Car Guy Magazine Car Guy Magazine Issue 1014 | Page 24

mographics, Leno said while hosting
the awards ceremonies, “You know, I
saw something I’ve never seen before
at Pebble Beach -- an old rich white
guy! It was so weird.”
Following Leno’s cues, award winners are directed by judges in blue
blazers and ties by Rolex to a stage,
where they receive their prizes from
a woman in a flowing, cream-colored
dress.
As an olive 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4
took its prize for best postwar preservation, retired F1 racing legend Jackie
Stewart hopped out of the passenger
seat, dressed in his customary loud
plaid pants -- with matching newsboy cap.

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Cars compete in 21 categories,
including Prewar Sports Racing and
Postwar Preservation, for first-, second- and third-place honors.
There are also brand-specific categories, such as Rolls-Royce Phantom
Postwar and Ferrari Testa Rossa 250,
which this year had 20 entrants, as
well as obscure niches like the French
Cup award, for the “most significant
car of French origin,” and the Gran
Turismo Trophy, for the car that “most
deserves to be recreated for the Gran
Turismo game series.”
For those in competition, the day
had started early.
Long before dawn, the faithful
came to gather in the darkness on

the 18th green of the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links and wait for the
arrival of the vintage automobiles.
On a cool, calm morning, dressed
in dark blazers and baseball caps,
the most fanatic of the collector-car
crowd stood by the sea, having paid
$250 for the privilege of drinking predawn coffee from paper cups and
waiting on the storied course.
Some had come as early as 4 a.m.,
the first of a crowd that would grow
to 600 before the sun began to rise
and the cars began to roll.
When they did, it was to a burst
of cheers, applause and flashbulbs,
as the first car in the private parade
— a 1910 American Underslung Trav-