PEBBLE BEACH – Picture this. About 170 vintage cars line up on the starting line in Pebble Beach, start their engines and drive a scenic route of nearly 70 miles along Highway 1 back to home base. How difficult can or not it’s to arrange? Considerably.
Especially when among the older cars run out of air and others malfunction. Or when gusts threaten the steadiness of a vintage automobile, or a piece of the highway along the coast breaks off and slides into the ocean. Fortunately, after 25 years of putting on this spectacle, the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance crew has learned to predict conditions, pivot, and placed on a successful parade.
Preparing for and executing Thursday's Tour d'Elegance “requires a lot of communication throughout the year between the Pebble Beach Company, the California Highway Patrol, Big Sur partners and other members of the community,” said Tour d'Elegance Director Sean Jacobs, who also serves as vice chairman of business development for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. “We have a close relationship with the CHP. We work closely with them, as well as local authorities and surrounding communities, to plan the best route for the safety of spectators and traffic, and the enjoyment of participants. We also rely heavily on our large team of amazing volunteers to help us organize the tour.”
Certainly, several aspects have influenced the tour's route over time, says Jacobs, particularly the closure of Highway 1 in recent times.
“Getting the tour to Big Sur has always been a priority,” Jacobs said, “but in the years when Big Sur wasn't an option, we got creative and used additional roads through Pebble Beach and the 17 Mile Drive, as well as scenic routes through Monterey. Even so, our cars kept breaking down, requiring the help of our support vehicles to get them back to home base. Last year, we were able to avoid many of those breakdowns by streamlining the route.”
On March 30, a big portion of Highway 1 southbound collapsed just past the Rocky Creek Bridge, cutting off the community of Big Sur from the northern a part of the county.
“Immediately after Highway 1 was closed,” Jacobs said, “we began looking at the best ways to reroute the tour. We are currently planning to recreate last year's tour route, driving down to Ripplewood Resort in Big Sur, our annual turnaround point, and back. They are a very friendly and hospitable tour partner.”
Back to route
Both Sean Jacobs and the tour participants are aware of what a luxury and privilege it’s to arrange a driving tour in probably the most beautiful places on this planet, with Pebble Beach as an anchorage and the rugged coastline and sky-blue sea as a backdrop.
“In addition, thanks to access to major highways throughout the Monterey Peninsula, there are many great options to choose from if you're planning a Tour d'Elegance route that is both scenic and inspiring, and accessible to vintage cars.”
The Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, presented by Rolex, was created in 1998 by Craig Davis, who answered questions on the roadworthiness of the Concours d'Elegance participants.
“Basically, these cars are 'Trailer Queens' and in a way they're art,” Davis said, “but not static art; they should be ready to drive. So I said, 'Why don't we start a tour, get the cars on the road and show that they're mechanical parts that can and should be ready to drive.'”
Besides the pomp, there may be also a powerful incentive for owners to participate within the Tour. If two cars are tied of their class at Sunday's Concours d'Elegance and one automobile took part within the Tour and the opposite didn’t, the Tour participant wins.
Today, 26 years later, the tour is a everlasting fixture on the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and offers a rare opportunity to see lots of these classic cars in motion. The tour begins in Pebble Beach and travels along 17 Mile Drive, past The Lodge at Pebble Beach, then travels along the Big Sur coast and back to Pebble Beach, where participants enjoy a lunch hosted by Mercedes-Benz.
This yr, unlike previous years, the event will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and return to Pebble Beach at noon. “Because we worked with the CHP and relied on their route knowledge,” Jacobs said, “we took their recommendation to streamline the route and start a half-hour later to alleviate commuter traffic issues, which benefits everyone.”
Originally published:
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