CP PRESENTE LES NOMINES POUR L’EDITION 2023/2024 DU « PENINSULA CLASSICS BEST OF THE BEST AWARD »

pa3177
2 days ago
11 min read

Updated: 23 minutes ago

Dear Friends, good evening,

A little while ago, I saw a sticker on a car that read:

“Some people collect art, we drive it”,

which immediately prompted the question, certainly relevant if you look at our nominees for tonight’s award:

- Are cars art?

Perhaps to the surprise of some of you, I resist that definition. For me, art is creativity without constraints. I couldn’t say it any better than Giorgio de Chirico:

“To be truly immortal, a work of art must explode the limits of the human: it must have neither reason nor logic.”

A car has a reason, being it to take people from A to B, or to win races, for instance. To execute its function, a car has to offer space, or speed, and it has to comply with the laws of physics and chemistry, not to mention THE law.

The cars we love are certainly the expression of exceptional talents: engineers, designers, craftsmen, but art they are not.

Some cars though have simply been left alone, become victims of the elements, and lost their purpose.

An extreme example is the Bugatti Brescia that spent almost 70 years underwater in the depth of Lago Maggiore. It was eventually rescued and found its way to the Mullin Automotive Museum, where it was displayed untouched. Thus, having lost its purpose as a car, it became de facto a piece of art.

This is my moment to say how much we miss Peter…

But we still have Merle, ’Merle on the Move’! Just as we miss Arturo Keller, but we still have Deborah, and we also have Anne Lee. Isn’t it wonderful to have that continuation and to have women actively involved in curating, showing and driving? Peter, Arturo and Bob watching from above must be proud of you. We are glad to have you, we love you!

Peter and Merle won The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award twice, and tonight, the first nominee I’ll introduce in a moment is a car from the Mullin Collection in California, the sixth time in eight years a car from the Collection will compete for the Award. A record!

A quick reminder: the Peninsula Classics BoB Award goes to a car that won Best of Show in one of the leading Concours in the world. The contenders for tonight’s Award are winners of selected events that took place in 2023 and we have eight of them, as they were just introduced by Gordon.

Three nominees are Italian, two French, and one each American, British and German – quite a cosmopolitan mix.

So, our number one nominee comes from the Mullin Collection.

It is obviously a French car, and before revealing its identity, here is a teaser: its radiator mascot.

Which, in this case, can actually be considered a piece of art for it has no other raison d’être than decorating the front of the car.

You will have recognised the so-called Cocotte, the Voisin mascot. Gabriel Voisin, the founder of the marque, was fed up with the usual after-market kitsch sculptures and created his own: a winged Cocotte. In French, a cocotte is a lady of, shall we say, loose morals, and it's easy to see in it another provocation as Voisin relished them.

If you look at the badge below the Cocotte, you will see written Avions Voisin rather than just Voisin. This is because Gabriel Voisin started with building airplanes that contributed to the Allied Forces’ victory in the first World War. After the war, he converted to the car industry.

The 1935 C25 Aerodyne, that won

Best of Show at The Amelia,

was his vision for the car of the future, an automobile that sought to capitalise upon the public’s growing fascination with streamlining and aerodynamics. The name itself, Aérodyne, French for an aircraft that is "heavier than air”, alluded to Voisin’s past activity.

The exclusive Aerodyne, affordable only to the most affluent motorist, was an Art Deco masterpiece of a period that Merle and Peter felt was the apex of industrial and fine arts design.

Before winning The Amelia, this very car was awarded Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 2011, and … back in 1935, the Grand Prix at the Place Bellecour Concours d’Elegance in Lyon.

After Voisin’s Cocotte, more teasers! Here the second one:

Which American car has these small red and blue lights on the front fenders?

Introducing the

1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Speedster

With coachwork by Gurney Nutting

Owned by the Lyon family, also from California

Best of show at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

General William Lyon started his collection in the late sixties. His son Bill is now in charge of its 90 or so cars, mostly Pre-War convertibles, including this exceptional Duesenberg.

The brothers Frederick and August Duesenberg founded their company in 1913, with the aim of building racing cars. They were good! They won the Indianapolis 500 on four occasions. They also won the French Grand Prix in 1921 - the first American car to win a European Grand Prix. After having run into financial trouble, the company was bought in 1926 by Errett Lobban Cord, who made it the prestige brand of his automotive group.

Under his impetus, Duesenberg created its masterpiece, the Model J which was presented at the 1929 New York Motor Show and was quickly chosen by Hollywood stars such as Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

This supercharged SJ is the only one that was delivered in England to be bodied by Gurney Nutting. A rare car indeed! Equipped with an engine delivering 320 horsepower - almost three times the power of the Voisin -, this one-of-a-kind SJ was ordered by Maharajah Holkar of Indore, who was just 28 at the time.

A view from the top shows a dominant saffron colour.

According to Hindu mythology, it is the colour worn by saints as a sign of devotion to religion.

As to the red and blue lights on the front fenders, they indicated whether it was the Maharajah or the Maharanee who was driving the car.

More lights: these big headlights belong to our next nominee. They equipped mostly British cars and were made by Lucas, known as the Prince of Darkness…

Here, they enlighten the front of the

1937 Bentley 4 1/4-Litre 'Rothschild' Sedanca Coupé

With Coachwork by Gurney Nutting,

the same who bodied the Duesenberg you just saw

Owned by Simon Taylor from England

Best of Show at the Cartier Style et Luxe concours held at Goodwood during the Festival of Speed

In the 1930’s Bentley had been taken over by Rolls-Royce. The latter were more formal, often chauffeur-driven, whilst the Bentleys were sportier - but gone were the days of racing and winning at Le Mans!

This 4 ¼ was commissioned by La Comtesse Yvonne Lydia Cahen d’Anvers, Madame de Rothschild, as a car to use in London. Gurney Nutting’s newly appointed stylist, the 23-year-old John Blatchley, was given the task of interpreting the commission and submitted his drawings for a sedanca to the Countess.

A sedanca is an automobile with an open-topped front compartment and an enclosed rear compartment. She was delighted and gave her approval. But with an aluminium body on an ash frame and a roll-back roof, the car departed radically from Gurney Nutting’s existing designs. It took almost a year to build, by which time the Countess had tired of waiting for it and bought something else.

In the late 1990’s, the car was purchased by Simon Taylor who has been immersed in motor sport for nearly 50 years as a journalist, commentator, publisher and historian.

He has since driven the car some 36,000 miles. This Bentley is not a trailer queen!

Quiz number 4, an easy one: Which French marque had a horseshoe shaped radiator?

Bugatti, of course! This is a

1937 Type 57 S Roadster, with

Coachwork by Corsica

Best of Show at Salon Privé

Owned by Lord Bamford from England

Ettore Bugatti established Bugatti in 1909. He had developed a fascination for cars at an early age and also enjoyed horse riding, hence the radiator shape. The silver bear mounted on the radiator cap was not fitted by Bugatti and is probably the kind of aftermarket ornament Voisin would not have approved of. It was a gift from the wife of the first owner, Sir Robert Ropner, a shipping magnate and racing driver.

Ettore’s son, the very talented Roland, was brought early into the company. True to his father’s motto

“What has already been invented belongs in the past, only innovations are worthy of interest”,

he was instrumental in introducing some well-needed modernity. His brainchild the Type 57 S, like this one, is the perfect example: I’ll just mention the double overhead camshaft engine and, as the S indicates, the low ‘surbaissé’ chassis.

This example sports bespoke coachwork by Corsica, a small but highly rated workshop established in Corsica Street in London, which explains its name.

Proportions are remarkable –a low bonnet line tucked between the wheels always looks good!

During its restoration, it was discovered that the chassis could be a missing racing chassis from the 1936 Grand Prix Team, perhaps “recycled” and rebodied after having ended its racing days.

We don’t have the answer yet, but may have it next year. Indeed, this roadster won another Best of Show a few weeks ago at the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours, meaning it is already qualified for next year’s Best of the Best award - unless it wins the Award tonight, in which case it cannot compete again.

To complete its list of recognitions already received, it was awarded the “Most Elegant Pre-War Sportscar” at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the “Best Restoration” at the RAC Historic Awards, and the “Car of the Year” by Classic and Sportscar, all in 2023.

When you sit behind the steering wheel of our fifth - and last Pre-War – nominee, you are guided by its shining star.

You have all identified the Mercedes-Benz emblem, created in the early 1900’s. The star’s 3 points represent the company’s drive for universal motorization: land, sea, and air — which the company believed they would dominate with their engines.

This

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial Roadster

with coachwork by Sindelfingen, the factory establishment,

Won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Owned by Jim Patterson from Florida,

it embodies the marque’s commanding position in the late Pre-War years, where they also reigned supreme in motor racing. Writing about the 540 K, journalists spoke of the “sheer insolence of its great power” – which was still somewhat less than the Duesenberg though.

The model was available in a variety of executions ranging from saloons to coupés and cabriolets, but the Spezial Roadster was the ultimate expression of Sindelfingen’s skill.

According to a copy of the original Kommission paper, this car was ordered for the King of Afghanistan and was delivered to him in Kabul in September 1937.

Since joining Jim Patterson’s collection of 30 or so cars hosting mostly French and German examples, this Spezial Roadster has escaped the restorer’s touch. The car has yet to reach 13,000 miles (one three). It remains largely untouched and undisturbed, and is even rolling on the period Dunlop tyres!

On now to Post-War cars and to our sixth nominee.

The trident emblem belongs to Maserati. It was designed by one of the Maserati brothers, Mario, whose passions leaned more toward the arts rather than engines. Inspiration was found in the Late Renaissance-era Fountain of Neptune in Bologna, and stands for strength and vigor.

Introducing the

1955 Maserati A6GCS/53

With Coachwork by Frua

Best of Show at the Concours of Elegance Hampton Court

Owned by Jonathan & Wendy Segal from California

A6GCS/53: what’s in a name?

- A is for Alfieri (Maserati), founder of the company

- 6 for six cylinders

- G for «Ghisa», cast iron in Italian, the engine block material

- CS for «Corsa Sport», for racing sports car

- 53 for the year the model was introduced.

The 1950’s proved to be a successful decade for Maserati, owned at the time by the Orsi family.

Whilst several engineers, including Colombo, and racing drivers, including Fangio, switched from Ferrari to Maserati, and from Maserati to Ferrari, who were competitors and neighbours in Modena, Pietro Frua, an independent designer for most of his life, penned a host of Maseratis but never worked for Ferrari. His A6GCS/53 spyder, of which he built 3, is a little gem.

In its current presentation, the car is the positive of the original negative: now black with an ivory stripe, it was born ivory with a black stripe.

Before winning Best of Show at the Concours of Elegance Hampton Court, the car earned the Best Post-War Car award at the 1997 Louis Vuitton Classic in New York and the public-vote Coppa D’Oro at Villa d’Este in 2002. And it just earned another award at the 2024 Pebble Beach concours where it had already been shown in 1964. A crowned life!

Our seventh nominee is also Italian and carries a number which, obviously, is a race number. But that number is more than just a number, it has a significance. All entrants in the Mille Miglia, the race from Brescia to Roma and return, had numbers that indicated their starting time.

Thus, this

1953 Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta

Bodied by Pinin Farina

Best of Show at Cavallino Classic

Owned by Brian and Kim Ross from Ohio

started the 1953 Mille Miglia at 6:27AM. It was driven by Count Bruno Sterzi. The numbers enabled the spectators along the 1000-mile road to have an idea of the classification. For instance, if they saw 627 before 626 which had started a minute earlier, it meant that 626 had been overtaken. Smart, isn’t it?

The 250 MM Berlinetta is one of the earliest examples of the cooperation between Ferrari and carrozzeria Pinin Farina that lasted until Ferrari inaugurated its own design studio in 2010. It is also the founding stone of the series of 250 berlinettas that established the Ferrari legend with their famous 3-litre V12 Colombo engine, culminating with the GTO.

The car, which has been returned to its exact Mille Miglia configuration and won a Class award at Pebble Beach in 2018, is part of a small collection that, per Brian’s own words, seems to have ‘gravitated” toward Ferrari sport competition cars.

A slightly later 250 Berlinetta from the same collection already won our Peninsula Classics Best of the Best award in 2021. Brian knows what it takes!

Last but not least, fins!

But not American fins, Italian fins adorning the

1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica "Superfast"

With coachwork by Pinin Farina

From the Robert Lee Collection in Nevada,

Best of Show at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering

Another Ferrari model, another Pinin Farina design, both very different from the 250 MM we just saw. Ferraris were always fast, but this one, the first "Superfast", was, well … super fast and good for speeds of over 260 km/h (160 mph)!

Still powered by a V12 engine, Ferrari’s trade mark, this one was not by Colombo but drafted by Lampredi, and also directly derived from racing after Ferrari’s victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1954. It delivered about 400 horsepower, which makes it the most powerful car of tonight’s nominees.

The coachwork, a one-off, carried several innovations to be found on later models, such as the large oval nose, the covered headlights and the side vents. Also, the two-tone paint scheme with a separation at the hipline became a feature of several later Ferraris bodied by Pinin Farina.

Battista Pinin Farina had visited the USA on several occasions to raise business there. The tailfins were a fashionable concession under strong influence of the contemporary American styling. They did not last.

After its introduction at the Paris Show, the car was sent to the USA where it spent almost all its life. In 2004, it joined the Robert Lee collection, one of the most significant collections in the world.

On a final note, I had decided not to look under the bonnet tonight, but I couldn’t resist giving you a quick glimpse of just one engine, the V12 Ferrari.