www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 13-19, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 was hanging onto his hand. The safety was non-existent.” Rob Manson has a vivid memory of the hay bales from the 1953 race. Fans filled in the gaps between trees, sometimes standing in front of the pines, right on the edge of the road. “My father put me on his shoulder for a better view,” he recalls. But that didn’t help the elder Manson’s line of sight, so the father decided to stand on a hay bale. “They were there for a reason,” Manson says of the straw barriers, laughing about it now. “Cars were going by two feet away. I’m sure my mother knew nothing about it.” Surprisingly, serious accidents were rare. And despite the cavalier attitude—a 1950 flyer politely requested that people avoid crossing the road during the race, boasting that “every possible safety precaution has been taken to ensure the safety of spectators”—no fans suffered more than minor injuries. “I never thought it was a hazard when I was there,” Craig recalls. “I was a kid. I liked the road races, I loved the noise. The Concours—I didn’t relate to it at all.” The races—generally four classes— took place on Sunday, with practice laps the day before. To make Saturday more attractive to crowds, organizers added Concours d’Elegance, asking area auto dealerships and new car owners to provide show vehicles, which were arrayed on a practice tee near the tennis courts. For 1951, the location moved to the 18th hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links. “In those days, judging was who you know, not what you know,” Devlin says. That changed in 1955, when organizers decided to emphasize classic cars. Hill, who would go on to win the main race in a miserable downpour on Sunday, took Best of Show honors for his 1931 Pierce-Arrow 41 LeBaron Convertible Town Cabriolet. In the years that followed, blue ribbons went to vintage standouts. “That was a sea change,” Devlin observes of the 1955 event. “It was quite unusual, and it became a trendsetter.” By showcasing classics, he adds, Concours organizers also had to find meticulous judges. Craig was invited to show a car at the 2009 edition of Concours d’Elegance—the very Porsche he so carefully photographed in 1956. One afternoon the following year, he spotted a Carrera on a dealer’s lot in Belmont. It was an impulse buy, one he could barely afford. Sometime in 1958 he discovered that it had been raced by Dickey at Pebble Beach. Craig drove the car for several years then tucked it away. After a lengthy restoration project that took up much of the 2000s, he brought it out again. “It ran beautifully. Oh my god it was smooth,” Craig says. “The car had its battle scars. That was part of its history.” At one show, judges from the Pebble Beach Concours approached, suggesting that the 1956 Porsche make a return trip, this time to the fairway. “They treated us like royalty,” Craig recalls. “I got a trophy.” By then, Concours d’Elegance had established itself as a destination, now fixed on the calendar in August (the 1950 races took place in November, then were moved to spring). It began to attract other events that grew into Car Week. For the 75th edition—the 1960 event being canceled by heavy rains—a selection of cars that competed in the Pebble Beach Road Races will be on the 18th fairway. It’s a nod to the cars that first drew crowds intrigued by the novelty of drivers tearing through the forest. Talbott recently sold a 1956 Jaguar. But before parting with the car, he decided to take it on a run along Portola, Drake and the other remaining roads of the old course. “It brought back incredible memories,” he says. “I remember hay bales, I remember pine trees. It all started to come back: the noise, Phil Hill with the 120. It was amazing.” JULIAN P. GRAHAM : PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES JULIAN P. GRAHAM : PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES JULIAN P. GRAHAM : PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES John Fox in a Kurtis Cadillac leads a pack of cars. It rained heavily at times during the 1955 race. Rob Manson, who watched the race as a child, recalls being “miserably cold, wet and muddy.” “Gentleman Jim” Kimberly pilots a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta in the 1951 races. Bottom: Two different classes of cars round a corner in 1956.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==