With the famed Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance less than two weeks away, the festivities have already begun.
For the past nine years, a group of collectors has met up in the Seattle area to drive to Pebble Beach, Calif., together. This is the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic, the first official event of the Concours.
As the sun came up earlier this week, about 30 cars gathered at Carillon Point in Kirkland, Wash., to begin the adventure. With all the engines running, driver Al McEwan gave a toot of the horn and led the group out to start the 1,500-mile journey to Pebble Beach.
Only 30 vehicles are allowed to join each year, and it is almost always an eclectic collection. This year’s group included a 1916 Pierce Arrow, 1938 Bugatti, a number of 1930s Packards, a 1958 BMW 503 Series II Cabriolet, a 1966 Lamborghini 400GT and the youngest car, a 1971 Jaguar XKE Roadster.
But when you're about to drive 1,500 miles with cars that are decades -- if not a century -- old, there’s always the possibility of a breakdown. No one wants to use the trailer that accompanies the convoy, but it's there just in case anyone gets stuck. There's no excuse to miss Pebble Beach.
McEwan, a retired aerospace engineer, started the road trip tradition to prove these beautiful cars could be driven instead of just sitting in a museum. (That's his 1930 Hispano-Suiza H6C Transformable Torpedo in the top photo.) Initially, only local collectors stepped up, but now the event draws Concours participants from across the United States and even Europe.
The nine-day trip is designed only for pleasure. Drivers tour other private car collections, stay in first-class hotels and enjoy their cars on perfect roads -- through the mountains, along the coast and through wine country, ultimately on to Pebble Beach. One previous participant described the trip as "a little bit of driving between the parties."
Photos by the author.Source: MSN
No comments:
Post a Comment