Sterling Edwards was not in the program. He had built a sports roadster in California, he wanted to win the Pebble Beach Road Race, and the concours staged alongside it was an afterthought he entered at the last minute. His Edwards R-26 Special Sport Roadster took Best of Show. Thirteen cars competed that day in 1950.
The 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance takes the 18th fairway on Sunday, August 16, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Charitable giving from the show has passed $45 million. General admission runs $650. The Lamborghini display alone will occupy a fairway that has never been opened for the event before.
Edwards had a hand in that too. He was among those who approached the Del Monte Properties Company about staging the first real postwar road races on the West Coast, which is how the racing and the concours came to exist together in the first place.
Key Takeaways
- Date and place: Sunday, August 16, 2026, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links at The Lodge at Pebble Beach.
- Featured marque: Ferrari. Featured coachbuilder: Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale.
- Five special classes: Ferrari Chinetti and NART Competition Cars, Early American Speedsters, Classic Streamliners, Pebble Beach Road Racing Greats, and Japanese Motorsports.
- The 3rd fairway opens for the first time during Concours week, hosting a Lamborghini Miura 60th anniversary display expected to be the largest Miura gathering ever assembled.
- Tickets: General admission started at $495 and rose to $650 after August 1, 2026.
- Concours Village is free and open to the public Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16.
- Charity total since 1950: more than $45 million, including $4 million raised in 2025 across more than 100 local organizations.
The Show Started as a Sideshow
Two events were conceived together in 1950: the Pebble Beach Road Races, run on public roads winding through Del Monte Forest, and a concours held alongside them. Racing was the draw. A concours was the garnish.
That arrangement lasted seven years. The forest course was fast, tree-lined, and unforgiving, and by 1957 the risk had outgrown the venue. Racing moved inland to Laguna Seca, purpose-built and survivable. The concours stayed on the fairway.
Seventy-five years later the sideshow is the main event.
Racing it was built to accompany now appears as history. Two of this year’s five special classes exist specifically to bring the road racers back.
The Five Special Classes
Each year’s field is organized around a handful of themed classes. The 2026 selection leans hard on the anniversary, with three of the five reaching directly into the show’s own past or into territory the Concours has never formally recognized.
| Class | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Ferrari: Chinetti and NART Competition Cars | Competition Ferraris tied to Luigi Chinetti and the North American Racing Team, the operation that carried Ferrari’s colors in American endurance racing. |
| Early American Speedsters | Pre-World War I cars stripped to essentials. Stutz Bearcat and Mercer Raceabout alongside forgotten rivals. |
| Classic Streamliners | 1930s aerodynamic experiments. Flowing fenders, sloping grilles, fastback tails. |
| Pebble Beach Road Racing Greats | Cars that ran the original forest course in the 1950s, split between near-original factory racers and heavily modified one-off specials. |
| Japanese Motorsports: The Rising Sun at Speed | Le Mans endurance racers from Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, and Honda. |
Pebble Beach Has Never Run a Japanese Class Before
Most of the show’s history honors European coachwork and American classics. A class built around Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, and Honda endurance cars marks a category the 18th fairway has not formally recognized in 75 years.
Mazda remains the only Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans outright, taking the 1991 race with the four-rotor 787B.
Concours recognition tends to trail collector interest by a decade or more. These racers arriving on the lawn now says something about where the market went earlier.
The Road Racing Classes
Twenty-two cars from the original Pebble Beach Road Races return across two classes. Among them are Ken Miles’s MG specials R1 and R2, the latter nicknamed “The Flying Shingle,” which won the 1955 Pebble Beach Cup for modified cars under 1500 cc before Miles went on to develop the Ford GT40.
The Stovebolt Special also returns, an HWM chassis that made the first road racing use of a Chevrolet V8 and ran in the last of the forest races.
Ferrari and Vignale
Ferrari takes featured marque honors, a choice with local precedent: Ferraris have appeared at Pebble Beach since 1951, one year after the show began.
Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale takes featured coachbuilder honors, a Turin house that bodied a substantial run of early Ferraris before the factory consolidated its work with Pininfarina.
Vignale’s Ferraris look least like what people picture when they picture a Ferrari. That is the argument for showing them together.
The Miura Display and the 3rd Fairway
Automobili Lamborghini is marking the 60th anniversary of the Miura with a curated display that organizers expect to set a record as the largest gathering of Miuras ever assembled in one place.
To hold it, Pebble Beach Golf Links is opening its 3rd fairway during Concours week for the first time. The show has run at capacity on the 18th for years, and adding ground rather than thinning the field is the more expensive answer to that problem.
The Miura is a reasonable car to spend a fairway on.
Introduced in 1966 with a transverse mid-mounted V12, it established the layout and the proportions supercars have followed since.
Thursday Is the Free Preview
The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance presented by Rolex sends more than 150 Concours entrants onto public roads on Thursday, August 13, tracing a route along Highway 1. Spectators along the way pay nothing.
The Tour is not a parade. It exists to prove the cars run, and it carries competitive weight: an entrant that completes the Tour wins any tie on Sunday. Cars that will sit motionless behind ropes on the fairway are, on Thursday morning, being driven.
Concours Village is free. Open to the public at no cost Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16, the Village houses the Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum, RetroAuto, and the manufacturer displays. Forum sessions require reservations, but walking the Village does not.
The Forum Lineup
The Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum runs Thursday through Saturday in Concours Village. Two 2026 sessions stand out.
“Women Behind the Wheel” pairs Concours Chairman Sandra Button with Alex Hirschi, who built the Supercar Blondie audience into one of the largest automotive followings on the internet. Button has run the Concours for decades from inside the traditional collector establishment. Hirschi built her reach outside it. Their conversation is billed around how each forged a path in a male-dominated industry.
“Committing to Passion,” presented by AssetClassic, gathers Enzo Mattioli Ferrari, Hendrik Malinowski, and Giuliano Cassataro to discuss restoration and the business of collectible cars, co-hosted by Camillo Mekacher-Vogel and Michele Bertoncello.
What the Show Costs and What It Gives
General admission opened at $495 and moved to $650 after August 1. That buys the show field on Sunday.
Against that, more than $45 million has gone to charity since 1950, including $4 million in 2025 alone, spread across over 100 local organizations.
This is a fundraiser wearing a garden party’s clothes.
| Figure | Number |
|---|---|
| First Concours, 1950 | 13 cars |
| Tour d’Elegance entrants, 2026 | 150+ |
| Road racing cars returning | 22 |
| Charity raised, 2025 | $4 million |
| Charity raised since 1950 | $45 million+ |
| General admission, 2026 | $495 early, $650 after Aug. 1 |
A Leadership Handover in the Anniversary Year
Management is changing as the show turns 75. Vince Finaldi has joined as President, and the Advisory Board added Todd Blue and Tom Peck.
Sandra Button remains Chairman and remains the public face of the event. Transitions at long-running shows tend to be judged on what stays rather than what changes, and the 2026 class list, which reaches deep into the show’s own history, reads like an argument for continuity.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance?
Sunday, August 16, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, 1700 17-Mile Drive.
What is the featured marque for 2026?
Ferrari, with a dedicated class for Chinetti and NART competition cars. The featured coachbuilder is Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale.
How much are tickets?
General admission started at $495 and rose to $650 after August 1, 2026. Concours Village, which includes RetroAuto and the manufacturer displays, is free Thursday through Sunday.
What won the first Pebble Beach Concours?
The 1950 Edwards R-26 Special Sport Roadster, created and shown by Sterling Edwards. He had not formally entered and was not listed in the program, deciding at the last minute to show the car alongside his racing effort. Thirteen cars took part.
Why is the 3rd fairway opening this year?
To hold Automobili Lamborghini’s 60th anniversary Miura display, expected to be the largest gathering of Miuras ever assembled. It is the first time Pebble Beach Golf Links has opened the 3rd fairway during Concours week.
Can I see the Concours cars without buying a ticket?
Yes. The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance on Thursday, August 13 sends more than 150 entrants onto public roads along Highway 1. Watching from the route costs nothing.
What are the new classes for 2026?
Early American Speedsters covering pre-World War I cars, Classic Streamliners covering 1930s aerodynamic design, and Japanese Motorsports covering Le Mans endurance racers from Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, and Honda. Two further classes honor cars from the original Pebble Beach Road Races.
How is the Concours judged?
Cars are evaluated on authenticity, presentation, and history rather than a published points sheet. Best of Show is announced from the awards ramp in the late afternoon. Completing the Tour d’Elegance breaks any tie.
How much money has the Concours raised for charity?
More than $45 million since 1950, including $4 million in 2025, benefiting over 100 local organizations.
Who runs the Pebble Beach Concours?
Sandra Button is Chairman. Vince Finaldi has joined as President, and Todd Blue and Tom Peck were added to the Advisory Board ahead of the 75th.
Which auction house is tied to the Concours?
Gooding Christie’s is the official auction house, running the Pebble Beach Auctions at Parc du Concours on August 14 and 15.
What happened to the Pebble Beach Road Races?
They ran on public roads through Del Monte Forest from 1950 and moved to Laguna Seca in 1957 after the forest course proved too dangerous. The Concours remained at Pebble Beach.
Seventy-Five Years On
The 75th Concours is spending its anniversary looking backward, and the class list is the evidence. Two classes for the road racers the show was built to accompany. A coachbuilder whose Ferraris most people would not recognize as Ferraris. A fairway opened for the first time to hold sixty years of one Lamborghini.
Sterling Edwards entered on a whim in 1950 and beat twelve other cars. The show he stumbled into now moves $650 tickets and $45 million to charity. The Thursday Tour, where the same cars run down Highway 1 for free, is still the closest thing to what the whole thing was before anyone was watching.
Michael Kahn
Michael Kahn is the writer, photographer, and publisher behind The Weekly Driver. He cares about how cars drive and what they're like to own. He covers automobile industry news, car shows and events, and new car reviews. The reviews come from behind the wheel: day trips that favor back routes, treating a good meal as half the reason to go. He directs and produces the visual media, matching each car to a setting and mood that fit it. When he's not reviewing new cars, Michael races paddleboards, camels, and ostriches, along with the occasional exotic car on the racetrack, and has driven in every state and country visited.
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