61st Pebble Beach Concours wows the crowds

By Phil Skinner & Elise Levy

With a near record crowd jamming onto the Monterey Peninsula in California to attend the 61stedition of the most prestigious exhibition of automobiles in the world, the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance, no one was disappointed in the fabulous and historic vehicles that were paked on the 18thgreen of this famous golf-course.

Each year the Pebble Beach Concours salutes several areas of motor vehicle past and for 2011 the honors were given to marques of Mercedes-Benz which were celebrating their 125th Anniversary with several of their most successful competition vehicles, and recognition of the Ferrari 250 GTO, with 22 examples on display, the largest gathering ever of these championship cars.

In addition to these was a salute to the car "that made good in a day", Stutz, of which owners showed off a variety of models from the 1920's and 1930's. In addition to these automotive icons, for the first time ever at Pebble Beach, Italian motorcycles up to 1979 were also featured in both racing and touring classes.

Throughout the day, the thousands of attendees, most of them paying the $200 admission fee, strolled up and down the green in total awe of the beauty and artwork seen on the lawn. During the afternoon the class awards were presented hosted by noted actor and collector car fan Edward Herrmann, who was joined by another celebrity car collector, Jay Leno, who helped in the presentation of a number of raffle winners. Then came the award everyone was waiting for the coveted Best of Show. Amid a shower of fireworks and golden confetti the unusually attractive 1935 Voisin C35 Aerodynamic sedan drove to the podium by its owners Peter and Merle Mullins.

This was the crowning moment to a glorious day on the green of the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

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