Famous Newport Beach Concours d'Elegance: 1934 Voison C27 Cabrio Wins Best in Show
7 October 1997
The 15th annual Newport Beach (CA) Concours d'Elegance Sunday raised $70,000 for the ATSC charities, as 175 extremely beautiful well-prepared and running classics were displayed on the lawn of the Pelican Hill Country Club, high above the sands of the blue Pacific Ocean. French classics, Packards, fat fendered Ford and Chevrolet hot rods, and lots of woodies held the attention of 10,000 vintage car aficionados, families, collectors, and exhibitors.Newport followed the lead of the Pebble Beach Concours, held last month, wherein they recognized the special cars so indigenous to Southern California--the hot rods--and also a bevy of woodies.
In this class we saw Fords, Chevys, Anglias, and a brace of Renault R5 Turbos. There was a Cord with a big block chevy, and on the other side of the greensward, a Stanley Steamer churned around the perimeter. General Bill Lyons showed off his Bugatti Royale, which is probably worth $8 million.
The Best in Show award went to Peter Mullins' 1934 Voison Cabrio, resplendent in yellow/black livery that he purchased many moons ago from a museum in France. The car had remarkable ostrich skin upholstery.
Another 100 point car, and probably the rarest at the show, was Jack Vopal's 1956 Spanish Pegaso Z-102 Coupe.
Like most REAL and certified Concours car displays, the class winning cars had to churn up to the reviewing stand to accept their awards. That included:
Antique/Early 1913 Regal Underslung Post war Luxury 1956 Pegaso European Sports Cars under 2 liter Porsche speedster 1958 Aston Martin 1955 DB2/4 Jaguar 1952 XK120 roadster British sports racing 1967 Morgan 4DHC Woodies Estate Wagons 1941 Packard Woody Wagon
Bill Maloney -- The Auto Channel