Autoblog

Huge gallery of the Tour available by clicking above.

There are so many incredible events taking place all over the Monterey peninsula this week, but the grand daddy of them all is the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This invite-only, super exclusive event is what put Monterey on the map for fans of classic cars. In fact, for many people this time in August is still simply referred to as "Pebble." While tons of other events have surfaced to fill the whole week with every imaginable type of automotive spectacle, Pebble itself has grown with the introduction of the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance nine years ago.

The Tour is open to all Concours entries and participants earn tie-breaker points for the Concours judging if they complete the arduous drive. It's 50 miles along 17-Mile Drive from Pebble Beach, down the hilly Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur, and back to the Polo Grounds in Pebble. There's something so magical about seeing, hearing and smelling these amazing vehicles winding along the sun-dappled roads and then up and over the most challenging parts of PCH.

It's always fun to see classic Ferraris, Mercedes-Benzes and Aston Martins zipping along, some of them giving us the aural treat of a redline-pushing surge. Adding an interesting twist were the classic hot rods that made up a sizable portion of this year's field in honor of the 75th anniversary of the '32 Ford and the Flathead V8. And of course there are all of those vintage cars that can frequently struggle to climb the steepest grades along the route. A heavy fog added a surreal quality to the scene at our favorite photo stop, the Bixby Bridge. The Tour not only gives us our first look at the Pebble entries for the year, but it also gives those who don't have $175 for a ticket to the main event a chance to see the cars for free.