Scene, by All: 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Our selection of the best social photography from this year’s prestigious car show
Our recent trip to Monterey Car Week—the prestigious assemblage of auto shows, rallies and auctions—once again delivered on its promise of unprecedented rarity, historic relic and inspirational car design. The pinnacle, 18 August 2013’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance presented a collection of epic proportions. We were overwhelmed by the spirit of the event, and have decided to present a hand-picked selection of Instagram photos from the scene, with exclusive quotations from fellow attendees. Following this—our inaugural Scene, by All—is a slideshow of CH’s own photos from the weekend’s festivities.
Edward Loh, Editor-in-Chief of Motor Trend, snapped a wonderful detail shot of the Lincoln Zephyr V12, noting; “I knew my Motor Trend team and others would be posting pics of all the fabulous cars from the Pebble Beach weekend, so I wanted to focus on the details. What struck me at the Concours D’Elegance: All the iconic badges and chrome finish work.”
“Romantic design at its best.”
HODINKEE associate editor, Stephen Pulvirent, succinctly describes an emotional reaction to an automobile: “This 1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider was sold by Bonhams over the weekend. The body was designed by Pininfarina, probably most famous for working with Ferrari, and it’s tough to look at this car and not immediately start thinking of long drives along the Mediterranean. Romantic design at its best.”
“This stunning, one-of-a-kind shows the early seeds of a designer whose impact would be felt for decades to come.”
Joe Richardson, founder of The Car Crush, provided a lot of insight into his image. He explains, “designer Giovanni Michelotti is most famous for his work at Triumph, including the TR4 and Stag, but he had a big influence in the earliest days at BMW as well. Officially, he’s credited only with the BMW 700 (1959), but his hand is clear in the BMW 2002 and CS Coupes which followed, though both are attributed to BMW’s own Wilhelm Hoffmeister. Dating from 1955, this stunning, one-of-a-kind BMW 507 Vignale by Michelotti shows the early seeds of a designer whose impact would be felt for decades to come.”
Photographer Alys Kenny landed a magical moment when the 1951 Ferrari 212 MM Vignale Berlinetta crossed the stage to claim its Mille Miglia Postwar Trophy. In reflection she offered: “Cars are like moving art and I have had a lifelong love affair with them. Going to Pebble Beach has always been a dream of mine, so having a front row seat at Concours d’Elegance was like a page out of a Fitzgerald novel. It was magical!”
“Dawn Patrol is a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance tradition that involves coffee, hats and the most beautiful cars in the world. You have to get up early to experience the cars as they move into position at sunrise,” explains Tamara Warren of gotryke, regarding the beautiful early light captured in her photo. Warren, a writer, also covers innovations in autos and elsewhere on Twitter.
Photographer Derek Tobias found the two-wheelers to his taste. According to Tobias, “The image was originally shot to showcase three French motorcycles in a line but then was cropped for Instagram. Shot with a series of images of different exposures in rapid succession and later processed with Photomatix and Lightroom, the bike in the picture is a 1950 Gnome et Rhone Type R4 Voisin.” View more of his photographic work on Tumblr.
Attendee Shiv R Sharma, who took an amazing detail shot of a sculptural ornamentation atop a 1930 Pierce-Arrow B Club Sedan, describes the moment for us with fervor, “When I first saw the symbol and car with the stunning backdrop, I felt as if it really captured the essence of what the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is all about.”
“77-930—perfect for long road-trips down PCH,” explains famed Porsche aficionado Magnus Walker, recently featured in a stunning street video discussing his love of the road. He stopped to take the photo while en route home.
CH Executive Editor Evan Orensten‘s montage of The 1955 Lincoln Motor Company’s Indianapolis Boano Coupe draws attention to Edsal Ford’s mix of luxury and modernity. “This is a one-of-a-kind commissioned show car, created for the Turin autoshow. It’s a breathtaking blend of American futurism and Italian fantasy.”
Josh Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of Cool Hunting, posted this shot of Richard Gray’s 1972 Bristol 411 which he generously lent Rubin and Orensten to drive for the Pebble weekend. “I think we had the only Bristol in town that weekend,” Rubin recalls, “and driving a vintage car reminded us how simple the automotive machine used to be.”
You can see many more photos from the weekend’s festivities in the slideshow of images by Josh Rubin.
Scene, by All highlights festivals, openings, parties and other events through multiple perspectives of people who were there. Our editors select social media posts by participants, guests and our own contributors, pairing images with quotes, history, audio and other relevant content, to create multimedia collages that dynamically capture a moment in time.
