Everyone Predicted This Year's Pebble Beach Concours Winner, And It Was Well Deserved

Rolex/Tom O'Neal

One of nan astir out-of-this-world-looking vehicles took location Best successful Show honors astatine nan 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Despite nan truth that location was immoderate highly beardown title from 229 cars this year, nan victor — a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo — was clear and evident nan 2nd I walked onto the 18th fairway connected Sunday morning, and it seems for illustration astir group had nan aforesaid thought. Quite simply, there's thing other for illustration this successful nan world, and nary different car really stood a chance.

I'm judge you've ne'er heard of nan Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo — commonly known arsenic nan Tulipwood Torpedo — earlier yesterday, because I surely hadn't, but what we've sewage present is an aero-inspired wonderment made retired of mahogany pinch a style that much intimately resembles a vessel than a car. It was first commissioned by André Dubonnet, a World War I ace combatant aviator who besides conscionable truthful happened to beryllium nan heir to nan Dubonnet fortune. He wanted to spell racing, and what amended car to spell racing successful 100 years agone than a wood-bodied behemoth pinch an 8-liter inline-six that pumped retired a whopping 45 horsepower. The car raced astatine some nan Targa Florio and Coppa Florio.

Designed by Henri Chasseriaux, nan car was constructed retired of strips of mahogany, pinch each 1 being individually carved to style and joined to an soul rib strategy by astir 8,500 rivets. In total, nan assemblage is ace lightweight, and only weighing successful astatine astir 160 pounds. That's immoderate awesome craftsmanship, no?

The car was restored and brought to Pebble by a mates retired of Naples, Florida, who really won Best successful Show backmost successful 2022 pinch a Figoni-bodied 1932 Duesenberg J. They removed nan pontoon fenders that immoderate tacky proprietor had installed astatine immoderate constituent successful nan past, restoring it to its original torpedo shape.

"I for illustration wood! I'm a wood vessel ancient collector. I started collecting them 40 years ago, earlier it became vogue-ish to do that. So I've ever loved varnished wood, and erstwhile I saw this I said, my gosh! This is correct successful my wheelhouse," Lee Anderson Sr, nan car's owner, said. "This is what I really like."

The Andersons bought nan car backmost in 2022 astatine RM Sotheby's Pebble Beach auction, clearly emotion bully astir their Best successful Show triumph that aforesaid year. Soon aft their acquisition was finalized, a grueling two-year restoration that required complete 12,000 hours of investigation and activity kicked off, according to MotorTrend. Luckily, erstwhile it was purchased, astir of nan car's mahogany was still intact. As for missing bits, RM originated 100-year-old wood to complete nan restoration.

"This Hispano-Suiza ticks each imaginable box. The underpinnings are technically advanced," Concours Chairman Sandra Button said. "The assemblage is meticulously hand-crafted, light, and lovely."

I've sewage to manus it to this year's judges. It tin beryllium difficult to withstand nan enticement to springiness different Nazi car nan apical prize astatine Pebble, but they did truthful pinch ease, making nan correct choice. It's difficult to guidelines retired successful a oversea of gorgeous vintage cars, but nan Tulipwood Torpedo did conscionable that, and seeing it successful personification was perfectly 1 of nan highlights of my weekend.