Features include Packard 125th Anniversary, Maserati, Pietro Frua Coachwork, Wedge Concepts & Prototypes and BPR & FIA GT Race Cars
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIF. (November 14, 2023) — The 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will celebrate an expanded range of cars stretching from pioneering Packards and the Speedsters equated with that 125-year-old marque to the supercars that raced in the BPR Series of the 1990s. A focus on the creations of Maserati and the coachwork of Pietro Frua add an Italian accent, and Wedge concepts offer a distinctly modern look.
Packard 125th Anniversary
Packard was synonymous with American luxury for nearly six decades, from 1899 to 1958, and fine examples have taken Best of Show at Pebble Beach on four occasions. We plan to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the marque’s founding with a special class for early Packards, ranging from pioneering single-cylinder horseless carriages to the era of the massive Dominant Six in 1915, and another special class for the 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Series, which was essentially a line-up of factory hot rods based on a custom-built shortened chassis with myriad performance options and available in five unique body styles, including the quintessential boattail.
Maserati
The Maserati brothers produced their first racing car in 1926, and the range and success of their competition models (built through the early 1960s) soon became legendary worldwide, with special acclaim from drivers and owners as well as huge respect from arch rivals such as Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. In 1948, under the management of the Orsi family, Maserati started to produce non-racing sports cars, and GT cars emerged. It is interesting to note that this famed company was later owned by Ferrari, subsequently partnered with the Alfa Romeo Group, and is now owned by Stellantis.
Frua Coachwork
Pietro Frua was not just part of the golden age of creativity in Italian design and coachbuilding, his work defined it. From the rounded lines of the early 1950s, to the sleek squared-off shapes of the 1960s, he mastered all. His designs were sometimes startling, but always tasteful, always inherently beautiful. He began his career with Farina and then built his own design studio, which he eventually sold to Ghia. Along the way, he bodied many marques, but his smooth, low-slung designs for Maserati are among his most celebrated.
Wedge-Shaped Concept Cars and Prototypes
A few 1950s prototypes hinted at the form, but Wedge-shaped designs really came to the fore with concept cars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Notable examples began with the Ghia Gilda Streamline X and blossomed with the Alfa Romeo Carabo, Ferrari Modulo 512, and the Lancia Stratos HF Zero. These dramatically different cars influenced production models like the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, DMC DeLorean, Lotus Esprit, Fiat X1/9, Lancia Stratos, Vector W2 — and vestiges appear in the Tesla Cybertruck of today. Our featured class will focus on One-Off Wedge Concept cars.
1990s BPR & FIA GT Race Cars
Just as legendary sports cars such as the Jaguar E-type, Ferrari 250 GT, and Shelby Cobra went from road to racecourse with few changes in the 1950s and ’60s, the BPR Series sought to bring iconic supercars to the track in the mid-1990s—and it did just that. The McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Bugatti EB110, Mercedes CLK GTR, and Porsche 911 GT1, as well as exotics like the Lotus Elise GT1 and Dodge Viper all took part, competing on tracks worldwide—from Europe to Zuhai in China and Laguna Seca in the California. Named for founders Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stéphane Ratel, the BPR Series began in 1994 and became the FIA GT Series in 1997.