadster. Originally delivered to a customer in Paris, the car’s provenance includes an opera star and a general. Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler purchased it in the early 1970s and had Richard Martin restore it. Chandler entered the car in the 1973 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in his wife Marilyn’s name, where it won best of show wearing a two-tone green livery. A later restoration included a respray in bright red. The 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A is currently owned by Don Williams’ Blackhawk Collection.

1974, 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Brewster Regent Convertible Coupe

While Rolls-Royce is an iconic British automaker, some of the most highly regarded classic cars of that marque were actually produced in the United States by Rolls-Royce of America in Springfield, Massachussets. When Rolls-Royce bought the Brewster company, body coachbuilding for the Springfield Rolls-Royces moved to Long Island. This 1929 Phantom I had a Regent style body from the R-R catalog. A two-seater with a rumble seat in back, this Springfield built Phantom is believed to be the first Regent Convertible Coupe produced by Rolls-Royce of America. First delivered to stock broker Ross Ambler Curran of Burlingame, California just a couple of months after the stock market crashed, the Phantom has spent most of its life west of the Mississippi River. M. L. Post, won best of show with the car in 1974. It currently resides in Germany, in the collection of Otto Rausch, who bought it in 2008.

1975, 1934 Packard 1101 Eight Convertible Victoria

Packard was the preeminent American luxury car marque, with more than 40% of the luxury market in the mid 1930s. This 1934 Packard 1101 Eight Convertible Victoria by Dietrich is one of the most awarded “Junior” Packards in the world. Understood to have been delivered new to Academy Award winning actress Marie Dressler, but soon after she acquired the car she died after a brief battle with cancer, reportedly leaving the Packard as an inheritance to her loyal maid and butler, Mamie and Jerry Cox. The Packard Eight was acquired by the highly regarded Milhous Collection in the early 1970s, which restored it and won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1975. It is finished in butterscotch with brown moldings and orange pinstriping, with a tan canvas top. The interior is finished in brown leather and matching carpeting. It remained in the Milhous Collection for three decades. The car is so elegant that a subsequent owner displayed it in the living room of his home. In 2013 it sold for $198,000 by RM Sotheby’s.

1976, 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante

The Bugatti Type 57 was a clean-sheet design by Jean Bugatti, the son of company founder Ettore. A variety of sedans, two-doors, dropheads, and coupés were followed by the surbaissé (lowered) Type 57S model. It had a new chassis featuring deep-section frame rails through which the rear axle passed. The lowered chassis allowed for better aerodynamics, then better known as streamlining. A Roots-type supercharger was offered as an option, upgrading the engine to 200 horsepower, giving the Type 57SC a top speed of 120 mph. Only 40 Type 57S chassis left Bugatti’s Molsheim works, and fewer than half of them, just 17, were bodied as the Atalante Coupé, and just two left the factory in supercharged form. Many 57S models have since been upgraded to SC specs.

The provenance of this Best of Show winner has been fully documented from new and the car’s history includes being hidden from German occupation forces during World War II and being modified and restyled, perhaps by Figoni. Delivered as a 57S in 1937 to a Mr. Jean Lévy, whose family owned a grain-milling operation. It spent 22 years in France, going through a series of owners, before coming to the United States, where William Harrah bought it in 1961. Harrah had O.A. “Bunny” Phillips do a full, frame-off mechanical and body restoration, adding a supercharger and taking the body back to it’s original form. The Type 57SC Atalante won Bill Harrah his fourth and last Best of Show in 1976. It is currently owned by The Patterson Collection of Louisville, Kentucky.

1977, 1927 Packard 343 Murphy Convertible Sedan

When Phil Hill and his wife showed their 1927 Packard 343 Murphy Convertible Sedan at the 1977 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, they were only the car’s second owner. The Canadian Fairbank family, wealthy from railroads and oil, purchased it new for $9,200 ($143,655 in 2021 dollars). It came with Murphy’s unique, thin “clear-vision” cast brass “A” pillars flanking the windshield. Hill and his partner at the Hill and Vaughn restoration shop, Ken Vaughn, restored the purple Packard, which took Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1977. The Murphy convertible sedan sold at auction in 2009 for $647,000. The 343 resides at of the Academy of Art University Auto Museum in San Francisco, one of a number of classic cars collected by Richard A. Stephens, the Academy of Art’s second president.

1978, 1929 Duesenberg J LeBaron Dual Cowl Phaeton

LeBaron bodied dual cowl Duesenberg phaetons are among the most desireable classic American cars. Just 18 of them were made with their instantly identifiable “sweep panel.” Peter Rosi, a real estate developer from St. Charles, Illinois purchased this car in 1973 and entered it in the 1978 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, winning Best of Show, the first time an entry from east of the Mississippi won. Rosi sold the Duesenberg into a private collection in 1981. Since 2016 the car has been part of the Lehrman Collection of Palm Beach Florida.

1980, 1933 Duesenberg SJ “Twenty Grand” Rollston Arlington Torpedo Sedan

All Duesenbergs Model Js are impressive, but there is one that stands above all the rest, a 1933 Model SJ with an Arlington Torpedo Sedan body by Rollston, nicknamed the “Twenty Grand”, after it’s retail price, $20,000. Remember, in 1933 most new American cars were priced in the hundreds, not thousands of dollars. A show car built for the 1933 Chicago world’s fair, officially know as the Century of Progress Exhibition, the Twenty Grand was designed by legendary designer Gordon Buehrig, who later penned the Cord 810. The body was built by Rollston in New York, finishing it in a metallic platinum paint, with a matching leather room and a complimentary gray cloth interior.

The car was purchased new by Shreve Archer, whose father was one of the founders of Archers Daniel Midland, the large agribusiness, later passing through the D. Cameron Peck and the Ben F. Johnson Collections. At some time it was repainted black and modernized after a fashion. J.B. Nethercutt bought it in the late 1970s and had it restored to its original condition as shown in Chicago in 1933. It took the top award at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, was awarded a perfect 100 points at the Grand Classic of the Classic Car Club of America, and in 1980 it won Nethercutt another Best of Show at Pebble Beach. The Twenty Grand Duesenberg remains in the Nethercutt Collection.

1981, 1929 Duesenberg J Murphy Convertible Coupe

This still-quite-original Duesenberg Model J with a convertible coupe body by Murphy was sold new in 1929 to John R. MacKinney, one of John D. Rockefeller Sr’s partners and a member of the New York Stock Exchange. The price was $14,500, about $230,000 in today’s currency. Murphy was known for their “disappearing” convertible roof that folded hidden in a cavity built into the body and ended up making the bodies for about a quarter of all Model J Duesenbergs that were built. This is one of a very few Murphy Convertible Coupes without the disappearing top as its storage compartment cramped the space of the car’s rumble seat and MacKinney had a growing family.

The ownership of this car is very well documented, passing through six owners before ending up in the hands of Ontario, Canada’s Terry Radey, who bought the car and commissioned Harry Sherry, of Warsaw, Ontario to restore it to concours condition, a process tha twould take three years to complete. When done, the Model J took Best of Show at the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg national meet in 1980 and Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1981. Ten years later, the Model J was purchased by noted collector, Bruce Meyer, who later sold it to Belgian collector Robert Lalement. After Lalement’s death the car again changed hands in 2006 and was registered in the Netherlands. In 2009, it was auctioned by Bonham’s in Paris, where it failed to meet reserve.

1982, 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster

The Mercedes-Benz 500K was introduced at the 1934 Berlin Automobile Show. It had an 8-cylinder, 5-liter engine that produced 100 horsepower, 160 hp with the supercharger engaged and it could reach 100 mph, the performance standard in the prewar ear. English sports car enthusiast Arthur Gore ordered this car and the factory fitted it with right-hand-drive, one of very few models so equipped. In time, the Mercedes was acquired by Thomas and Gerd Perkins who restored it and displayed the car at the 1982 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it took Best of Show.

who initially ordered this 500K with the full complement of accessories, including seven headlights and five airhorns. The car was one of very few cars exported to the United Kingdom, so it was fitted with right-hand drive. The car eventually passed to Thomas and Gerd Perkins of Belvedere, California, who restored it and exhibited it at the 1982 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, ultimately taking Best of Show. Perkins, an early investor in the computer and biotech industries, sold the car in the fall of 1988 and it soon ended up in the collection of Robert M. Lee of Reno, Nevada. It still resides in the Lee collection.

1983, 1930 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A SS Castagna Special Sports Tourer

Isotta Fraschini made automobiles that were popular with royalty and celebrities in the first half of the 20th century and the Tipo 8 was perhaps it’s most successful model. Introduced in 1919 with a 5.9 liter straight eight, displacement was increased to 7.4 liters with the Tipo 8A, raising power past 110 horsepower. To go with the greater power, the frame was reinforced and larger drum brakes with vacuum servo assist were fitted. Even faster Spinto and Super Spinto versions were developed with higher compression engines and performance tuning that were said to have top speeds faster than 100 mph. This particular Tipo 8A SS wears a dual cowl torpedo body by Castagna, one of two known to exist today.

The Isotta Fraschini was purchased new by Charles Penn, who developed the tobacco toasting recipe behind the successful Lucky Strike brand of cigarettes. Dr. Irwin Ginsberg of Buffalo, New York obtained the car from Penn’s estate and entered it in 1983’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it won its featured class and Best of Show. Gen. William Lyon purchased it from Ginsberg in 1985 and it remains in the Lyons family.

1984, 1929 Cunningham Series V-9 All Weather Cabriolet

James Cunningham & Company, in Rochester, New York, was literally in the carriage trade, making fine horse drawn carriages and sleighs. They moved into horseless carriages in 1907, gaining a reputation for both luxury and technical innovation. Cunningham was known for distinctive, well-built coachwork and elaborate, luxurious interiors. They also introduced one of the first automotive V8 engines in 2016. Ken Vaughn was Phil Hill’s partner at the Hill and Vaughn restoration shop and this car was Ken Vaughn’s personal car, which won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1984. When it was new in 1929, it was one of the most expensive car then available. Two years later, in the face of the Great Depression, Cunningham ceased production of automobile. The show-winning 1929 Cunningham Series V-9 All Weather Cabriolet now belongs to Don Williams’ Blackhawk Collection.

1985, 1939 Bugatti Type 57 Saoutchik Cabriolet

For the 1985 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Bugatti was a featured marque and to celebrate the event the show gathered, for the first time ever, all six Bugatti Royales in one place at the same time. It was fitting, then, that the Best of Show winner that year was a Type 57 Bugatti with a cabriolet body by Jaques Saoutchik, shown by Jack Becronis. The Type 57 is currently in the Robert M. Lee collection.

1986, 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster

It was fitting that during the marque’s centennial celebration in 1986 a Mercedes-Benz 500K, itself celebrating its 50th anniversary, took Best of Show for noted M-B collector Arturo Keller. When Keller bought it, the 500K was already in show condition but he had the car restored from the ground up to make it the best it could be. The 500K was one of sex Mercedes-Benzes that he brought to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1986, winning six awards. The car remains in the Keller collection

1987, 1928 Minerva Type AF Hibbard & Darrin Transformable

Minerva was a Belgian company that started out making bicycles, moving to motorcycles and light cars as the 20th century dawned. In 1908 Minerva purchased the worldwide license to manufacture Charles Yale Knight’s exceptionally quiet double-sleeve valve engine and the company became a luxury brand desired by celebrities and royalty. This Type AF came with a 5.3 liter, six cylinder engine and a Transformable Town Car body made by Hibbard & Darrin, though it may have been customized by Paul Ostruck, Minerva’s distributor in New York and Paris. Industrialist Thomas Lester purchased the car in 1985, restored it and won Best of Show at the 1987 Pebble Beach Concours. Jack Boyd Smith Jr. bought the car in 2016, had LaVine Restorations give the Minerva a complete restoration, and entered it in the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it won best of class.

1988, 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Spider

Many consider the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, introduced in 1937, to be the the Ur GT, the car that set the pattern for postwar Grand Touring coupés, fast, sporting automobiles that could carry driver and passengers in luxury over long distances. Alfistas consider it to be the prewar pinnacle of the marque. Alfa Romeo took the 2.9 liter supercharged straight eight Tipo B engine from their highly successful race cars and put in in a boxed frame with independent suspension and powerful hydraulic brakes. According to the sources, this particular car was the first to be made, ordered by one McClure Halley of Brooklyn, New York. Halley was a prominent trainer and handler of show dogs, with at least one Westminster best of show on his resume. He special ordered the 8C 2900B, asking that it be fitted with special instrumentation, chrome wire wheels, and engraved moldings. To make sure the Alfa was built to his exact specifications, Halley, who would travel to Europe to scout out promising canines, spent two months in an Italian hotel near the factory so he could supervise the work. When the 8C 2900B was introduced at the Milan Motor Show it was wearing Halley’s New York license plates.

In the late 1960s the Alfa became the property of Richard Paine, of Bar Harbor, Maine, who in turn sold it to John Mozart in the early 1980s. Mozart and Mike Hemus did an extensive restoration that was complicated by Halley’s engraved moldings as the method and tools used by Touring have been lost to time. Hemus ended up using gun engraving tools for the painstaking work replicating those intricate designs.

The restored 8C won Best of Show at the 1988 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance but it’s not a trailer queen. Mozart has put over 10,000 miles on it, in all sorts of weather and driving conditions. It remains in his collection today.

1989, 1922 Hispano-Suiza H6B Labourdette Skiff

This was the second time that Hispano-Suiza took Best of Show at Pebble Beach, with an almost identical car to the one that took the award in 1972, a H6B with a skiff body by Labourdette. Labourdette was one of the first independent body makers for automobiles, having made horse-drawn carriages since the middle of the 19th century. The first fully closed automobile body that we know of was designed by Henri Labourdette for the 1899 Renault. In 1912, his son, Jean-Henri, designed his first “skiff” body for a 20 hp Panhard. The nautical looking body with riveted wooden planks caught on and was popular with luxury car buyers into the 1920s.

Phil Hill and Ken Vaughn’s shop restored the car for Robert L. Meyer, who won Best of Show with it at the 1989 Pebble Beach concours. It currently is part of the Keller Collection

1990, 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

The Bugatti Atlantic is one of the most coveted automobiles ever created. It’s riveted seam running up the Bug’s spine makes it instantly recognizable. Just four Atlantic Coupés were built, based on Jean Bugatti’s Aérolithe concept, built on a shortened Type 57 chassis, which was introduced in 1935. This particular Atlantic was the last to be built and was delivered new to British tennis player Richard Pope. Since then, the ownership has been documented, including Tom Perkins, who showed the Atlantic Coupé at Pebble Beach in 1985, when Bugatti was a featured marque and all six Bugatti Royales were on display together for the first time. The following year, it was purchased by fashion magnate Ralph Lauren who has an outstanding collection of great automobiles. Lauren had Paul Russell restore it, in the process changing the car from French racing blue to an imposing black finish. Lauren won Best of Show with it at the 1990 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and it remains in his collection.

1991, 1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster

This 1932 Chrysler has unparalleled provenance as it was created by Chrysler in-house as a one-off special for company founder Walter P. Chrysler himself. One of the most competent automotive executives ever, Walter Chrysler originally worked in the railroad industry but was recruited to run Buick by Billy Durant, and later took control of Maxwell Motors, which he used as the foundation to create the Chrysler Corporation. Likely designed by Chrysler’s head stylist, Herbert Weisinger, the car has many features that were experimental at the time, including a high compression aluminum cylinder head that increased the power of the 385 cubic inch straight eight from 125 to 160 horsepower, a starter actuated by the gas pedal with automatic stall restart – presaging the fuel saving stop-start technology on today’s cars, an automatic choke with a solenoid operated fuel dump valve in case the engine flooded, a special clutch that was disengaged by a pendulum actuated valve in the event of a sudden stop, a lower ratio rear end for more relaxed high speed cruising, and a sliding spare tire mount.

Walter Chrysler gifted the car on to his son, Walter Jr, who in turn sold it to Albert Nippert. Collectors Sam and Emily Mann bought the car in 1988, restoring it in their own shop before winning Best of Show in the 1991 Pebble Beach Concours, the first of four overall wins so far by the Manns. The Imperial Speedster remains in their possession.

1992, 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Brewster Town Car

The original owner of this 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II town car by Brewster was Hollywood actress Constance Bennett, who saw the car at the New York Auto Show in 1936 and immediately bought it for a reported $17,000, about $332,000 in 2021 dollars. The car, however, seemed to have had a better film career than it’s owner. Bennett recovered the cost of the car by renting it to Hollywood studios at $250 a day, three days guaranteed. Bennett would joke that the car made a better salary than most actors then.

Technically speaking Bennett wasn’t really the first owner. The chassis, numbered 69WJ was an experimental unit manufactured in 1930 which Rolls-Royce kept in-house for a year before having it completed with a Trouville style town car body with Brewster’s brand identifying woven cane exterior decoration. A Mr. Fitkin took delivery, but Brewster rebodied the chassis in 1935, prior to it’s display at the New York show the following year.

It’s reported that Bennett’s husband lost the car playing poker in Oregon City, Oregon, and then it passed through owners’ hands in that state, Washington and Florida. J.B. Nethercutt bought it in the late 1980s and had it completely restored. It won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1992, the last of Nethercutt’s six overall victories. The Rolls-Royce remains in the Nethercutt Collection.

1993, 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” Roadster

Count Carlo Trossi was one of Enzo Ferrari’s top drivers and he designed the body for his personal Mercedes-Benz SSK. Engineered by Ferdinand Porsche, just 40 supercharged SSKs were made and with its unique body this one is considered to be one of the nicest examples. Ralph Lauren took his second Pebble Beach Best of Show with it in 1993 and it remains in his collection.

1995, 1931 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B Viggo Jensen Cabriolet d’Orsay

Isotta Fraschini never built many cars, about 100 a year in the best of times. Concerning what many consider to be the ultimate Isotta Fraschini, the Tipo 8B, just 30 are confirmed to have been built (some sources say 82) and only three are know to exist today. Owners of the 8B included the Aga Khan, William Randolph Hearst, Rudolph Valentino, and Pope Pius XI. Powered by a 7.4 liter overhead cam inline eight made mostly of a then new nickel-steel alloy that produced 160 horsepower, this particular 1931 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B Viggo Jensen Cabriolet d’Orsay has coachwork by Dansk Karosseri-Fabrik of Copenhagen. The maroon exterior and soft top matches maroon leather and ostrich skin upholstery inside. Its provenance includes a starring role as Norma Desmond’s chauffeur driven limo in Sunset Boulevard. Shown by William Haines at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it took Best of Show that year. In 2011 it sold at auction for $1,382,500 and it is currently in the Keller Collection.

1996, 1938 Delage D8-120S de Villars Cabrioet

This Delage D8-120 is a one-of-one. The two-seat body was designed and built by de Villars and was introduced at the Parisian Concours de l’Auto de Printemps in the spring of 1938. At the time, Otto Zipper’s Precision Motors in Beverly Hills, California was one of the West Coast’s first seller of foreign cars and considered to be “the dealer to the stars.” Zipper was in Paris in 1938, saw the custom Delage, and was smitten by the car but told that it was not for sale. Twenty years later, Zipper was at the Paris Auto Salon where he met editor Armand Veressi and mentioned the Delage. Coincidentally, Veressi had bought that exact car a year and a half earlier and agreed to sell it to Zipper. At the time it had put on about 60,000 miles. Zipper shipped the car back to California where he worked on getting it on the road, eventually selling it a few years later. In 1969 it was bought by Frederick Berndt, who in turn sold it to noted collector Sam Mann in 1994. Mann entered the car in the 1996 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, finished in dark blue and silver, where it won Best of Show. The Delage is currently part of Fritz Burkard’s Pearl Collection in Switzerland.

1997, 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C Figoni & Falaschi Coupé

Before Giuseppe Figoni teamed up with businessman Ovidio Falaschi in Paris in 1935 Figoni had been a successful designer of coachbuilt cars and even penned the body of the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 that won the 24 hours of Le Mans race three years running from 1932 to 1934. Once Figoni had a partner who could run the business, however, the Italian born designer was able to concentrate exclusively on design and the automotive world is the better for it. Some of the most beautiful cars ever made have worn Figoni & Falaschi badges.

This 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C Figoni & Falaschi Coupé is no exception. One of just 17 Talbot-Lagos made with F&F’s iconic teardrop body shape, this car actually started out as a race car. Aerodynamics was a young science then and the coupé’s shape reflects the best thinking of the day. While that may not stand up to current thinking on aerodynamics, in Figoni’s hands it certainly produced a beautiful car. In 1997, William E. Connor II brought it to Pebble Beach, where he won Best of Show. The T150C is currently owned by WSB Preservation of Hong Kong.

1998, 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Corsica Roadster

The original owner of this car G. M. Giles, a British Colonel who commissioned Corsica, a London custom coachbuilder, to build the body on Bugatti chassis 57593. Eric Giles, his brother who ran the family’s interior decorating firm, styled it, finishing the interior in alligator skin. It’s not clear if Eric Giles designed any other cars, but he did a fine job with the Type 57SC, which looks fast just standing still. The Giles were known in Britain’s enthusiast community as the “Bugatti Brothers”, G.M. having owned a dozen of Molsheim’s best before World War II. John Mozart bought the car in the mid 1980s and after putting about 5,000 miles on it, Mozart had Hemus start a two year restoration, even duplicating the original exotic skin interior. The car won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1998 and it remains in Mozart’s possession at his museum in Mountain View, California.

1999, 1932 Daimler Double-Six 40/50 Martin Walter Sports Saloon

Commissioned for a British film star, Anna Neagle, this 6.5 liter Double-Six features a unique Martin Walter Ltd. body, designed by H.R. Owens. The longest of all Double-Sixes made, it has a sleeve valve V12 engine with a four speed Wilson pre-selector transmission. Owens fitted the long hood with a very low windscreen, exaggerating the hood’s length and gave the car oversized wire wheels, rear suicide doors, exterior sun visors, a storage compartment under the rear seat, rear mounted double spare tires, and an elephant head mascot by sculptor François Bazin. Entered in the prestigious Concours d’Elegance in Eastbourne at Devonshire Place, England, it won first place and then wasn’t shown for over 60 years. When it did return to the show field, it did so with a bang, winning Pebble Beach’s Best of Show in 1999, shown by G. Lingenbrink and Charles Bronson. One the owners found the car in disasembled with engine, chassis, and boxes of parts in three different locations in the UK. At some point, the V12 had been replaced by a Buick eight, but the original engine was part of the deal. Mark Goyette and Art Tomchik, of Goyette Design in Ramona, Calif., spend almost five years on restoring the chassis and body while the Alan Taylor Company of Escondido, Calif. did the engine work and restored the tool kit. After winning Best of Show, the Daimler was purchased by Peter Ministrelli in 2000. In 2009 it sold at Gooding & Co’s Scottsdale auction for $2,970,000.

2000, 1937 Delahaye 135 M Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet

Custom ordered by a Bohemian businessman impressed by a similar car on display at the Paris auto salon, this Delahaye 135 M chassis is fitted with a rare “competition court” body by Figoni & Falaschi. As with some other historically significant prewar French cars, it was hidden from the German occupation forces during WWII, though in the case of this car it was hidden in Bohemia, not Paris. Raced in the 1950s and 1960s, it was stored disassembled in a Czech barn in 1969, perhaps to hide it from communist authorities after the Soviet crackdown in 1968. Nearly 30 years later, the car was a basket case when Jacques Harguindeguy bought it in 1998. Figoni & Falaschi’s beautiful bodywork was in serious disrepair, the rare chrome trim was missing, and the engine was seized. Perfect Reflections of Haywood, California peformed a two year restoration, leading to the car’s Best of Show win in 2000. It was the first, and so far only, overall win for Delahaye. The car is currently owned by Mark Hyman, of Hyman Ltd. in St. Louis.

2001, 1930 Mercedes-Benz SS Erdmann & Rossi Roadster

In 1927 and 1928, Mercedes-Benz introduced three supercharged models engineered by Ferdinand Porsche that were dominant forces in racing into the 1930s, the model S (for Sport) with a 6.8 liter 120 hp engine, and the models SS (for Super Sport) and SSK (Super Sport Kurz [Short]) with a 7.1 liter engine with 200 hp. As racing machines, most had utilitarian bodies, but the 1930 Mercedes-Benz SS Erdmann & Rossi Roadster that won Best of Show in 2001 has a very special body and unique provenance. The car’s build was a special commission, meant to be raced. It had a two-seat racing body with abbreviated fenders, a lowered radiator and a pointed rear end. Mercedes-Benz initially loaned the car to legendary factory team racer Rudolf Caracciola who passed it on to his teammate Hans Stuck.

It was created in June 1930 by special commission, and it was clearly built to be raced: it bore a two-seat racing body with lowered radiator, pointed tail and abbreviated fenders. The factory initially loaned the car to famed Mercedes-Benz team racer Rudolf Caracciola, and the following year, it was passed to Caracciola’s teammate Hans Stuck. The actual first owner of the car was Wilhelm Merck, of the Merck pharmceutical company, who kept it for a couple of years. Merck then sold it to Werner Lüps, an executive at the Henkel chemical company, who commissioned Erdmann & Rossi to build a new body for it—a two-seat special sport roadster. The graceful, tapered body has a V-shaped radiator grille, twin spare tires flush mounted at the car’s rear, a machine turned aluminum instrument panel and large wire chrome split-rim wheels with highly polished copper brake drums.

Lüps eventually sold the SS to someone in the United Kingdom, who had it converted to right-hand-drive. It won the “Prix d’Honneur” at the Cannes Concours d’Elegance, and shortly thereafter it was purchased by Canadian businessman Bud McDougall. McDougall kept the car in his private museum for nearly 60 years. After trying for years to acquire the unique SS, noted Mercedes-Benz collector Arturo Keller eventually purchased it in 1999. He won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 2001 and the car remains in his collection.

2003, 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

Just four Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantics were made and half of them have won Best of Show at Pebble Beach. Following Ralph Lauren’s win in 1990, the late Dr. Peter Williamson won with his own Atlantic in 2003, one of several classic Bugattis in his carefully curated collection. Dr. Williamson passed away in 2008 and in 2010, Gooding & Co. brokered the sale of his Atlantic Coupe for what the auction house reported as a record sale of at least $30 million to Peter Mullin and Rob Walton. It is on display at the Mullin Museum, in Oxnard, California.

2004, 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet

At the time of its manufacture, the Horch 853A was the most expensive car for sale by Auto Union, today’s Audi. It was technologically advanced for its day, with a 5.0 liter 120 horsepower straight eight overhead cam engine, four-speed synchromesh transmission with overdrive, independent front suspension using upper A-arms and lower twin transverse leaf springs, a central chassis lubrication system, fully independent rear suspension with half shafts, four-wheel vacuum-assisted hydraulic drum brakes, and a centrally controlled four-wheel hydraulic jacking system. Just five were made and the 2004 Best of Show winner is one of three that survive. It was brought to the United States by a World War II veteran in the late 1940s, passing into the hands of collector Herbert Von Fragstein in the early 1970s. Von Fragstein spent 30 years restoring the Horch set out on a 30-year restoration of the car in the early 1970s, selling it to Judge Joseph and Margie Cassini of West Orange, New Jersey in 2001, who won Pebble Beach’s Best of Show with it in 2004, the first of a number of prestigious Best of Show awards. In 2012, the Horch 853A sold for $5,170,000.

2005, 1937 Delage D8-120 S Pourtout Aéro Coupé

Louis Delage founded his car company in 1905 and while the Delage company was acquired by Delahaye in 1937, Louis Delage still had a major role running the marque. Wanting to publicize Delage’s new, innovative D8-120 chassis, he contracted with coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout to create a one-off coupé body for it to be debuted at that year’s Paris Auto Salon. Pourtout’s head of styling, Georges Paulin, designed an equally innovative streamlined aluminum body for an experimental D8-120-S (for surbaisse, or “lowered”) chassis with a 4.7-liter engine. One of the first automobiles to be designed using a wind tunnel, it can easily reach 100 mph.

Delage’s company motto was “A Beautiful French Car” and Louis Delage must have thought the Aéro Coupé fit that description as he decided to keep it as his personal car. The car passed through a number of hands before ending up in the collection of Sam and Emily Mann, of Englewood, New Jersey, who won Best of Show with it in 2005, and continue to own it.

2006, 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupé

Daimler, not to be confused with the German firm of the same name, is one of Britain’s oldest marques with a history going back to the earliest days of the motorcar. Though British, the company has a German name as their first automobiles were made under license by none other than Gottlieb Daimler. Well appointed and truly fit for kings and queens, Daimler became the official supplier of motorcars to the British royal family. With their adoption of quiet running sleeve-valve engines in 1909, their reputation for making luxurious cars was enhanced.

When Rolls-Royce introduced the Phantom in 1925, to compete, Daimler introduced the “Double Six” V12 powered car. The name was appropriate as chief engineer Laurence Pomeroy joined two six cylinder blocks to a common aluminum crankcase. He also refined the sleeve valve system to reduce oil consumption and smoke. The engine was available in a variety of displacements but the top of the line was the 7 liter Double Six 50. The 50 referenced the taxable horsepower rating, but in actuality it put out as much as 150 hp. Fewer than 10 cars were produced with that engine. This particular 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupé also has a rare underslung chassis, modified at Thompson & Taylor, that allows the beautiful, sporting body to be as low as possible. It is so low that the fenders reach above the hood line.

That body is the third that the car has had. The chassis was originally a chromed show display and prototype for the lowered chassis. It was bodied as a close coupled drophead coupe and was apparently loaned to Captain Wilson who had the transmission replaced with a preselector gearbox of his own design, a feature that the Daimler factory quickly embraced. The car was returned to the factory in the winter of 1930-31 where it was fitted with a fixed head body. A R.W. Hutchings bought it in 1931, but wrecked it, resulting in it being modified by Corsica coachbuilders as a drophead coupe. There’s a gap in the car’s history until the 1950s, when it was restored, eventually passing into the hands of the Burnett family, which owned it for more than four decades. RM Classic Cars bought it in 2004 for a reported price of over $5 million and RM Restorations performed a concours-worthy restoration for its next owner, Robert Lee. Lee won Best of Show in 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours with the Daimler and it remains in his collection.

2007, 1935 Duesenberg SJ “Mormon Meteor” Speedster

The 481 Model J Duesenbergs that were produced in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg plant aren’t the rarest American cars ever made, but they are generally considered to be the most magnificent motor vehicles ever made in this country. One model J stands apart from the rest, though, the 1935 SJ known as the Mormon Meteor, named so because Latter Day Saint member Ab Jenkins set world speed records with it on the Bonneville Salt Flats in his home state of Utah. It is a very special car indeed. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg festival in Auburn, Indian has many outstanding classic vehicles, but when the Mormon Meteor took the show field the year that I attended, every head turned to watch it.

The car was first shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance when owned by Knox Kershaw. Harry Yeaggy bought it for what was then a record for a Duesenberg, $4.45 million, at Gooding & Company’s 2004 Pebble Beach auction. Yeaggy restored the car, returning the Duesenberg to the way it was when Jenkins used it to set world records. He won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 2007 and still owns the car.

2008, 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta

One of three Alfa Romeo 8C’s to win Best of Show, this 1938 8C 2900B Berlinetta, was one of just 30 8Cs designed by Pinin Farina and fabricated by Touring, and one of as few as just five 2.9 liter 8Cs bodied by Touring. Its streamlined art-deco look is accentuated by the slotted rear fender skirts. John and Mary Shirley, of Medina, Washington won Best of Show with it at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It is now in a private collection in Geneva, Switzerland.

2009, 1937 Horch 853 Voll & Ruhrbeck Sport Cabriolet

The Horch brand came with a pedigree, August Horch having worked for Karl Benz before founding his own car company in 1899. August Horch would go on to also found Audi, which would merge with DKW, Wanderer, and Horch to create the Auto Union brand, now known simply as Audi. Horch introduced the model 850 in 1935 and the shorter wheelbase 853, a sportier model with DeDion rear suspension, a year later. About 1,000 853 and 853A models were made. This particular 853 is thought to be just the second Horch to be bodied by Berlin based coachbuilders Voll & Ruhrbeck. Requisitioned by the French army during World War II, it ended up in Switzerland after the war. When collector Robert M. Lee and his wife Anne Brockinton Lee found the Horch it was mostly complete, though the sport cabriolet’s original hood and sweeping front fenders had been replaced. The Lee’s restored the car in-house, recreating the graceful fenders and its original pearl finish, which Horch accomplished by adding fish scales to the paint. When finished, they entered the Horch in the 2009 Pebble Beach concours, where it won Best of Show. The Horch 853 remains in the Lee’s collection

2010, 1933 Delage D8 S de Villars Roadster

When introduced at the 1933 Paris auto show, this De Villars bodied Delage D8 S was the hit of the show. The D8 S had some serious performace credentials, having set an endurace mark of nearly 110 mph over 24 hours at the high speed Montlhery track, with its 145 hp, 4.0 liter overhead valve straight eight that shared parts with Delage’s simultaneously developed aircraft engine. The subject of a fastidious restoration with flawless sheetmetal, the Delage D8 S won Jim Patterson his first Best of Show. The Delage remains in his collection.

2011, 1935 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne

Brothers Gabriel and Charles Voisin built their first airplanes in 1906, less than three years after the Wright brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk. France was an early leader in aviation technology and the Voisins were at the heart of French aviation. Considering how dangerous early airplanes were, it was perhaps ironic that Charles Voisin died in a 1912 car accident. Gabriel continued working in aviation, concentrating on military aircraft during World War I. At the end of hostilities, Gabriel Voisin switched to making automobiles, applying what he’d learned making airplanes. His masterpiece was the streamlined Voisin Type C25 Aerodyne. As you can guess from the name, the C25 Aerodyne was highly influenced by aircraft technology. Voisin produced but a half dozen examples and only four are known to survive. One of those four won Peter Mullin Best of Show in 2011’s iteration of the Pebble Beach Concours and the car remains in his collection on display at the Mullin Museum in Oxnard, California.

The 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance had a featured class for coachbuilder Jaques Saoutchik’s fabulous creations, so it was fitting that a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S with a torpedo body by Saoutchik and a supercharged 6.8 liter eight cylinder engine took the top award that year for Paul and Judy Andrews of Texas. It started life as a show car at the 1928 New York auto show and was first sold to Frederick Henry Bedford, one of the organizers and directors of Standard Oil of Pennsylvania. The Saoutchik 680S is currently in the collection of Craig McCaw.

2013, 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria

“Senior” Packards have always been impressive luxury cars. The 1108 Twelve had a wheelbase that extended more than 140 inches and it was powered by a L-head V12 engine producing about 150 horsepower. While there were faster cars in that era, few were as elegant as the massive Packards that Ray Dietrich designed and bodied. Large front fenders flanking the long hood flow into running boards and then back to fully skirted rear fenders. Noted collectors Joseph and Margie Cassini of West Orange, NJ won Best of Show at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with this outstanding example that is now in the collection of Rob and Kim Coretz of Tulsa, Okalahoma.

2014, 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe

You might find it surprising, considering how many cars bearing the prancing horse have been shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but this 1954 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe was the first Ferrari to win Best of Show and one of the few overall winners to have been made after World War II. It was originally custom ordered by film director Roberto Rossellini with a one-off body by Pininfarina. When it was damaged in an accident, coachbuilder Scaglietti rebodied it, his first passenger car for Ferrari. After Rosselini’s ownership, the 375 MM (for Mille Miglia) passed through owners in Italy and France before collector John Shirley bought it after it was discovered stored in an underground Paris garage in poor shape. Shirley restored the car in 1995, winning Best of Show with it at Pebble Beach in 2014, his second overall win. The Ferrari is now in a private collection in Switzerland.

2015, 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A F. Ramseier & Cie Worblaufen Cabriolet

This Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A F has a body that is years younger than the chassis, a long wheelbase (145 inches) 1924 model. It was acquired by coachbuilder F. Ramseier & Cie in Worblaufen, Switzerland in the early 1930s and they first displayed its new sport cabriolet body at the 1932 Geneva Auto Show, later taking the Grand-Prix d’Honneur at the Cannes concours the following year. Before collector Jim Patterson purchased the 8A in 2014, it had been owned by just three owners. After a restoration by RM Restorations, it won its fourth owner his second Best of Show at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and continues in his collection.

2017, 1929 Mercedes-Benz 680S Barker Tourer

Bruce McCaw has shown a number of his automobiles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance but for a long time he held off restoring and showing his 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer. The boattail sports tourer has unique cut down doors and the Barker built body swells beneath the doors with torpedo-shaped storage compartments for tools and spare parts. The car was in decent shape, retaining its original Marchal headlamps and painted wire wheels, and he enjoyed it but eventually McCaw’s research turned up enough historic photos on which he could base an accurate restoration. Steve Babinsky’s shop in Lebanon, New Jersey did the work, including finishing the body in a shade of blue inspired by peacock feathers that beautifully sets off the Benz’s polished aluminum cowl and hood. The car is still in McCaw’s collection.

2018, 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta

The Alfa Romeo 8C models are some of the most highly regarded performance cars of the prewar era, competing in motorsports into the 1950s. This particular 2.9 liter Touring Berlinetta was first displayed at the 1938 Berlin Motor Show and is only one of five that were built. The subject of a recent complete restoration taking it back to its original show condition and deep blue paint, the Alfa won Best of Show in the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, shown by David and Ginny Sydorick of Beverly Hills, California. The 8C continues in their collection.

2019, 1931 Bentley 8 Litre Gurney Nutting Sports Tourer

2019’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance celebrated the 100th anniversary of Bentley with a special class for the marque. One of those cars, a 1931 Bentley 8 Litre Gurney Nutting Sports Tourer owned by Sir Michael Kadoorie, of the Kadoorie family of Hong Kong traders, took Best of Show that year, the first Bentley to win since 1965. Over 100 eight liter Bentleys were made but this is the only surviving one of just two short-wheelbase cars built with the Gurney Nutting body. The car was restored in 2004 and purchased by Sir Michael in 2010. It remains in his collection.