At the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, there was much surprise when an unrestored 1932 8C 2300 Corto Figoni Cabriolet made it into the final four Best of Show contenders. And while the Alfa Romeo didn’t take first prize, this was still a landmark achievement.
This article first appeared in Magneto issue 21.
So, with the quality of restorations rising all the time, but an appreciation for vehicle preservation increasing in parallel, could an unrestored car ever take Best of Show at Pebble Beach – and, by association, at other concours around the world?
The event’s chairman Sandra Button has strong opinions on the subject: “The Alfa was a deserving class winner – well preserved and with a fascinating history – and I was glad to see it among our nominees for Best of Show. I do think a preservation car will take our top award someday soon.
We need to encourage people to care for cars more holistically
“In the meantime, there is much to be done to refine how we think about preservation cars. By ‘we’, I’m thinking about those of us on the Pebble Beach Car Selection Committee and judging teams – but perhaps the same holds true for other leaders throughout the collector car world.
“At this point, we need to better define preservation cars from what we often call ‘barn finds’. The latter have a certain allure; they encapsulate that moment when a long-hidden treasure is first found. Looking at a barn find, you can place yourself in the role of discoverer; the excitement is palpable. But most barn finds are not well preserved; they’re more often cars that have been long forgotten, cars in a state of disrepair and slow decay. And the longer we leave them ‘as is’, the more they lose what they once were. Time demands its toll.”
Sandra goes on: “At Pebble Beach, we want to encourage people to truly care for great cars, so we want our preservation classes to focus on that. We plan to remove barn finds from the preservation category, perhaps hosting a separate class for barn finds every few years.
“We also need to do more to think through all that is involved in caring for cars over a long period of time, particularly when a car continues to be not only loved but used. Seats do wear out, paint wears thin in spots… and fender benders do happen.
“Traditionally, we’ve tried to set a firm boundary between preservation and restoration cars, by stating that on the former nothing can be repaired or changed apart from the mechanicals that are expected to wear out, such as tyres, belts and brake pads.
“But if other items need careful repair, that does not mean the whole car requires a ground-up restoration… And we certainly don’t want to encourage restoration upon restoration when unnecessary.
“We need to encourage people to care for cars more ‘holistically’. I’m not exactly sure how we do that as a concours, but it has something to do with softening the border between preservation and restoration – allowing more integration of the two.
“We are making progress. In 2021, Arturo Keller’s 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahn Kurier took our top prize with a decade-old restoration by Paul Russell & Co. Few people recognised that fact, but I felt it was important that the car was not freshly redone. And this year, it was notable that our Best of Show had a well preserved rumble seat. While the rest of the car, which had been in tatters, was restored, that section was left unrestored. The owner made a conscious decision to retain that. The nomination of the Alfa for Best of Show is another step forward.”
Others take the same view, such as historian and judge Adolfo Orsi: “If a preserved car wins Pebble Beach in the future, my dream will become true. I am sure it will, sooner or later, when all the judges understand the importance to give this signal. Years ago the 8C Touring Spider ‘Rimoldi’ would have been a perfect candidate for its timeless elegance, but it was just shown too early.”
Pebble Beach Selection Committee member and judge Ed Gilbertson backs this up: “I definitely think a preservation car could win Best of Show. Each of the class winners is a nominee, and they are all equally eligible – including preservation class winners. Proper preservation and correct restoration have come to the fore. It’s been the same in many other areas of collectables, such as paintings, sculpture and architecture. It would surprise me if a preservation car did not win Best of Show at Pebble Beach in the future.”
Still, it will have to be something remarkable to achieve this. The Alfa that sparked the debate, presented by UK specialist Gregor Fisken, had been thought lost for 80 years; it emerged from its hide-out perfectly preserved, having been lovingly looked after for nearly eight decades by the man who had owned it from the age of 21. It’s the epitome of a preservation car.
