Star Road

If you haven’t yet read the original Pebble Beach 2016 “barn find” post below this one, make sure to scroll down and check that out first. What follows is the rest of the photos from that original 2016 post, but written now in 2017 to give some closure to the coverage I never finished.

They’re watching you. Quite literally, in fact–I peeked up at one point to see an ominous figure keeping track of the people below. When you have hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cars being swarmed by thousands of people who are drunk before brunch, it makes sense to have people keeping an eye on the proceedings.

Here’s a “station wagon” for you. You get picked up from the station, throw your bags on top, and you can even stand up inside.

These days, there’s not much artistry under the hood. Back in the day, every facet of the best cars was painstakingly designed.

How many of these cars are actually restored to be nicer than when they originally came out? Sometimes I feel that’s a bit of a shame, because then it’s not a time capsule, it’s just a modern recreation.

This was the most immaculate black paint I have ever seen in my entire life.

Another spectacular engine bay, this time in a Rolls Royce.

With its big sexy curves, the MkIV GT40 stands alone. It almost doesn’t even look like a GT40 anymore.

This one was a bit “rougher” and all the better for it. Race cars aren’t perfect, and neither was this.

This show was themed around the 50th anniversary of the GT40 winning Le Mans, so there was no shortage of GT40’s there.

The car went through many evolutions; check out the scoops on this MkII.

In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful race cars of all time, in probably the most beautiful era for race car design.

Although there were a lot of beautiful designs out there before impact bumpers came on the scene and ruined everything.

Here’s the inside of another Miura. Very basic, and yet super cool.

I peeked inside this Auburn and noticed something on the dash…

101 miles per hour in the ’30s. Not too shabby.

Sometimes it’s amazing that certain cars even exist, like this 1937 Bugatti. Who would have bought this car at that time, and how did it survive the war?

Ahh, the Ferrari 330 P4. This or the GT40? Hard to say.

Right hand drive since Le Mans and most European tracks run clock-wise.

Police-spec BMW Isetta, which seems a bit odd now, but maybe in Germany in 1961 it had a purpose.

Here’s the E9 CSL from the other post, but this time with its spoiler on.

These old gliders look fast even going just a few miles per hour.

You hardly ever get to see cars like this motion, which is why so many people show up for “dawn patrol”, as well as these events where the cars are driven to accept their awards.

Impossibly low Bizzarrini P538 Can-Am.

Who needs seatbelts, right?

Wonderful Iso Grifo racer with two laughing gentlemen.

One of my favorite 50’s race cars is the Maserati “Bird Cage”, so called because of its intricate tube frame.

Seriously, wow. It’s more like a bird’s skeleton compared to most race car frames of the time.

I returned back to the McLaren tent, where the party was in full swing. I recognized clients from my own dealership, as well as celebrities from the internet and beyond; here’s CJ Wilson chatting with David Lee.

I also saw Alex Roy standing in line for drinks. And in a “small world” twist, I found out that one of my coworkers used to party with him years ago in their younger days.

McLaren really had a prime location, right over the heart of the lawn.

We gathered at the stage because the yellow Ferrari 275 would be up for an award. It was my coworker’s uncle’s car, who also happened to own the entire dealership group I worked at, so we had a bit more emotional stake in it.

But right after they staged the Ferraris, proceedings were halted. Then Jay Leno came on stage and did a pretty funny monologue, which he segued into a fundraising auction-type event. It was a couple months before the 2016 election, so his material was mostly political as you’d expect, but he kept the crowd laughing.

After that, we took the shuttle bus back out to the area we had parked and strolled down to the beach. What you can’t really see in this angle are the dozens of seals (or sea lions?) and hundreds of birds perched on that rock! It must feel like quite the safe place for the animals chilling there. Click here for the full size of a closer shot and you can almost see them.

And that was that! It only took me 7 months to get these photos out, but better late than never, right?