Pebble Beach Concours: Dawn Patrol or Bust
If you haven’t shivered your way through the morning darkness bleary eyed and in search of coffee well before the sun is up in pursuit of automotive dreams you may want to double check if you are really as in to cars as you think you are.
When we made our sojourn to the 18th fairway on the famed Pebble Beach golf links, we were up at 4am, packed the car for the trip back to Sacramento after the concours, checked out of the motel, frantically realized that no coffee shops are open at 4:30am, almost got in a wreck driving through the pitch black and foggy and twisty Del Monte Forest, just to find ourselves in a parking lot that appeared to be a dusty/rock construction site carved off of the side of a hill. It was still dark, relatively chilly and there were a couple of event staff at the top of the hill beckoning us with flashlights. So now we ascend the dusty hill in our Sunday finest to wait by the side of the road for something. A few minutes later, a gigantic tour bus breaks through the misty darkness to take us to the Pebble Beach grounds. Once on premises, we walked give or take a mile or so, still not caffeinated with the weather a bit breezier and chillier, as we navigated our way to the hallowed 18th fairway.
So we’re half-awake, cold, damp, having caffeine withdrawals, exhausted from a long weekend, and we’re standing on the middle of a golf course (and neither of us golf). Through the dark, we could make out a few show cars on the field that had been wrapped up to protect them from the morning dew, but all in all we basically thought we’d been duped by all the chatter about this whole “Dawn Patrol” thing.
It was about 5:30 in the morning, we were alone, and it was quiet.
And that’s just the whole trick. As we’ve now attended the Concours a few times, we’ve come to realize that this buildup to a seeming letdown, is really the perfect prelude to the grandeur of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance waking up and coming to life.
Thanks to the good folks at Hagerty the dawn patrol masses were met with free coffee and donuts in the darkness with the only real light emanating from the Pebble Beach Lodge. While we had heard that Hagerty had started this tradition some time ago it’s only taken us several years of attending the Concours to discover the location. Yes, we know that smarter people would have already found it years ago, but we do our best with our limited mental resources.
The Concours consistently brings together featured classes that typically are straight to heart of automotive history and demonstrate the timeless art of the automobile. Amongst the multiple featured classes this year was the celebration of the centennial of Lincoln as well as the centennial celebrations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Other features included the Talbot-Lago Grand Sports and the Alfa 8c 2300. A surprising category was the display of Ford Historic Hot Rods perhaps a long overdue addition to the concours but nonetheless surprising to finally see some respect shown for this genre of automotive art and excellence. Perhaps in our lifetimes the art and history of the low rider will be honored on the storied fairway.
As we consumed our complimentary Hagerty wake-up call we meandered around the greens still waiting for the first cars of the morning to roll in. It was then, before the sun was up that we saw the first cars lined up to celebrate the 100 years of the 24 Hours of LeMans. It will never stop being a serene experience to encounter a legendary machine in the early morning hours with hardly anyone else around.
These darkened moments will always remain highlights for us no matter how many times we do it. The Pebble Beach Concours and the surrounding Del Monte forest are forever intertwined with the history of sports car racing as the Pebble Beach Road Races were the original automotive draw to the region. The inaugural Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950 were the main attraction of what has become the internationally celebrated Car Week, with 10,000 fans lining the 1.8-mile track. The first Concours coincided with the road races and served as a display for most of race cars that competed during the races during the weekend.
Soon during our morning excursion, the dawn would arrive through the coastal marine layer, and a robust mist wrapped both people and machines. The silence was broken as the first of the entrants began driving onto the course guided to their spots on the green by an army of Pebble Beach officials and guides. Dawn patrol had arrived.
The sun rises so we focus in: The Le Mans Cars…
As the cars made their way on the greens we spotted a delivery truck on the greens, an out-of-place site on Concours day when everything is so well coordinated and manicured. This caught our attention and the attention of others so we made our way over to see. Turns out that the last minute fill in for the missing Glickenhaus 007 Hypercar was one of our all time favorites, the le Mans winning 2003 Bentley Speed 8. Flanking the Speed 8 were almost 40 examples of cars that have participated in and, in some cases, won the June Classic. It was any/every endurance racing fan’s greatest hits list arranged in front of one of California’s most picturesque vantage points. What a thing!
The Deuces…
Even the unindoctrinated would probably recognize a 32 Ford, more commonly referred to as a/the “deuce,” as the very definition of of what a hotrod is. Since the mid 40s, gearheads have been reinventing, redefining and refining (and cutting and chopping and supercharging and pinstriping and flaming) the platform taking an already sporty car and transforming it into the hot rod’s hot rod. Group V of the Concours was a collection of 12 of finest and best known examples of the Deuce on the planet. All had impressive origin stories having been created by the godfathers car customization, but the cherrys on top was the presentation of each car in front of a blow up of very magazines they graced when they were reborn to the world as automotive art.
Red Wedding (the good kind)
We’re not really sure what to say about Groups M1 (Ferrari Grand Touring) and M2 (Ferrari Competition). It was unlike anything else we’ve ever seen outside of, maybe, a high end coffee table book. Though not all were red, most were. Though not all were powered by one legendary incarnation of a Ferrari V-12, most were. It also seemed like every variant of the 250 platform was present, and lots of 275s and a couple of 330s just to keep it real….more appropriately, unreal. Anyone who follows classic Ferraris at auction (especially the 250s) knows that they break and re-break records all the time. Staring at the line-up of cars at this years Concours begged the question, “how much are all of these, together , worth anyway?” This is a question that will likely never be answered. Suffice to say it would be unfathomable by the human brain. Quite a thing to see…quite a thing to try to wrap the brain around.
Oh, and that drip…
On top of all the cars on the 18th fairway, all the prototypes above on the concept lawn, all the Ferraris on the Ferrari fairway, and all the concept cars on display across the Pebble Beach campus there’s another thing on display that you can’t miss, even if you try…and that’s the drip. We do our best to look our best, but compared to the folks in the gallery below, we’re just pretenders. Our hats are always off to these folks who take swag to the next level. We hope you enjoy.
Frankly, while we know and appreciate the various awards categories on display we remain enamored with the overall experience of the Concours. It is a convergence of automotive art, history, personality, and fashion. It is an open-air ballroom where the machines are the centerpiece of an all-day party on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach.
We don’t normally condone getting up at 4 am to do, well, anything. Sleep is important. That said, with the proper preparation and caffeination, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is 100% worth the expense and the effort. Despite the overload of everything this year, we are ready and eager for the 2023 event.
Enjoy our Mega Gallery:
