by Wallace Wyss –
A few years ago I thought “the judges at Pebble Beach are the world’s greatest old car experts but there’s no time to ask them their opinions because they are too busy judging.”
But then Pebble Beach thought up the Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum a venue which offers enthusiasts the opportunity to meet and learn from the people behind the world’s greatest cars.
Held annually in concert with the Pebble Beach Concours, the Forum draws together car designers, racing greats and other heroes of the automotive world to discuss the latest car trends and hot topics, as well as the challenges and joys related to their passion for cars.
1965 Abarth Simca 2000 Long Nose at Pebble Beach 2014 – The owner, Les Burd, is on the right
The sessions are at the Inn at Spanish Bay, a spectacular Hotel that is on the Monterey Peninsula, within Pebble Beach, about three miles from the Del Monte Lodge. There’s plenty of parking around the Hotel. And the sessions take place in the same place as Auto Retro, Pebble’s memorabilia, and art show, so you can kill two birds with one stone..
You really get that fly-on-the-wall feeling hearing the banter between them, almost as if you are eavesdropping on their conversations!
Here’s some of the speakers this year:
— Hurley Haywood and Patrick Dempsey will be talking talk Porsche racing moderated by Spike Feresten;
–Jay Leno and Donald Osborne look at replicas, re-creations and revivals, from a radical standpoint, asking “When Should What’s Gone Stay Gone?”
— Wayne Carini (moderator), David and Michael Moal, Andy Leach and Chip Foose discussing “Coachbuilders of the Future”
–Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Ingrassia interviews John Elkann and Miles Collier will talk about family legacies (both come from multi-generational car collecting families, Elkann from the Fiat owning Agnelli clan and Collier from a family that virtually started sports car racing on the East Coast.
— Adam Carolla will regal everyone with his own car tales, which include owning a trio of Lamborghinis and collecting race cars raced by Paul Newman.
Additional sessions will discuss Japanese Collector Cars, Hot Rod Cover Cars, industry trends and the next generation of restorers.
The Forum, which is sponsored by AIG and BridgePoint, begins on Thursday, August 15, and continues through Saturday, August 17, at The Inn at Spanish Bay. Most sessions are free to the public (there is a small fee for a few featured sessions) but seats are limited and reservations are required.
For more information and a more detailed schedule of who’s appearing when, visit Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
See a Monterey Car Week Map here and the list of Monterey Car Week events here.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss will have an art and books booth at Concorso Italiano during Monterey Car Week.
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People at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – photo by Mike Gulett
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