By Israel Acosta
Pebble Beach is a small area just southwest of Monterey, California, mostly known for its world-renowned golf course and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, but automotive enthusiasts everywhere recognize this area for the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance held at the end of Monterey Car Week in late-August. This event is considered to be one of the most, if not the most, prestigious concours in the world, and our humble college sends five lucky souls to the event every year, thanks to scholarships provided by Sandra Button and the Pebble Beach Foundation. As a previous scholarship recipient, I hope to give some insight on how much of a privilege it is to attend Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The Concours is on Sunday of Monterey Car Week, but the event truly kicks off on Thursday with the Tour d’Elegance where most of the vehicles planning to compete in the show on Sunday drive just over 70 miles around the Monterey Peninsula. Sure this doesn’t sound like too much, but when the field contains numerous multi-million dollar cars, such as Ferrari 250 GTOs, it becomes quite the spectacle.
Simply seeing these cars will make most people appreciative, but the magic of this event is when all 100+ vehicles fire up their engines to take off on their scenic drive through Southern California. To better express how personal this event is, while the cars are staged for the Tour, there are hundreds of people just inches from each other and these priceless pieces of automotive history observing each car as closely as possible.
After the cars take off, the auctions and exhibits around the peninsula become the main side-shows until the concours on Sunday. At the auctions, you become polarized by the amount of significant cars being sold and by how much each one costs. Many people will not see some of those cars in their life, but when you are in that tent witnessing these cars, you are witnessing the process of each car’s history as it transfers hands. Something about seeing a historical car roll across the block, hearing the hammer fall, and feeling the eruption from the auction room thereafter is a privilege in its own way.
The day of the concours is long and exhausting as a scholar, but the feeling of being there is incomparable. The day starts with hundreds of people arriving on the show field at 5 AM for Dawn Patrol where every vehicle participating in the show must drive onto the field, a tradition most known for its free hat funny enough. The difficulty of getting one of these hats is what makes the reward of having one so grand. Most people don’t know the password is “I’m with McPherson College,” which will surprisingly work at a number of places over the weekend.
As Pebble Beach scholars, we have the privilege of being an apprentice judge which I personally note as the greatest privilege of all. Not only is it a great honor to be recognized amongst some of the world’s best restorationists and historians, but it is also a fantastic opportunity to learn as much as possible from the judges in the short time you are with them. The two years of apprentice judging at Pebble Beach will remain core memories for years to come.
