The Hon Sir Michael Kadoorie's stunning 1931 Bentley 8 Litre Gurney Nutting Sports Tourer has landed the coveted Best of Show at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, topping a magnificent celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the marque at the exclusive California event.
Bentleys thronged the 18th fairway at the famous golf club on the Monterey peninsula, with six centennial classes ranging from the 3 Litre (won by Bob Muggeridge's 1927 Speed Model VdP Open Sports) to post-war models, the latter landed by Anne Brockington Lee's 1952 R-type Continental.
But it was Kadoorie's imposing dual-cowl tourer that took the top prize; shipped over from the UK specially for the concours, the short-chassis is the sole survivor with this body style.
Bentley's wasn't the only centenary being celebrated, with Andrea Zagato on hand to join the judging panel for the 100th birthday of his family firm. Lawrence Auriana's incredible V16-powered 1932 Maserati V4 Zagato Spider landed pre-war honours, with the post-war class trophy going to David MacNeil's 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato from a hotly contested category.
Bugatti was another marque to be honoured at Pebble Beach this year. A special class celebrated some of the most beautiful Type 57 body styles (won by a gorgeous 1937 T57SC Atalante), and a quartet of mighty Type 59 Grand Prix machines paraded across the dais, reunited for the first time since they left the Molsheim works.
Among the most popular areas – in particular among younger visitors – was the Historic Hot Rod Cover Cars class. The popular winner was Ross and Beth Myers' dramatic 1922 Ford 'Kookie Kar' Roadster Pickup, built by famed hot-rod builder Norm Grabowski and thought by many to be the prototype for the 'T-bucket' style.
The youngest group at Pebble this year paid tribute to the original purpose-built supercar, the glorious Lamborghini Miura. The class comprised just five cars, including the awesome 1968 SVR and Fritz Kaiser's freshly restored 1968 P400 as featured in The Italian Job, but none could match the superb finish of FIA supremo Jean Todt's fabulous 1968 Miura SV.
