2018 Concours d’Elegance — Cars From India Win Several Awards

It is an annual event held on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Vintage and classic car owners are seen vying to be the winner in their respective categories. The cars are judged based on various factors like authenticity, function, history, style, condition, etc, and a winner is then announced for each class.

The 2018 Concours d'Elegance has been quite a good run, especially for Indian entries. Several classic cars owned by Indians have won trophies at the show.

Class F-1: Motor Cars Of The Raj - Rolls-Royce and Bentley

A 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Coupe owned by Amir Ali Jetha won the Lucius Beebe trophy for the most elegant Roll-Royce of the show and also took the class win in the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Sub-Division.

A 1937 25/30HP Rolls-Royce owned by New Delhi-based Roshini Jaiswal took the runner-up trophy in its class. Both cars were built by Gurney Nutting, a Bespoke coachbuilding company that specialised in sports bodies for nearly two decades before the second world war.

The second runner-up in the car was taken by Mumbai-based Jagdish Thackersey for his 1935 Bentley Sports Drophead Coupe built by Antem, a French coachbuilder in the pre-war era.

Class F-2: Motor Cars Of The Raj

The first place in this exclusive category was taken by Reno, Nevada based Anne Brockinton Lee/Robert M for their 1931 Cadillac 452A Pinin Farina Boattail Roadster that earlier belonged to one of the many Maharajas in India.

A 1936 Alvis Speed 25 Vanden Plas Tourer owned by Mumbai-based Nishant Dossa took the runner up trophy. A 1930 Stutz M LeBaron 4 Passenger Speedster owned by New Delhi-based Diljeet & Anurita Titus took the second-runner up trophy.

Special Awards:

The FIVA Prewar Trophy was taken by the 1921 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost James & Co. Open Tourer owned by Kesri Dev Singh from Wankaner, India. His Highness Rana Manvendra Singh Barwani won the prestigious Lorin Tryon Trophy for his contributions towards the classic car movement.

The Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy was awarded to a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Windovers Limousine owned by His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singhji of Marwar-Jodhpur, India. The Concours d'Elegance event at Pebble Beach first started in 1950 and the organisers receive more than 7000 applications for participation every year.

Only around 200 are finally chosen, again reiterating the fact that only the best of the best participate and, the only the best among them, end up as the winners. The 2018 Concours d'Elegance gathered 209 cars from 17 countries and this year's edition also managed to raise up 1.8 million dollars (Rs 12.62 Crore) for charity.

Thoughts On Concours d'Elegance And Indian Cars At The Event

The Concours d'Elegance is one of the most exquisite competition shows in the world. The cars have to be in pristine condition to even gain entry into the show, and then these cars are judged with a microscopic approach to announce the winners.

Indians and their cars have always had a special place in Concours d'Elegance as the Maharajas of yore owned several brilliant and exotic cars. Needless to say, Indian entries would continue winning at Concours d'Elegance.

Images: kimball Studios / Courtesy of Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance