Competing California Concours Events Fire Up In August

Richard Read

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Richard Read covers technology, social media, advertising, legal issues, and other auto industry topics for High Gear Media. With a background in... More

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Ferrari TR 59

Enlarge Photo

Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni with Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchettas

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Californians may have their share of problems these days, but come August, they'll be the envy of auto fans around the globe. Not only will they be nearer than most to the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, but they'll also be near the first-ever "Concours d’Ignorance: An Automotive Celebration of the Mundane and the Truly Awful". And as if all that weren't enough: the two events will take place within a week of one another, along the picturesque California coastline.

Even non-car fans are familiar with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Set for Sunday, August 16, it's one of the world's best loved auto beauty pageants. This year, the event will feature a slew of groundbreaking Ferraris, including the only four Ferrari TR 59 racecars still known to exist, plus ten 1949 166 MM Touring Barchettas. The former (above left) is a modern marvel of design, thanks in no small part to its coachwork by Pinin Farina. The latter (below left, with designer Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni) are renowned for prevailing at Italy's deadly--though now much safer--Mille Miglia road race, which explains the "MM" in the model name. There will also be plenty of Porsches, Bentleys, and other high-end collector cars on view, plus the usual assortment of auto-themed art, auctions, and other activities we've come to expect at Pebble Beach.

The Concours d’Ignorance, on the other hand, is "a bad idea whose time has come", according to organizer Alan Galbraith. A longtime fan of the Concours d'Elegance, Galbraith insists that "If we're celebrating the best, there has to be a place to celebrate the worst." The inaugural festival of all thing banal and terrible will take place the week before the Concours d'Elegance, on August 9, also in Monterey, and it will feature some of the world's most beloved and despised underdogs, like the Yugo, the Ford Pinto, the AMC Gremlin, and the thoroughly unforgivable Pontiac Aztek. We're hoping it'll be something like the Island of Misfit Toys, but with Corinthian leather seating. By all means, count us in.

[PebbleBeachConcours, AutoWeek]