It takes a lot to make it to the greens of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
To be an automotive enthusiast is to participate in a passion that reaches far and wide. However, the world of Concours d’Elegance events is one full of prestige, mystique, and wonder. Known for housing some of the world’s most expensive, rare, exclusive, and desirable cars, Concours events are where automotive excellence is celebrated in its highest form. The most excellent cars are awarded with titles that carry lasting legacy and renown with them. To win those coveted awards, collectors all over the world go to incredible lengths to bring incredible vehicles to events, elevating a Concours d’Elegance far beyond a typical car show.
To get an inside perspective on what the lifestyle of Concours d’Elegance competitors involves, we talked to The Cultivated Collector, a dealer that specializes in acquiring hidden gems and classics that are made for being paraded on Concours lawns, and learned all about the unique aspects of being a car collector in the Concours d’Elegance realm.
It all starts over a year before a Concours event when a panel is convened to decide on categories for competition. Factors can include anniversary celebrations going on at the time or highlighting relevant car culture icons, all chosen with the goal of bringing a captivating mix of cars to the Concours. Collectors are then notified well in advance of what the categories will be, with enough time to make arrangements.
Often, manufacturers like Ferrari see the most competition at a Concours d’Elegance, with over 75 years worth of masterpieces within its repertoire. In addition, aiming for Best of Show often means acquiring and painstakingly restoring a vehicle like a pre-war classic, with minuscule production numbers, a captivating story, and ideally, extensive documentation. It isn’t uncommon for these efforts to take years and cost millions of dollars, and even then, success isn’t a guarantee.
As the automotive industry evolves, so do the classics that are celebrated at Concours d’Elegance events. Of course, a Concours d’Elegance will always be a place where the incredible effort that goes into preserving century-old classics from the early days of the automotive industry, but more recent chapters in automotive history are sharing the spotlight, with categories for wedge-shaped cars, GT1 racers and more cropping up.
There’s no doubt that the pursuit of victory is enticing, and while “Concours d’Elegance” literally translates from French to “competition of elegance,” it’s about more than just the awards for many collectors. It’s just as much about celebrating, sharing, and fostering a passion for automotive history, and getting a chance to bring together some of the world’s most beautiful cars that you certainly don’t see every day.
The Cultivated Collector says that for them, the most rewarding aspect of Concours d’Elegance participation is “sharing a beautiful historical object and its story with the world.” When it means undertaking immense amounts of money and time, and embarking on daunting or even dangerous international journeys to acquire and showcase an automotive masterpiece, there’s no doubt that entering a Concours d’Elegance is a real labor of love.
Sources: Bugatti/Mercedes-Benz
This article appeared in our September 2024 Issue.