August 19th 2008

Pebble Beach Calif. – The weather was unusually cold this year, I guess global warming wasn’t doing its thing. Thankfully however, I had packed my trusty leather jacket – if I didn’t I would have been shivering my way through the mass of people and cars. Speaking of cars, they were spectacular, really spectacular. This year paid tribute to Italian marques Lancia and Lamborghini as well as the centennial of General Motors. Also there was a new class called the 20+ which means 20 liters plus. Considering that most modern cars have engines that displace between 2 and 6 liters, it’s not hard to imagine that 20+ means that these cars had to be a little larger than normal to house these gigantic 20 liter engines. Yes, Jay Leno’s Tank Car was one of the entrants, but the engine wasn’t a measly 20 liters. I mean, why have a 20 Liter engine when you can have a 30 Liter engine, or even better, a 30 Liter engine from a M-47 Patton Tank. Yes, a 30 liter tank engine – Cool! But hey, the car wasn’t all that large I suppose, I mean it only had a wheelbase of 15 feet - Hahaha. Don’t worry, I’ve got a picture in here for you to see. Interestingly enough the other cars didn’t have tank engines in them, they had plane engines – from P-51 Mustang fighter planes! In addition, there were many other cars that were also drool worthy. Included were 9 seldom seen ultra rare Lamborghini’s including the earliest known Miura, 350GT, and several others with one-off custom coach work – very nice. I’ve seen a few Miuras’ in my day, but never any that were this unique.

One of the best displays on the field bar none was the General Motors Motorama gallery. During the 1950’s the General Motors Motorama took a group of concept cars all across the US to various cities in order to get people interested in driving and of course General Motors itself . After the tour, the cars were commissioned to be crushed. A few decades later, a gentleman by the name of Joe Borts found the remains in a junk yard and got the idea to rebuild the cars that he had once loved as a young boy. After laboriously scavenging pieces and parts from this junk yard and literally digging parts from out of the ground, many of these cars were restored to their period trim. Some of my personal favorites were the Firebird concepts, which resembled rocket ships more than the standard terrestrial machines that we see on a regular basis – one came wrapped in a handsome titanium body.

Since these cars represent the best of the best with many having 100 point restorations, there is no doubt that picking best of show was no easy task. However, when the time came, a gorgeous 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta owned by Jon and Mary Shirley of Medina , Washington , was crowned.

Only 33 examples of the 8C 2900B were ever produced and this car is one of six privately commissioned Berlinettas, making it ultra rare. In 1948 it won the first race at Watkins Glen giving it history that further set it apart from the rest. Yes, it’s a little overwhelming at times seeing these already ultra rare and expensive cars being restored to better than new condition, but hey, someone has to do it. Until next year Pebble Beach , Adieu.