Long before the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance became a high-profile international affair, it was the social sidebar to a new motorsports event. Drivers skirted around Monterey pines and sped through hairpin turns during the first Pebble Beach Road Race in November 1950. The Del Monte Forest course was outlined as interest in sports cars and road racing—already popular in Europe—expanded in the United States.
To fill time between Saturday’s practice sessions and Sunday’s competition, organizers lined up a low-key display of new sports cars.
“The car show was created almost on the fly,” says local racer and historian Rob Manson, who showcases Pebble Beach Road Race stories and cars through the Del Monte Trophy Race Group. “It became what we know as the most prestigious car show in the world.”
The road races continued through 1956, when a tragic accident triggered a move to the purpose-built track at nearby Laguna Seca. But the Concours kept gaining speed. The 75th celebration, on Sunday, August 16, 2026, wraps up 10 days of car events across the Monterey Peninsula. The official Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance calendar includes Gooding Christie’s auctions, panel discussions, manufacturer displays, a memorabilia marketplace and other events within the gates of Pebble Beach. Before entrants line the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links, many also participate in driving tours that put museum-quality competition cars in motion.
On Concours Sunday, featured classes will honor the event’s road racing roots with a selection of British and European factory models and several legendary American specials.
“Almost all of the specials that will be shown were built in California,” says Manson, who helped curate the road race vehicles. “They were built by individuals with components that were sourced from junkyards, using a whole lot of creativity and home-grown fabricating and technology.”
As these classes demonstrate how sporting cars evolved during the seven-year Pebble Beach Road Races, they’ll also offer a unique catalyst for conversation. Whether attendees are longtime enthusiasts or exploring a budding interest in cars, Concours Chairman Sandra Button recommends that they chat with participants on the show field.
“The owners love talking about their cars. Ask them, ‘Why did you buy this car? Why did you restore this car? What does this car mean to you?’ That human aspect brings the cars alive,” she says.
The same curiosity and passion that fuels participating car collectors influences how Concours events unfold each year. Just as Manson and other volunteers elevate road racing cars and history, for example, regular attendees also inspired the Dawn Patrol and related annual rituals that welcome Concours entrants to the show field. Enthusiasts were also instrumental in establishing the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance and the tradition of awarding green ribbons to cars that complete the scenic route.
A car show of this magnitude might seem like a top-down event, but Button credits supporters for providing decades of valuable input.
“Our event is so organic that most of the ideas for featured marques and the direction of the show come from the car enthusiasts themselves,” she says. “It’s really a reflection of what people are currently collecting and what they love.”
Other classes at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours include pre-World War I American Speedsters, Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale, and Ferrari, which became the first ongoing postwar featured marque at the Concours starting in 1973. Special exhibits will spotlight Ferrari’s overall Le Mans winners and Vignale-bodied road cars.
The Sunbeam 1000 HP, the first car to achieve a land speed record of 200 miles per hour, will be traveling to Pebble Beach from the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England. It is the vehicle’s first U.S. appearance in a century, and it comes after nearly four years of careful restoration work. Though the car’s engines haven’t run in about 90 years, experts restarted the rear engine in early September before setting to work on the front one.
Button has been trying to bring the Sunbeam 1000 HP to Pebble Beach since the early 1990s. For even longer, she’s been expanding the Pebble Beach Concours’ charitable footprint. When Button joined the team in 1986, total philanthropic giving had not yet reached $1 million. In 2025 alone, the gathering generated a record-setting $4 million that was distributed through its main charitable partner, Pebble Beach Company Foundation. That brought the fundraising total to $45 million since the first Concours in 1950.
Organizers hope to raise $5 million in donations, and top the $50 million mark, for the 75th Concours.
“The Foundation does a good job vetting local nonprofits and getting the money out there. It’s great to work with such a fantastic charity, and all the other charities that benefit,” Button says.
She embraces the opportunity to directly impact more than 100 regional nonprofits focused mainly on youth health and education. Donations also support auto design, repair and restoration programs, including one at Rancho Cielo near Salinas, along with scholarships honoring automotive icons like three-time Pebble Beach Road Race winner Phil Hill. He envisioned hands-on opportunities for students interested in the preservation and restoration of historic cars.
“So many students have come back here with their new jobs and with cars that have been restored. We see that generational knowledge being passed on,” Button says. “Phil was the one who really raised his hand and said, ‘This is what I would like my legacy to support.'”
Giving back to the local community matters to event organizers, who recognize that residents must navigate busy roadways during annual car events. It’s also the local volunteers and enthusiasts, together with the visiting entrants, judges, sponsors and other attendees, who make the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance so enduring.
“There’s an entire community that comes together to make this happen,” Button says. “What we do is a very quick puff of smoke, when you think about it. It’s here and gone in not very many days, and the worldwide support that we get is so special.”
For 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance event schedules and tickets, visit www.pebblebeachconcours.net.