Pebble Beach Alfa crowned best car in the world

By Lizzie Pope

| 11 Feb 2019

Classic & Sports Car – Pebble Beach Alfa crowned Best of the Best

This jaw-dropping 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta has taken on and beaten the cream of the world’s classics to win the fourth annual Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award.

Owned by Californians David and Ginny Sydorick, it had already triumphed at August’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, putting it in the running for last week’s accolade.

“The winning Alfa Romeo is a perfect example of the type of car that inspired us to create this award,” said William E (Chip) Connor, Chairman and CEO of William E Connor & Associates Ltd, and co-founder of The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award.

“To provide an opportunity for car lovers to pause a moment and celebrate flawless design and engineering of this calibre is truly an honour each year.”

Clockwise from top left: Salon Privé-winning Bugatti; Villa d'Este's 335S Spider; unique Mercedes; Duesenberg JSJ Murphy Convertible

The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award picks between eight contenders that must first have won one of the world’s premier concours.

In the running this year were the 1929 Duesenberg JSJ Murphy Convertible that scooped the top prize at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in March, along with a pair of Ferraris: the Cavallino Classic prize-winning 1956 250GT Zagato, also from the Sydorick stable, and the 1958 335S Spider by Scaglietti that was Best of Show at last May’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

This trio vied for glory with three cars that took top honours at British concours. From the Goodwood Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance was Colin Mullan’s wonderful, home-restored 1972 Monteverdi 375L High Speed by Fissore – the first Swiss car to win a major concours and which, unlike most winners, was driven to and from the event.

Clockwise from top left: wow-factor Lancia; Sydorick Ferrari; home-restored Monteverdi

There was also the unique 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S ‘Boat Tail’ Roadster by Barker, first owned by BRDC co-founder Earl Howe, which was Best of Show at Hampton Court Palace’s Concours of Elegance and was in the running for the 2017 Best of the Best, along with Bob Bishop’s 1933 Bugatti Type 55 Roadster that won at Salon Privé.

Finally, from the collection of Anne Brockinton Lee came the seldom-seen and utterly captivating 1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200C Spider by Pinin Farina that claimed Best of Show at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.

The Alfa was first successful at August’s Pebble Beach concours

But none could beat the Sydorick’s Italian-bred beauty, eight decades after it caused a stir at the Berlin Motor Show.

It is the first of just five known Berlinettas crafted on the Lungo chassis and is the car that Touring refers to as the beginning of Superleggera. And it can now add another prize to its trophy cabinet with victory in Paris during Rétromobile week.

“As an avid auto-collector, having two cars in the running for this year’s award was truly remarkable,” said David Sydorick. “It goes without saying that Ginny and I are ecstatic at the result – a proud moment for us both.”

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