The eight finalists at the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best 2021
Here is the roundup of thrilling beauties among which only one, on August 14, will be elected the best car on the planet
The Peninsula Classics is the competition of competitions, that is to say a contest, organized by the most luxurious hotel chain on the planet, which each year elects the most beautiful and charming car among the winners of the major elegance contests. The global star title this year will be awarded for the first time on the famous lawn at Quail Lodge & Golf Club, California, where many other exclusive Monterey Car Week events take place each year. The date to mark on the calendar is August 14, together with August 21 of the same month, which marks the grand finale of the week with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Top jury. Born in 2015 on the initiative of the Honorable Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman of the Peninsula hotel chain, the Best of the Best boasts a jury of internationally renowned personalities such as the designer Ralph Lauren, the show-man Jay Leno, the former head of the design in BMW Chris Bangle, car designer Fabio Filippini, former Rolls-Royce Motor Cars design director Ian Cameron, just to name a few. The cars competing are eight, including three before the Second World War.
Prancing candidates. Among the princesses aspiring to the title of queen is the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione which last year won at the Concorso d’Eleganza in Villa d’Este. It is one of only nine built and just delivered it immediately raced, with its classic Cavallino 12-cylinder V, at the Mille Miglia. Another made in Maranello marvel selected for the world title is the ultra rare Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France from 1957: its first owner was the French racer Pierre Noblet, who made it compete in many races until 1960. Then , in 1975, it was sold for just $ 1,500 and restored until. Last year he was in conditions such as to win at the Cavallino Classic 2021, the most exclusive annual event ever dedicated to vintage Ferraris.
Three Mercedes-Benz 540 Ks from 1938. Yes, three variants of the same model are in the short-list of the super competition. This is the elegant 540 K Autobahn-Kurier that triumphed at the 70th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, built for highway pace, as the name implies. It is the only surviving example. Then there is the 540 K Spezial Roadster, crowned Best of Show in The Quail, at Motorsports Gathering. Finally, the 540 K Cabriolet A: with its 8-cylinder in-line compressor powered by a compressor, it was one of the few cars capable of spinning at 100 per hour in the 1930s. His place of choice was Salon Privé, the British competition held annually at Blenheim Palace (in the picture above), a national monument and birthplace of Winston Churchill.
Dispute between Italy, Spain and France. The last Italian in contention, after the two Ferraris, is the 1974 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale which won the Goodwood Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance 2021. Restored at the renowned Carrozzeria Dino Cognolato, it is one of the best survivors among the 500 units. built at the time to obtain model approval and compete in the World Rally Championship. The 1926 Hispano-Suiza H6B Cabriolet with a long history behind it that has seen it with the same non-chalance parked in the palaces of the King of Tunisia, in the car park of the founder of the 12 Hours of Sebring is of Iberian birth and in a Long Island postman’s garage. Older of the eight Peninsula Classics finalists, it won first prize at the Amelia Island Concours. The only French representative, elected last year to Concours of Elegance, or the other super noble competition in the United Kingdom, is also a very rare marvel: the 1934 Avions Voisin Type C27 Aérosport Coupe, built in just two units. Destined for scrapping, the car was rather meticulously restored in 2004 by specialist Dominique Tessier, who built a new bodywork using three photos of the original car as the only reference.
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