{"id":12383,"date":"2024-08-21T15:21:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T15:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=12383"},"modified":"2024-08-21T15:21:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T15:21:07","slug":"bugatti-t59-makes-history-first-unrestored-car-to-win-pebble-beach-concours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=12383","title":{"rendered":"Bugatti T59 makes history: first unrestored car to win Pebble Beach Concours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year\u2019s Pebble Beach Concours is history, and history was made… For the first time since its inaugural edition in 1950, an unrestored car from the preservation class won Best of Show. The honour went to Swiss entrant Fritz Burkart (The Pearl Collection) and his 1934 Bugatti T59, a former race car. Peter Singhof sent us his report.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its very first edition with just 30 cars, the Pebble Beach Concours d\u2019Elegance in Monterey, California has grown into the most important Concours in the world. Such prestige brings a (class) win at Pebble Beach, that ever more beautifully restored cars made Pebble become more of an art show than it was a car show. The phenomenon of the trailer queens was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New tastes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, Pebble Beach opened up a class for unrestored cars, to enter cars where the appearance told the story of their life, be it loved and cherished by a few selected owners or neglected over decades in a barn and resurrected by enthusiasts. For a long time, nobody believed these cars would ever win a Concours. After all, there isn\u2019t much \u2018elegance\u2019 in a banged-up old racer, is there? But times change and so does Pebble Beach. Consequently, this year\u2019s victory of the Bugatti T59 Sports from the Pearl Collection of Fritz Burkard marked a change in the concours scene. After the winning Alfa Romeo 8C at the Villa D\u00b4Este Concours<\/a>, this is the second high-profile preservation victory in just one year. That given might also change the way people look at these cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dawn patrol<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But little did we know when we arrived at the lawn at 5 AM for the \u2018dawn patrol\u2019 and have our coffee, donut and the hat everybody is looking for on the field, to differ the real enthusiasts from the casual visitor. At 6:25 AM, Concours Chairman Sandra Button welcomed the first car onto the lawn, the Lamborghini Miura P400 that would become runner up in the preservation class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the next hour, the class hosts were busy setting up the 214 cars entered from 16 different countries on their designated spots. Curators, owners and their staff were kept busy with the last preparations before the judges entered the scene to preside over their classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the sun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once again, the weather brought typical Monterey morning mist, which made the cars look rather grey. It was just a question of patiently waiting for the sun to really make the colours pop the way only Californian sun can do at the Pacific. The classes ranged from the antics of the brass era to race cars of the endurance era, including two classes for the featured brand Packard, two classes for Maserati and two Frua classes for the featured coachbuilder, one in particular for Frua-designed Maseratis. Those special classes were lined up along the ocean shore, where the others were spread out over the 18th<\/sup> fairway of one of the most famous golf courses in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pebble Beach never fails to amaze, as the event brings cars that were never seen before, or hadn\u2019t been in the public eye for a long time. This year, the change to different, more recent eras was clearly visible. Despite being a monument, Pebble Beach has to keep up with the changes in the taste of the spectators. Attracting a younger public to Monterey Car Week and to the Concours is the key to have a healthy future. Looking around during Car Week, it was apparent that a lot of young people start to attend the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Endurance racers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Their focus is more on supercars and race cars, rather than the Packards from the past. So, one of what many saw as one of the star classes, were the racing icons of the endurance era. These included no less than three Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTRs, two Bugatti EB110s and a duo of McLaren F1s, one of them a prototype (XP4) of the street version, the other a works contender from Le Mans 1996, brought by BMW itself. The class was won by a Michelotto-built (BPR, 1996) Ferrari F40. Its shown race livery contrasted with the trend of preserving cars as it looked much better than ever entered in a race, not to mention at the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wedge shapes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just next to the racers were two classes of wedge-shaped concept cars, also a novum on the lawn. As Chairman Sandra Button later explained during the awards ceremony, the idea actually arose last year when owner Phillip Sarofim wanted to enter the Aston Martin Bulldog in the Concours but no suitable class was found. So Sarofim was told to enter the car this year in a featured class that would bring up these cars together. Sarofim ended up winning both classes, the newer one with the Bulldog, the older one with the Lancia Stratos Zero concept that ultimately was the runner-up for the Best of Show award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maserati-a-go-go<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the countless cars on the field everybody finds something to his taste, and so did we. First, we\u2019d like to mention the cover cars of this year\u2019s event poster, the Maserati A6G54 Zagato and the Maserati Frua Spider, both brought by Jonathan Seagal. The latter was also awarded most elegant sports car. The Maserati racing class featured great early racers including the Maserati 250F, winning the 1956 Italian GP in Monza in the hands of Stirling Moss. The whole line-up of Mille Miglia sports cars of the era included an A6GCS, a 150S, 200SI, 300S as well as the big-engined 450S, both in the typical spyder coachwork as well as the one off Costin Zagato version. Last but not least, the filigree Birdcage is always a great sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Moving over to Maranello, two Ferrari classes were on display, the earlier and the later models. The early years were very much dominated by the coachbuilders, ranging from Touring to Ghia, Vignale and the first Pininfarina designs. The class-winning Ferrari 375 MM by Ghia was sold by RM Sotheby\u2019s a few years ago, and the owner told us that back then he did not see the potential of the car. After looking deeper into the history, it grew to his heart. Since, it underwent a major restoration to win at Pebble. The runner-up was a little bit more discreet than the bright orange 375 but basically it had the same story. Sold at auction in yellow and black, it was brought back to the original specification in a wonderful two-tone livery as when owned by Argentinian president Juan Peron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

GTO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the later class the Ferrari 250 GTO made its post-restoration debut brought over from the UK by Tom Hartley Jr. for is current owner. After launching a video of the Ferrari Classiche restoration just before the Concours, the car was awarded first in class followed by the road versions of the 250 GT PF Series 1 Cabriolet and a 410 Superamerica. America was also the theme on the first fairway where the Casa Ferrari had their display featuring the history of Ferrari in the US with several Daytonas, California Spiders, Americas and Superamericas as well as the 1967 Daytona 24 Hour race with the three Ferrari 330 P4 and 412 lined up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bugatti<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting back on the main Concours field, there were a few excellent Bugattis on display. Not only the winning T59 but also the T55 with a Jean Bugatti-designed Roadster body and a Corsica-bodied T57S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of the Corsica body brings us to one of our favourites we had spotted on the tour<\/a>, the Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK brought by Chip Conner. What we thought would be a real contender for the top award did not even make it into the final selection, but it won its class as well as the Mercedes-Benz award. Another \u2018black pre-war car\u2019 that seemed to be a potential winner was the 1923 Hispano-Suiza H6B Fernandez et Darrin Cabriolet, entered by Sam and Emily Mann, yet once again only a class award was given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Peter Singhof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surprised winner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So it took until 5 PM before Best of Show was announced. Four cars were lined up in the winners circle including the Bugatti, the Stratos Zero, the Packard 1108 Twelve LeBaron Sport Phaeton by Harry Yeaggy and the 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Saoutchik Fastback Coup\u00e9 brought by Robert Kudela all the way from the Czech Republic. Owner Fritz Burkard was just about ready to leave as he was not aware that his car was an actual contender, when he was called back to the car. And not only to his, but also to the surprise of most of the spectators he was called on stage when the fireworks went off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be an understatement to say that Burkard was overwhelmed. This was the most excitement and joy on stage we ever witnessed at Pebble Beach. Most of the previous winners tried to keep their cool but this time it seemed so unexpected that the passion took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full list of winners here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Pebble Beach Concours is history, and history was made… For the first time since its inaugural edition in 1950, an unrestored car from the preservation class won Best of Show. The honour went to Swiss entrant Fritz Burkart (The Pearl Collection) and his 1934 Bugatti T59, a former race car. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,190],"tags":[341,118,206,1645,329,280,620,1634,661,1646,716],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-12383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historic-racing","category-main-article","tag-bugatti","tag-endurance-racing-legends","tag-ferrari","tag-fritz-burkard","tag-maserati","tag-mercedes","tag-monterey","tag-monterey-car-week","tag-pebble-beach-concours-delegance","tag-sandra-button","tag-the-pearl-collection","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/185-Best-of-show-winning-1934-Bugatti-T59-Sports-Racer-of-Fritz-Burkard.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12626,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12383\/revisions\/12626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12383"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=12383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}