The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance 2014 was held Thursday, August 14th, starting and ending at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center in Pebble Beach, California. The 17th annual scenic 75-mile trip around the Monterey Peninsula, held in association with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, was open to vehicles that are participating in the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours on Sunday, August 17th. This year saw over 150 historic automobiles take off from Pebble Beach for a tour of the region’s scenic driving routes.
Begun in 1998 to showcase the elegance of the automobile in motion, the Tour also underscores the early history of the place that is Pebble Beach. Decades before golf links were laid out along the edge of the Pacific Ocean, this area was known for its scenic drive, winding for miles through pine and cypress forest, dancing alongside dramatic cliffs and leading, ultimately, to a beautiful crescent-shaped bay.
Two separate starts grouped the cars together as they set off across the start line, past the Pebble Beach Lodge and on to the famous 17-Mile Drive. Similar to 2013, this year’s running of the Tour included a lap around the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. After the track, the Tour continued through the region’s valleys, hills, forests and dramatic cliff sides, touching on California Highway 1 in the direction of Big Sur until participants hit their turn-around destination at the Ripplewood Resort. Tour participants enjoyed a gourmet lunch in Carmel-by-the-Sea, plus a champagne celebration at the finish and commemorative gifts.
As mentioned, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance presented by Rolex was open to all entrants in the 2014 edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It is important to note that the Tour and the Concours are directly linked. If two vehicles tie in class competition at the Concours, the car that successfully completed the Tour gets the nod. Participants differ greatly in age, size, style and reliability: from steam driven antiques of the early 1900s, such as the White Model E driven by Jay Leno, to the powerful and provocative Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa models that made their presence known on this year’s Tour.
The stars of the Tour are undoubtedly the cars, but on occasion the drivers and passengers too cast their own stardust on the show. Formula 1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart co-drove his son Paul Stewart’s 1967 275 GTB/4 Scaglietti Coupe. Stewart junior thoroughly enjoyed the experience, relishing the opportunity to put his pride and joy through its paces in company with his father who has been an Honorary Judge at Pebble Beach for many years: “It’s more than great sharing a moment like this with my father. Originally he was not planning on doing the Tour. I persuaded him to come along and he’s really enjoyed it.”
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Similar to our coverage of the 2010 Tour, 2011 Tour, 2012 Tour and 2013 Tour, Senior Photographer Tim Scott also documented the 2014 Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance with the following stunning images that show the wonderful and diverse selection of cars entered in the Concours, plus the breathtaking views of the Monterey Peninsula and Pacific Coast seen on the Tour. We split up Tim’s pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Tim, visit fluidimages.co.uk.
Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance 2014 – Featured Photo Gallery
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