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This annual event has been held since 1950 and is recognised as one of the greatest historic vehicles shows on earth. A win – even a place – at the USA’s Pebble Beach is the goal of many well-heeled, classic-car fanatics.

The 2025 event saw 229 cars from 22 countries compete for 115 awards that were headed by a Best of Show 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo, entered by Penny and Lee Anderson Sr of Naples, Florida. “This Hispano-Suiza ticks every possible box,” said Concours chairman Sandra Button. 

“The  underpinnings are technically advanced; the body is meticulously hand-crafted, light and lovely. 

“It was, notably, commissioned by aperitif scion André Dubonnet, who raced it in the Targa Florio and the Coppa Florio.

“A later owner added pontoon fenders to the car, but the Andersons sought to return the car to its original form, so you can see and truly appreciate its torpedo shape.”

(Check out our Hispano brand entry and a feature on this car.)

Although called a ‘Tulipwood’ Torpedo, the bodywork is in fact constructed of strips of mahogany, each individually carved to shape and joined to the inner ribs by 8500 rivets. The bodywork reportedly weighed just 80kg when first built.

Second-time Best in Show co-winner Lee Anderson said it was the wooden bodywork that first attracted him to the car: 

“I like wood… I’m a wooden-antique-boat collector and I started collecting them 40 years ago, before it became vogue-ish to do that,” said Mr Anderson. 

“So I’ve always loved varnished wood and when I saw this car I said, ‘This is right in my wheelhouse … what I really like’.

“Winning Pebble Beach is probably the highest award you can get in automobile collecting,” Lee added. 

“We are very fortunate to have done it twice.” (The Andersons previously took the top award at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours with a Figoni-bodied 1932 Duesenberg J.)

Hispano-Suiza cars have also captured the top prize at Pebble Beach twice before; most recently in 1989.

This year’s race for Best of Show featured several strong contenders, including a 1939 Maybach SW38 Spohn Sport Zweisitzer, presented by Dana and Patti Mecum of Geneva Lake, Wisconsin; a 1933 Invicta 4½ Litre S Type Corsica Drophead Coupé, shown by SBH of Riffa, Bahrain; and a 1956 Maserati 200SI Fantuzzi Open Sports Racer, presented by Phillip Sarofim of Beverly Hills, California.

The competition got underway when the majority of Concours entries participated in the 27th Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, over about 70 miles of scenic coastal roads. Entries that complete the Tour have the advantage if they tie in the Concours competition against a non-Tour entry.

The Pebble Beach Concours had raised more than US$4 million for charity in the first half of 2025, bringing the event’s total charitable donations to over US$45 million. These funds will benefit 100 local non-profits focused on youth education.

The 75th Celebration of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for August 16, 2026, featuring the Ferrari marque and the coachbuilder Vignale. 

The event will also celebrate the automotive history that has been made at Pebble Beach, with curated classes for Pebble Beach Road Racing greats and a gathering of groups of cars that were first brought together at the Pebble Beach Concours. 

For more information on the Pebble Beach Concours, visit www.pebblebeachconcours.net.

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