Racing legend Sir Sterling Moss at the Pebble Beach Concours. (Photo by F Nelson)My wife and I attended this year's Concours at Pebble Beach and fortunately we had Porsche VIP guest passes which gave us preferred parking and admission to a fabulous Porsche hospitality suite at the Del Monte Lodge with a balcony directly above the cars as they paraded by to get their trophies at the end. It's hard to put in to words the week long experience in Monterey and Pebble Beach which culminates on the third Sunday of August. With the pre-Historics, the literature fair, the Quail, Concorso Italiano, the Historics, the numerous auctions and the Concours at Pebble, it is impossible to take in everything.

There were 268 cars at Pebble and for the first time in 59 years they had motorcycles. We arrived very early so we could see the cars parade in to place which is highly recommended if you ever attend. Since this year's show was highlighting Bentley's 100 years of producing motorcars, there were many fine examples, including an 8 liter Drop Head Coupe purported to be W.O. Bentley's last personal car.

Porsche race cars open for display at the Pebble Beach Concours. (Photo by F Nelson)Bob Lee of Sparks had three of his cars in the Concours: 2 166 LM Ferraris (one the original prototype) and his Horsche (early Auto Union car) that eventually won Best in Show. Because Porsche was the saluted marque at the Historics there was an entire class, Porsche Race Cars, at Pebble and watching Jerry Seinfield get in to his 917 and start it up was priceless. I only wish they had included a 904 GTS, a car I once owned and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful Porsches ever made. At least I got to see 3 of them race at the Historics.

Jay Leno had one car and two motorcycles in the show and he was always very approachable as he is at these shows. A real highlight for me was meeting Sir Sterling Moss and also watching him drive his own car at the Historics. There was no lack of "glitz and glitter" at the show and people watching was at its best.

Though I am primarily a race fan, attending the Concours was also a thrill and even in this bad economy, there are still those who are thriving and that was more than evidenced by the cars driven to the show by those attending. Porsche had the new Panamera on display which was also an eye catcher.