BENTLEY TO CELEBRATE 90TH ANNIVERSARY WITH DEBUT OF ALL-NEW MODEL AT PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE

"Cars undoubtedly have a personality to the real enthusiast, to whom they are not mere collections of steel and aluminium, but animal-like, show their spirit just so soon as the clutch bites home and feeling comes through to the driver…."

(Sammy Davis, first Bentley road test report, January 1920)

Crewe: Wednesday 8 July. Bentley Motors today celebrates its 90th anniversary and confirms that its all-new Bentley will be revealed - and named - in August at the Pebble Beach Concours D' Elegance in Monterey, California where the company is a featured marque.

Founded by W.O. Bentley in 1919, the company's first production car, the 3-litre was delivered in September 1921. Over the next ten years, Bentley went on to produce an array of iconic motor cars. At the same time, the exploits of the immortal Bentley Boys – a select group of businessmen, sportsmen and bon vivants – forged the company's proud sporting pedigree both on and off the racetracks of Europe. The Bentley Boys made the legendary Le Mans endurance race their own, winning five times between 1924 and 1930.

The all-new grand Bentley captures the 1920s ‘grand touring' spirit of the Bentley Boys, delivering the effortless driving, exclusivity and adventure desired by the real motoring enthusiast. A unique fusion of elegant design, hand craftsmanship and technological innovation, the new model embodies the potent yet luxuriously refined driving experience that is ‘pure Bentley'. These have been the hallmarks of a Bentley since that first test drive in 1920.

It is fitting that the 90th anniversary of the Company will be marked by an all-new car. Such events are rare milestones in the Company's history. Designed, engineered and built in Crewe, which has been home to Bentley Motors for over 60 years, it has been a ‘once in a career experience' for many involved. The car and its name, which will be revealed at Pebble Beach on 16 August, signal a new era in British luxury motoring.

If you think you have the oldest privately-owned Pontiac, likely a 1926 model, or are the oldest original owner of a Pontiac, likely not a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT, contact the organizers and they'll provide free road transportation of your car to the festivities. Additionally, you'll be given a pair of first class tickets and accommodations for two. Full details and contact information below.

Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance celebrates: Pontiac – An American Icon
+ Famed American brand changed the way Americans looked at cars
+ Demise of the brand "a sad day for American car enthusiasts" (Bill Scheffler)
+ Star Chief, Bonneville, GTO, Firebird, Trans Am – nameplates for generations
+ Looking for America's oldest Pontiac as well as the oldest Pontiac still with its original owner
+ Free road transport courtesy of Fed Ex Auto Transport
+ Complimentary First Class air travel for two courtesy of United Airlines
+ Complimentary accommodation for two courtesy of Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York City

Westport, June 17, 2009. As we go to press with this release, General Motors is in bankruptcy, and the turmoils of the worldwide automotive industry are set to cost the disappearance of yet another legendary American nameplate: Pontiac. As part of the bankruptcy arrangements made by GM, the Pontiac brand will cease to exist at the end of 2010. Dealers have been informed and contracts will be cancelled throughout the summer.

Pontiac, which was named after an Indian tribal chief, emerged in 1926 as the "companion marque" to the Oakland brand. In Pontiac's 83 years of existence, it produced many cars that captured the imagination of American mainstream drivers. Famous for its "Wide-Track design" in the late 50s, the Pontiac models were often advertised for their "excitement." Legendary models like the ‘60s GTOs, which started the muscle car race, as well as the various Firebird and Trans Am models, remain favorites with American car collectors. In recent months, Pontiac had first been scheduled to be reduced to a "niche brand," while in the latest chapter of the bankruptcy arrangements the brand will be phased out altogether by the end of 2010.

"We are saddened to learn of the demise of an American icon," says Chairman and Founder of the Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance, Bill Scheffler. "But rather than look at it passively, we have decided to address the significance of this event for the American car enthusiast by bringing together a unique collection of Pontiac automobiles, among them America's oldest Pontiac as well as the oldest Pontiac still with its original owner."

Throughout the summer, the event will try to locate owners of the most significant Pontiac models from 1926 to today, and will assemble a special exhibit honoring the Pontiac brand. The dedicated Pontiac car clubs are also invited to participate in this most important gathering of significant Pontiac models and contact the event at clubs@fairfieldcountyconcours.com.

"But we are going even further," says John Shuck, co-founder of the Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance and its Director of Operations. "We are actively asking the media for help in locating America's oldest Pontiac still in existence, as well as the oldest Pontiac which is still with its original owner today. We would like to invite both cars and their respective owners to participate in our event; our valued partners are providing free transport for their cars, free air fare and accommodations."

Owners from the lower 48 States who believe they or their car(s) may qualify for either one of the two spots can find out more about this quest and complete the entry form at www.fairfieldcountyconcours.com/pontiac. The owner of the oldest Pontiac in private ownership will get his or her car transported to the Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance and back courtesy of FedEx Auto Transport as well as receive two First Class Tickets from anywhere in the continental US, sponsored by United Airlines, as well as three nights' accommodation at the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan, sponsored by Mandarin Oriental, New York. Equally, the oldest Pontiac still with its original owner will receive the same VIP treatment.

We would like to ask the media for help in this quest in order to cast the widest possible net for this search. Please direct questions to Automotive PR of America, Axel Catton. Media contact: Automotive PR - Axel Catton - Tel (201) 845-5418 - media@fairfieldcountyconcours.com

Well, not really. But if Nick Hogan did have one, this is totally the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe he'd drive. In fact, we bet he has a poster of this exact car on his jail cell wall right now. We'd also say the odds are high on this Phantom sticking out like a sore thumb at the Pebble Beach Concours.


(Thanks to J.F. Musial for the tip!)

Only 350 of the 2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series supercars will ever be made, but that hasn't stopped one from appearing at the Pebble Beach Concours. The $320,000 Benz has a staggering 661 HP, but that's topped by the 6.0-liter V12's 738 lb.-ft of torque.


(Thanks to J.F. Musial for the tip!)

The Pebble Beach Concours is scheduled for tomorrow, but all the cars are taking their places already, including the debuting Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. Here, the Veyron Grand Sport is seen running around in its underwear, hoping to avoid photography. Gee, wonder what it looks like? (Thanks to J.F. Musial for the tip)

We were treated not only to the BAT concept reveal, but also to several other fabulous historic cars that were in attendance. Chief among them was a 1957 Mercedes Benz 300 SL, fresh from a 100-point concours-quality restoration at Legendary Motorcar Company, making its worldwide debut. If you watch Dream Car Garage this car will look familiar, as it's been their resto project for 13 episodes. The car is actually owned by Southfield-based BASF, so naturally it's wearing a fresh coat of color-correct BASF paint. Damn impressive car — we'd say it's probably better now than it ever was.

And lets not forget another car in the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, the 1948 Tucker Torpedo. This one is owned by RM auctions, which will be holding a preview event on Friday at Meadow Brook and an auction on Saturdayi. There's a lot on the blocks at this event, including the entrance to the old Packard Plant here in Detroit.

Things actually get rolling on Thursday, with the Second Annual Hangar Party. An event held at the Oakland County Airport, the Hangar Party puts a dozen vintage planes and historical cars together with liquid lubrication and tasty edibles. If you want to get to that one, you better move fast, as we'd bet tickets for the 'oo-la-la' event are getting scarce.

On the list of 'new and improved' for this year is the first-annual "Destination D'Elegance." The full-day event on Saturday before the Concours features free entry, a huge variety of modern supercars, demonstrations on restoration and collecting, a bevy of the worlds most heady modern superbikes and much more. Also notable: If you want to know how the Hyundai Genesis feels from the passenger or driver's seat, Hyundai will be having on-site ride-and-drives of the new kimchi-scented luxo-barge all day. This will be the one the plebes go to, as it's free, and the actual Concours has a steep $25 entry fee. We really want to get there and cover the Pabst-soaked yard-dart contests, but we'll see.

Oh yeah, then there's the actual Meadow Brook Concours D'Elegance set for Sunday. If you pay your ducats you can expect to see 225 of the finest motor cars in history. Like we mentioned, on hand will be the Mormon Meteor; a supercharged, inline-8-packing, Duesenberg Model SSJ (you'll see us licking it), a 1932 Helicron (give it a Google, it'll be fun), the only '56 Taylor Aerocar still in flying condition, 16 different V16 powered cars — with their engines displayed, and rarely seen Bill Mitchell styling concepts from GM's "Studio X" (sounds porny). Of course, that's far from everything. This year they've got a field of groundbreaking and historical Ferraris, so, you know, that should be pretty boring, as well as vintage motorcycles with sidecars. A little something for everybody.

Yes indeed folks, if you've never been out to the Meadow Brook Concours D'Elegance, this year wouldn't be a bad time to start coming. We'll be there as much as possible, bringing you fresh, wallpaper-quality images and car-induced, delirium-saturated prose. For details on events, times and locations, visit Meadow Brook Concours Online.

The Veyron Targa will be available to a mere 80 lucky individuals willing to part with 1.14 million Euros ( $1.8 million in non-Monopoly money) for the chance to drive around on the decks of their cruise ships that burn dollar bills for fuel with the sun shining down while they gargle melted Godiva chocolate. So what if the weight is up and the top speed is down, it's built by Molsheim and it's exclusive, so go ahead and add it to the garage as a gift to your other Bugattis. [Edmunds Inside Line]

Everyone knows the importance of making a first impression. My first impression of the show was a '28 Maserati T-26B/M grand prix car. The official writeup for this car indicates it was a Grand Prix winner in 1930 and raced until WWII when it was hidden in an Algerian cave until the end of hostilities. The Afrikakorps burned, but this car still runs. See? Justice prevails.

I may be a "Who dat?" writer on this site, but anyone who knows me knows I can't resist Cords and Packards. Check out the 812 and the shot of the '29 Packard "Super 8" 320 ci straight eight. Of special note is the Pack's hood ornament, which looked like a girl on a water slide. You'll also see a '42 Packard 110 convertible elsewhere in the gallery.

There is a great story told by a favorite sports writer of mine about a time he found himself in a room with Anna Kournikova. He watched her walk in, but immediately averted his gaze and put on a "so what" attitude when she caught him. "Enough people fawn over her," he thought. "I don't need to be another one." Shortly later he looked up to see her defiantly making eye contact with him, and he melted on the spot. The point is: old Bentley cars will do this to me every time. Look at the '36 4 1/2 Liter Sports Coupe with the body by Vanden Plas and the '49 Shooting Brake and tell me it doesn't happen to you.

Almost everything at the show was worth a pause. Here was a '61 Maserati Sebring Vignale made to commemorate the marque's victory in the '57 race. You'll see a '60 Eldo in the background. Turn left and there is a van Goertz-designed '57 BMW 503 with a 3.2L V-8 and a '60 Ferrari California Spyder, a car that should be near and dear to the heart of anyone who has ever presented themselves as Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago.

Sometimes you have to go out and get lost just to see what's out there. Sometimes you get out beyond the boundaries of what you know and choke on dust, and sometimes you see a '58 Dual-Ghia concept with wings as high as your hip. This product of Dual Motors of Michigan was built on a '57 Chrysler 300 chassis and features a 400hp motor, a Ghia body, and an in-dash record player. Ronald Reagan purportedly owned one and lost it to one Lyndon Baines Johnson in a poker game.

Take a few steps with me and we'll see two vastly different cars with the same will to get sideways. In the foreground you'll see one '68 911 T/R homologation special. These came with either 160 or 200hp motors and this one has fender flares from a '72 added to qualify for later group racing. Behind it you can make out a Road Runner with an original 440 Six-Pack. A few generations of owners have made the world a better place by not spinning either of these cars into an immovable object. Bravo.

Under the Pebble Beach tent the cars were gem-like. Feast your eyes on the lines of a '38 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900. This one is a Superleggera with a body to die for... er, by Carrozzeria Touring. This car has a 2.9L eight cylinder (8C, get it?) with two Roots blowers and two Webers and put out about 180hp.

The Isotta Fraschini stood almost as tall as I am. The hood was shoulder-high and the glass hood ornament, a Rene Lalique original placed there when the Queen of Yugoslavia owned the car, was almost at eye-level. Isotta Fraschini makes marine engines now, but this Tipo 8A S features a Duesenberg I8 displacing 427 cubic inches.

Let's just take things back down to Earth, shall we? Wine, cheese and Franz Liszt are great, but you'll suffocate from your own smug if you don't get some malted hops in your system, and quick. An '84 Lamorghini Jalpa sitting outside the tent was my moment of re-entry. We do like the Jalpa.

Enough fussing with cars who shiver in the rain, look how becoming one can be when it's made to have mud, oil and bug guts splashed all over it - like this dirt track racer. In the early days cars that were raced on tracks raced on dirt ovals where horse races were usually held. Many communities had their own horse tracks, and the fairgrounds in Danbury, Connecticut were no different. This is a '35 Ford Danbury Fair special, and I wish it wasn't so clean.

You can only be star-struck when you're in the presence of this '61 Ferrari 250 TR1/61. This is the ex-Phill Hill '61 LeMans winner, ex-NART Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, et. al. car. You see those velocity stacks under a clear dome, the way the body looks blown back by the wind and the number makes sense: this is a perfect ten.

Heavy clouds rolled in as I was taking a photo of a '70 Porsche 908. It was only the camera car used in the filming of the movie LeMans, not like you'd want decent lighting to shoot it or anything.
You'll see an orange dragster in the gallery, a '57 made by Chassis Research design with a flathead and a ScoT supercharger. How would you like to have all the moving parts in front of your face and the differential between your legs?

Louvers are another detail guaranteed to flip my switch, and a '53 Studebaker hot rod had a stated 400 of them. This one sported a 472 ci Cadillac motor, making it a "Studillac."

The best pair of cars at the show was an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 parked next to a Bugatti 57C Cabriolet. These two represent some of the purest distillation of automotive come-hither ever to take to the open road.

The sun's rays came back out just in time to roar back at me off the perfect orange paint of a McLaren F1 and a nearby '65 AC Cobra - an FIA car bearing numbers which make it the very last example to run off the original tooling in Surrey, England.

What a show. – James Gribbon

...(unlike Pebble Beach), and what's more, some stuff you see at the track is on the 18th green on Sunday. While the conours events and auctions are stunning and plenty of the people that you meet are fascinating, a Delage on the lawn — though fantastic in its own way — still isn't a ridiculously-turbocharged 935 ass-tearing it around Laguna Seca. Plus, the featured marque this year isn't a marque at all. The theme is Indy roadsters. And nothing nothing is quite like a goddamn Offenhauser. It's the greatest-sounding four-cylinder ever built. If you can scrape up the scratch for a minivan to camp in and a plane ticket to San Jose, we suggest you get there. Meanwhile, these two donutmonkeys are going to heaven.

No one tried to sell me a private plane this time, but I did get laughed out of the Lamborghini Greenwich tent. I figured I could smooth talk my way into a test drive if I wore enough seersucker. I was wrong. That wasn't much of a surprise, but something else was: I love Packards (I had no idea). On a 90-plus degree day in Greenwich it was time to celebrate American Iron. Rolling sculptures of sheetmetal were on display, ringed by vendors of $100,000-and-up European cars with a legitimate chance to make a sale. You want to recreate the vibe? Have about three beers to give yourself a pleasant, low-grade buzz, get yourself some deck shoes, a belt with whales on it, and two matching dogs on one leash, and then go stand in a sauna with The Girl From Ipanema playing in the background. That's about right. The sights and commentary are in the galleries. As always, the show started in the parking lot. – James Gribbon

Related:
Be a Dear and Bring 'Round the Cars: The Greenwich Concours, 2006 [internal]

We know that Homo habilis and Homo erectus hung out in Kenya back in the day, but we had no idea the country supported a collection of vintage car enthusiasts. We ran across this gallery from their 2000 Concours d'Elegance, and while the variety of the iron tends to be a little more econo than what one would see at Pebble Beach or Amelia Island, it's chock full of radness, including what may be the only RHD FAF ever built. Yay Kenya! Yay FAF! – Davey G. Johnson

Concours d'Elegance July 9 2000 [Vintage and Classic Car Club of Kenya]

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We have to admit that Voisin was only an automotive name that hung somewhere in the back of our mind, along with Buick and Lincoln until we got to Pebble this year. A long-past-gone luxury marque with an illustrious history that ended long before we were born. That said, even the most incredible Lincolns and Buicks have nothing on the insane vehicles Gabriel Voisin came up with during the first half of the century. If Saab can claim to be born from jets, Voisin automobiles were directly birthed from the loins of the glorious age of early propeller aviation. If looks could stun, these cars' phasers are set on "kill." And the switch is stuck there.

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Pebble Beach summons a diverse, and times, slightly-off crowd. For some, it's the thing to do in the area that weekend, and the $175 admission fee is no barrier to entry whatsoever. For others, it's a carefully-planned vacation for the hardest of the hardcore car geeks. For us, it was an adventure in skin-of-the-teeth party crashing and media-credential scamming. But at any event, there are almost always at least two people whose hairstyles rise above the rabble and make themselves known with a yawp like a crack of thunder. (Apologies to Whitman and Chaucer.) This year's awards for best coiffure go to Odd Rattail Guy and Weird Blonde Poof Lady.

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James Glickenhaus may have produced such B-movie cult classics as "Frankenhooker" and "Maniac Cop," but the unveiling of his coachbuilt Ferrari P4/5 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this past weekend went directly to video. We're talking about streaming video, of course, and the venue is YouTube, not Blockbuster, and no one is maimed, wronged, or smokes "supercrack" (not that we can tell, at least). Check out a long-form vid of JG's speech, and a special, secret bonus trailer after the jump.

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2006 Concours d'Elegance Meadow Brook: Spyked Drinks And The Spyker C8; 2006 Concours d'Elegance Meadow Brook: Boogety-Boogety-Bugatti Veyron [internal]

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The 2006 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance is the kind of event where the parking lot could be confused with the show itself: I puttered in as a guy driving a Maybach 57 was coolly gliding out. You see that kind of stuff in Greenwich. You also see tiny dogs being chauffeured in man-purses, but we're
here to talk about cars.

Local dealerships ringed the concours area and made white tents their showrooms. At twelve, three, six and nine o clock around the concours sat a white-on-white Bugatti Veyron, a black Mercedes McLaren SLR, the next-generation Audi S8 with its ex-Lamborghini V10 (and no VIN), and a Spyker
C8 like a jewel in black and aluminum. Plus, a guy tried to sell me a Gulfstream. This was just the sideshow.

The height of American style at the show was Malcolm Pray Jr.'s 1934 Auburn Boattail Speedster. Its twelve-cylinder powerplant, (notice the various "12" accents), was made for aircraft duty by Lycoming, but the bodywork is all Auburn, Indiana. Pray found this particular car in a Los Angeles junkyard 25 years ago and restored it to million-dollar status.

Some other highlights:

· 1961 Fiat Jolly 500: Half a liter of displacement, a cloth top and wicker seats. I think the only respectable way to drive this is on your own property with a drink in your hand.

· 1957 Dual Ghia: Body by Carrozzeria Ghia Studios, D-500 Hemi engine, only 117 were made with an estimated 32 surviving. Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. both owned one. Rita Hayworth's bloomers may still be shoved in the glovebox.

· 1955 Abarth 207A spec racer, with body by Carozzeria Boano: One of ten made. Note the black Scorpion on the tail. (Background: 83 Ferrari 512 BBi, '73 365 GTB/4 Daytona, '68 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 Coupe)

· 1996 Porsche 993 Turbo with bodywork by Strosek. Note the dual air intakes on the leading edges of the rear wing.

· 1974 BMW 2002 Turbo: I'm not sure why the "2002 Turbo" on the front splitter is written as a mirror-image, possibly so cars in front know to get out of the way. (Background '63 Mercedes-Benz 300SL).

· 1957 BMW 507: The 2005 M5's V10 was given exactly 507hp in order to pay homage this car. (Background: '89 635 CSi).

· 1952 Chrysler Ghia One-Off SWB (Short Wheel Base): Possibly the only one of its kind in the world. I wasn't able to get any further information, but it's gorgeous in person.

· 1967 Lamborghini 400GT: Without a single flat plane anywhere on its body. Compare and contrast with the current crop. (Background: '65 Ferrari 275 GTB)

· 1957 Maserati 450 S Costin-Zagato, one of ten ever made. 4.5L V-8, 4 Weber carbs, 400hp: made by Maserati to piss off Ferarri and Jaguar in the sports car World Championship at events like the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. This car may or may not have once been driven by Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, depending on the person with whom you're speaking.

· 1953 Allard J2: Made as a rolling chasis with the buyer adding his own motor. In most cases that motor was a 5.4 liter Cadillac V-8. This car still races in vintage classes at Lime Rock Park, Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen with its owner, Richard Myers, at the helm. Nacy Myers (pictured) told me they restored it in 1996 after buying it worse-for-wear from an owner in Florida.

[By James Gribbon]

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2006 Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza [SUPERCARS.NET]

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