City of Marina Airport, 15 August 2008
The Tour de Pebble Beach starting early on the Thursday morning precedes the
concours, and provides the opportunity to have a preview of the upcoming
concours field in motion, at absolutely no cost! This is the first opportunity to find
out exactly what will be seen on the concours field on Sunday, as the organisers
keep the entry list a surprise until the last minute. As usual the entry was a great
mixture, ranging from a pair of 1903 Peerless Style F Rear Entrance Tonneaus,
through an awesome selection of ‘30s V16 Cadillacs, a wide range of Lancias,
from a 1915 Theta Spider to a 1970 Stratos Prototype, there were Ferraris aplenty,
and novelties like the 1952 Cisitalia Ford 808XF Vignale Roadster.
It is quite surreal to see these exotic automobiles coming out of the trailer parking
lots at the Equestrian Centre at Pebble Beach, appearing through a dull chill mist
as day breaks, with steaming exhausts adding to the misty sensation. The first
cars disgorged then disappeared along 17 Mile Drive in batches, to be replaced by
further spectacular and diverse examples of the car manufacturers’ art over the
years. By the time the final car had departed, some one hundred and fifty plus cars
had crossed the start line, taking a route inland, returning west via Carmel Valley
Road to Highway 1, where the entourage headed south to a checkpoint at the Point
Sur Naval Station. From here they retraced their steps to the traditional lunch stop
on Ocean Avenue in Carmel, before returning to their temporary trailer homes at
the Equestrian Centre in the afternoon, to receive final detail preparation for the
concours.
David O’Neill
08/2008
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