Pebble Beach' grandest surprises

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Pebble Beach always surprises and this year will be no exception. World’s most prestigious Concours d’Elegance is held in another three weeks (August 20) at the Californian golf resort, showing the best the classic car world has on offer. Mainly Ferraris, as so often. Among this year’s classes ‘Ferrari Major Race Winners’ (…yawn…) and ‘Ferrari One-off Spéciales’ (…gulp…). But there’s enough to enjoy for the lovers of the more unusual, the more unexpected, like ourselves. How about ‘American Dream Cars of the 1960s’? This class is all about future visions of days long gone, when the imagination of car builders went wild over shapes and technologies.

Among them the gorgeous 1966 Bosley Mk2 Interstate by privateer (and horticulturalist) Richard Bosley, which features several advanced safety features that mainstream motor manufacturers adapted years later. There’s the 1960 DiDia 150 built for singer Bobby Darin and the 1965 Vivant by Pontiac designer Herb Adams in his spare time. The 1962 Studebaker Sceptre designed by Excalibur-boss Brooks Stevens, the 1969 Farago CF 428 coupe (above) that was built for John DeLorean by Carrozzeria Coggiola and the wild 1965 Reactor by Gene Winfield.

Perhaps our favourite: the 1967 Gyro-X. This most unusual vehicle was built by Gyro Transport Systems, Inc. of Northridge, California, set up by ex-Duesenberg, Ford, Tucker, Cord and Chrysler designer Alex Tremulis and rocket scientist Thomas O. Summers. The latter developed its gyroscopically stabilized 2-wheel suspension and space frame, while Tremulis drew its lines, which were materialized in aluminium. But power came from a 1275 Mini Cooper engine, driving the rear wheel through a chain. The builders claimed a 125mph top speed and 80mpg economy and investors forked out $750,000 to finance the project. But when nothing had come from it in 1970 the company went under and the sole prototype disappeared. In the mid-1990s it resurfaced in a sad state and minus its gyroscope and Mini Cooper-engine, but with VW-power and two rear wheels. Jeff Lane of The Lane Motor Museum undertook a major restoration and will be showing it now for the first time.

It’s not going to be easy to pick out the best from that lot. More information about the Pebble Beach concours here.

(Words Jeroen Booij, pictures various websources)

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