Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2026

Text: Souvik Ghose Chaudhuri

While America celebrated 250 years of Independence, a quiet, dreamy coastal town on its west coast celebrated 75 years of automotive elegance. The scenic Monterey Peninsula, nestled 50 miles south of Silicon Valley, begins to buzz with activity as soon as August arrives. The quiet coastal roads fill with the sound of engines. Immaculate classics and futuristic supercars appear on every side street while private jets begin to replace seagulls as the most common things in the sky.

Monterey Car Week is, in truth, a collection of distinctly different automotive worlds rather than a single event. From the historic racing at Laguna Seca and the exclusivity of The Quail and Concorso Italiano, to the spectacle of the Tour d’Élegance, Legends of the Autobahn and Exotics on Broadway, there is something for every taste, even the delightfully eccentric, Little Car Show. However, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance remains the crème de la crème.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which began as a sideshow to the Pebble Beach Road Races in November 1950, is now widely regarded as the world’s greatest celebration of the automobile; a place where the rarest cars, most significant designs, and finest restorations are brought together on the legendary 18th fairway. Every year in August, for one week, the Monterey Peninsula takes centre stage in the collector-car world; this year was even more special owing to the diamond anniversary of the concours.

A few days ahead of the Concours, the Tour d’Élegance is one of the most spectacular traditions of Monterey Car Week, taking the cars away from the concours lawn and putting them where they truly belong; on the road. Held on Thursday, August 13, 2026, the Tour saw some of the world’s most significant automobiles driven through the scenic Highway 1. This year, however, wildfires spread over thousands of acres and road closures around Big Sur forced organisers to alter the traditional route, a reminder that we remain at the mercy of the elements. 

The Concours organisers decided to take a look back at its racing heritage and celebrate its 75 years in the making. Befittingly, the featured marque was Ferrari; with special emphasis given to coachbuilder Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale. Additionally, there were five special classes, namely Chinetti & NART Competition Cars, Early American Speedsters, Classic Streamliners, Pebble Beach Road Racing Greats, and Japanese Motorsports.

Unlike other years, when the California sun illuminates the fairway in all its glory, the weather on Concours day was rather gloomy, with wildfire smoke casting a veil of haze across the peninsula. The subdued light only seemed to heighten the drama. Yet there they stood, 218 magnificent automobiles from the United States and 14 other countries, strewn across the lawn like pearls on a vast green carpet. 

The oldest car on the turf was a freshly restored 1902 Packard Model G two-cylinder 24hp. However, the best of antiques class was won by the oldest known surviving Rolls-Royce 10HP made in 1904. Bodied by coachbuilder Barker, it stood apart, dazzling in chrome and Primrose Yellow.

Outside the judged competition, two of Bugatti's most legendary creations held court. The first was a 1931 Type 41 Royale Cabriolet with a massive 12.7-litre straight-eight engine; Weinberger handcrafted this behemoth under the watchful eyes of Ettore himself. Complementing it was the much smaller 1936 Type 57SC Atlantic, standing boldly against the California coastline with its iconic riveted spine and almost alien features.

Just a frame away, three Alfa Romeo BATs parked with their eccentric rear ends turned toward the gasping crowds; the Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica or more commonly the BATs, was a series built by Bertone between 1953 and 1955, to study aerodynamic drag. Franco Scaglione designed the BAT 5, 7, and 9, and all were far ahead of their time. All three, owned as a set by Rob Walton, appeared together in public after 37 years!

One of the most talked-about sights of the week wasn't even eligible for judging: a 1957 Fiat Tipo 642 RN2 transporter, bodied by Carrozzeria Bartoletti, that Ferrari used to shuttle its factory race cars in the early 60s. This three-car carrier, the mighty Fiat, proudly displayed two Ferrari 250s on the upper deck, giving spectators a rare glimpse of what Enzo might have seen in the paddocks during its heyday. Its cargo, consisting of now obsolete machinery, is estimated to be worth a staggering $50 million. The other notable exhibit was the 1927 Sunbeam 1000HP World Landspeed Record Car from Beaulieu.

Jaguar's heritage display included a car with a very different kind of provenance: a 1987 Jaguar XJ-S V12 Cabriolet commissioned as a bespoke, one-off car for Diana, Princess of Wales. Finished in British Racing Green with a special 2+2 seating arrangement, custom leather, and Harris Tweed upholstery, the car was reportedly Diana's regular personal driver between 1987 and 1991. This was its first appearance in North America and was reverentially adorned with white roses in honour of the beloved Princess.

A new Streamliners class celebrated the aerodynamic dream cars of the prewar era. Icons such as the Tatra T77A, the Jonckheere Rounddoor Rolls-Royce, and the Talbot-Lago T150, were all on display. Among this year's streamliner-adjacent class winners were a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Fernandez et Darrin Coupé de Ville, a 1932 Austro-Daimler ADR8 Oeffag Alpine Sedan, and a 1932 Duesenberg J Bohman & Schwartz Streamline Coupé. The 1937 Dubonnet Xenia Saoutchik Aerodynamic Coupé took home The French Cup.

Two of the show's quieter but increasingly important categories were well represented this year. One of them was the Preservation class. The 1930 Cord L-29 Murphy G Town Car and the 1974 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale Coupé won the pre-war and postwar classes respectively. It is encouraging to see that this class continues to gain prestige; a Prewar Preservation Bugatti even won outright Best of Show in 2024. 

India was well represented with six cars making their way into the competition just in time to celebrate India’s 80th year of Independence. A featured class this year honoured the grand touring cars once owned by India's princely states; aptly named Automobiles of Royal India. It was won by Hemant Kumar Ruia's 1929 Mercedes-Benz 630K Sports Tourer of Mumbai; a large-chassis Mercedes of exactly the kind favoured by Indian maharajas in the interwar years. Second and third place also went to Indian collectors: Rajiv Kehr's 1934 Packard 1101 Eight Seven-Passenger Tourer and Nishant Dossa's 1931 Pierce-Arrow 42B Seven-Passenger Tourer.

Jules Heumann Most Elegant Open Car Trophy was won by Harsh Pati Singhania’s 1937 Bentley 4 ¼ L Vanden Plas Sports Tourer. Two other Bentley Mark VI Drophead Coupés, one owned by Khushi Dossa and one by Rajiv Kher, also debuted this year.

A record number of concours-quality Miuras were brought together to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the "Raging Bull," organised by Automobili Lamborghini, the Lamborghini owners club, and the Pebble Beach team. With 43 pristine Miuras in one place, it was possibly one of the largest gatherings of the model ever assembled outside the factory.

The top prize went to a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster, one of only two ever built, shown by Cincinnati collector Harry Yeaggy. The car rides on a shortened 125-inch chassis and is powered by a supercharged straight-eight producing nearly 400 horsepower; an extraordinary figure for the era.

A hint of its Hollywood provenance is seen in the black-and-yellow California licence plate that reads “Gable”: the SSJ was originally leased to Clark Gable, while the only other example built went to his friend Gary Cooper. Legend has it the two actors used to race each other through the Hollywood Hills. Remarkably, both surviving SSJ Special Speedsters were on the field this year, reunited in the Duesenberg class. For Yeaggy, it was a second Best of Show, a wait of nineteen years between wins!

The three other finalists were Fritz Burkard's 1939 Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet, a 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta from the Heinecke family's Bangkok collection, and a 1954 Ferrari 375 America Vignale Cabriolet from the Texas-based RQ Collection. Burkard, whose Pearl Collection is a perennial Pebble Beach powerhouse, was the 2024 Best of Show winner (with a Bugatti Type 59) and came achingly close to a repeat this year with the Delahaye.

The Concours itself doesn't sell cars, but the auctions running alongside it during Monterey Car Week told their own story. Collector car sales through Saturday hit an all-time record of $747.9 million, a 73 percent jump from 2025. Interestingly, on Saturday 15 August, a modern electric Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” was bought by a Florida-based billionaire philanthropist, inventor and longtime Ferrari collector Dr. Herbert A. “Herbie” Wertheim for a record $40 million at RM Sotheby’s Monterey charity sale, with the proceeds going to the Ferrari Foundation's educational initiative.

This 75th anniversary also marked the last Concours under Sandra Button, who has chaired the event since 2002. The week closed out a 40-year chapter in the Concours' own history, as Sandra Button handed the reins to Vince Finaldi in a carefully managed transition, marking the end of an era.