Text & Images: Anniruddha Jain

The Concorso Italiano is held on the Friday preceding the Concours d’Elegance at the Laguna Seca golf ranch, a few miles away from the Pebble Beach Resort. The Concorso Italiano is a celebration of Italian vehicles, and arguably the largest gathering of Ferraris and Lamborghinis at one location anywhere in the world.

This year’s event featured a reunion of the iconic Ferrari F40, and there were over two dozen of these extremely rare supercars in attendance. Other highlights included a smattering of Ferrari Enzos, a host of F430s, including special additions like the 16M, Scuderia and Challenge cars. Also present was a sole Ferrari 458, which, I have to admit, looks even better in the flesh than it does in images.

Another notable car present at the gathering was the Ferrari SP1, a special project undertaken by Ferrari for a Japanese businessman. The SP1 is custom designed by Fioravanti, and is built on the Ferrari 430 platform. Though it’s a gorgeous car, I was frankly a little underwhelmed by the SP1 as it looked too similar to the 430. I guess it’s hard to improve upon perfection.



Lamborghini had a huge presence at the Concorso Italiano with every model right from the Miura, Countach, Diablo, Gallardo and Murcielago present in every conceivable color. Not only was the Gallardo LP550-2 (Balboni Edition) on display, but Valentino Balboni, Lamborghini’s test driver after whom the car is named, was also present and mingling with potential clients, fans and enthusiasts.

The organizers of the ‘Italian Stampede,’ a rally open to all Italian cars that runs from Los Angeles to the Monterey Peninsula had 50 Lamborghinis participating in the event. It’s rare to see a few Lamborghinis on the road, but when you see 50 of them together dueling with an equal number of Ferraris it really is quite special.

Other highlights included a section of the absolutely gorgeous De Tamaso Panteras. These cars look as good as any Ferrari or Lamborghini, but have a reputation of being somewhat temperamental. I saw a host of Panteras that had been extensively modified and rebuilt, which looked absolutely fantastic.

Check out the pictures, and admire some of these sexy Italian beauties.

This was the 60th year of the Concours d’Elegance and some of the most beautiful and rare cars from across the world were invited to appear on the famed 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links so that connoisseurs of art and style could flock to see these masterpieces.

A number of manufacturers use the Pebble Beach concourse to showcase upcoming models, and this year was no exception. Infiniti launched its IPL (Infiniti Performance Line), Infiniti’s version of AMG or the BMW ‘M’ division. The first product from the IPL, a souped-up version of the G37, was showcased at Pebble Beach.

More than 20 concept and new cars were featured during the weekend, including vehicles from Aston Martin, Bentley, Bertone/Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Cadillac, W K Cherry, Ford, Jaguar, Lexus, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Morgan, Porsche and Rolls-Royce. Two cars that stood out for me were the McLaren MP4-12C and the Porsche 918 Spyder, The MP4-12C is McLarens first solo effort since the legendary McLaren F1.

The car generated a lot of interest at Pebble Beach and promises to take the fight to the Ferrari 458. The Porsche 918 Spyder is likely to be the first hybrid supercar. It features a 500hp V8 engine that works in conjunction with a pair of 109hp electric motors to give the car enough power to eclipse the performance of the Carrera GT, while being extremely fuel efficient. Lotus showed off what is basically a customer version of its F1 car that individuals can buy and drive on racetracks around the world.

Alfa Romeo, a featured marque at the 2010 concourse, had the largest presence on the 2010 Pebble Beach show field, including seven vehicles shipped from the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Italy.



The 75th anniversary of Jaguar was featured at the event this year, and Chairman of the Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata, himself was present to admire some exquisite cars from the brand his company now owns.

Special classes included a focus on the 50th anniversary of the Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta, the centennial of the Indianapolis 500, Hot Rod lakesters and Bonneville racers, American Prewar road and racing Motorcycles, and Ghia-designed vehicles.

The ultimate 250 GT, the Short Wheelbase Berlinetta – the term ‘berlinetta’ literally means little coupe in Italian – made its debut at the 1959 Paris Auto Show and was an immediate hit. A total of 165 were produced –75 for serious competition. No two were exactly alike – features were often changed depending on the client’s wishes and manufacturing expediency. The engine was the latest development from the original V12. Depending on carburetion, camshafts, compression and other modifications, the engine produced 240 to almost 280 horsepower. During its brief period of production, the SWB won numerous races around the world, including the GT class at Le Mans twice and the Tour de France twice.

A 1933 Delage D8S De Villars Roadster owned by The Patterson Collection in Louisville, Kentucky, was named Best of Show at the 60th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. “This Delage has a short wheelbase that makes it look more rakish, but it still has a long and elegant look,” said concourse Chairman Sandra Button. “It did 110 miles per hour in its day; it could race, and was stunningly beautiful. This car could do it all. It embodied style, speed and comfort.”

More than 250 cars and motorcycles were present, encompassing more than 100 years of the automobile, with the oldest car on the field being a 1902 Mercedes Simplex. Tonight Show host Jay Leno made a guest appearance, and celebrity attendees included Roger Corman, Jeremy Piven, Erik Estrada and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Featured marques for the 61st Pebble Beach concourse included Mercedes-Benz and 100 Years of the Automobile, Stutz Centennial, Ferrari 250 GTO, and Italian Motorcycles.

With some of the most accomplished and passionate car collectors from across the globe gathered at Pebble Beach for the Concours d’Elegance, it’s a great time for sellers to showcase, and auction, some incredible cars. Gooding & Company is the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The celebrated auction house recently made history with the sale of the world’s most valuable car, the magnificent 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic.

At its annual, and prestigious, Pebble Beach auction, Gooding and Company sold more than $64 Million (Rs. 300 crores) in collector cars – achieving its highest ever recorded sales total in Pebble Beach history. Extraordinary results for the high-end collector car market with only 106 lots sold, Gooding & Company’s price per car averaged an outstanding $609,000 (Rs. 2.8 crores), a market leading number that demonstrates that the recession is finally over – at least in the car aficionado world.

Three bright stars that sold for more than $6 million (Rs. 27.6 crores) each – the 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider, 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza, and 1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta SEFAC Hot Rod – impressing enthusiasts by achieving new world sales records during the live auctions.

Here’s a list of the top ten automobiles auctioned by Gooding and Company at the Pebble Beach weekend: