Pebble Beach TOUR

Words/Pictures by Warren Madsen
Aug 2007

The weather, the ocean, the people and the cars. Once in a while all these elements come together and I'm reminded just how lucky we are to live here. The cars are especially unreal every August, when the most amazing and rare autos make their pilgrimage to the Monterey Bay. The week long celebration (as it has become) includes the Monterey Historic Races, The Quail, The Concourso Italiano, and the super bowl of 'em all- the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

The Tour is my favorite event of the crazy car week. It's free, you see all the amazing cars actually driving and you might even get a peek of racing greatness...like Sir Sterling Moss driving a 300 SL Roadster. Find a good spot along the route to avoid the crowds when they park in Carmel or enjoy the people watching. Either way it's a must see!





The barn find Barchetta, a 166 Ferrari lost for 40 years. It looks happy to have been found and being driven on Hwy 1.







My all time favorite, the F40, seen here racing the fog. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this wasn't a "TOUR" car. OK by me.

Back in downtown Carmel, a teardrop Talbot Lago gets some deserved attention.

Classic Duesenberg

Your everyday $10 million car, a Ferrari 250 GTO





F430 Spider, Bentley Azure (and another F430 in the background)...ya know, traffic.

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2007- Concept Cars

Words/Pictures by Warren Madsen
Aug 2007

One of my favorite parts of Pebble is the concept car display on the putting green just outside The Lodge. Enjoy!



US debut of the new full-size Bentley coupe- The Brooklands. I'm a huge fan of the old style, big body grand tourers- and this one is a quintessential cross-country barger. Love it.

Mercedes Benz's Ocean Drive concept pays homage to a certain look-at-me street in Miami where this big four door convertible would be right at home. Some of these styling cues will be seen in forthcoming Benz models, but a true pillarless four door drop-top is not on the visible horizon. Too safe and not ground breaking in any way- a range topping Benz should bring more to the table.

The Caddilac Cien. This one off concept debuted years ago. What seemed like a long shot for production at the time still remains so, but every Caddy model since has borrowed heavily from the overall design language used in this cutting edge supercar. The new CTS in the background was not there on accident...

Two Veyrons in the same place at the same time. One wore a traditional Bugatti color scheme- not to everyones liking in 1925 and the same is probably true today. Somehow I get the feeling they didn't see the red curb.

Other highlights included the new Maserati GranTurismo, a few concepts from Lexus, Chrysler and the Zagato-bodied Spyker C12, which was visually appealing if not slightly awkward in person.

On to the main event!

Summit Run

The SCDC crew met for a quick run up to the top of the hills. Our route took us up Old San Jose Rd., past the secret church and on to the base of Mt. Umunum at nearly 3000 feet.



We paused for a moment at the church only to have Bryan's GTI blow a radiator hose due to an unplugged radiator fan.

We pushed on (down a car) to the top of the summit and took in the view. Not a bad afternoon...

Stay tuned for Summit Run II.