Cars of the future assemble on Pebble Beach’s Concept Lawn

The Pebble Beach Concours is best known as the ultimate venue in which to see the world’s finest classic (i.e. ‘old’) cars in one place but, as concours chairperson Sandra Button explains elsewhere in this issue, despite a strong emphasis on the past, the event is certainly not stuck there.

And this year marks the 35th anniversary of the decision to move with the times by introducing the now hugely popular Concept Lawn feature, a display dedicated to cars of the future by manufacturers of the present.

Located on the putting green in front of The Lodge, the Concept Lawn offers contemporary marques the opportunity to give the public a glimpse of the type of cars they might be driving in the near (and not so near) future and of technological developments in the pipeline.

The Pebble Beach organising committee prefers not to publish the makes and models to be displayed until a week or so before the concours weekend – which is several weeks after this issue of Motor Sport goes to press.

Typical of what visitors can expect to see, however, is the selection of cars that were on show last year. These ranged from relatively conventional-looking SUVs such as the 2024 Acura ZDX Type S and the Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase to retro-styled sports cars such as Ken Okuyama’s Kode61 Birdcage and the Lotus Type 66, the 21st-century manifestation of a 1960s concept that never made it to production in period. Restomods by niche makers are also welcome, such as last year’s Porsche 911 993 Remastered by Tedson Motors and the fully electric 964-model 911 developed by Sacrilege Motors.

Space limitations dictate that no more than 25 concepts can be squeezed onto the green but a growing number of applicants may mean an overflow area will be made available around the edges.

This year’s Pebble Beach Concours will also give visitors the chance to truly go ‘back to the future’ with a feature called The Wedge that will, as the name suggests, focus on wedge-shaped concepts and prototypes. Entries will include cars made as long ago as the mid-1950s up to those manufactured as recently as the 2010s, continuing a decision made two years ago by the organising committee to allow entries from after 1974.

Wedge-shaped designs came to the fore through the concept cars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with notable examples ranging from the Alfa Romeo Carabo to the Ferrari Modulo 512 and the Lancia Stratos HF Zero.

One of the stars of the Wedges – restricted to one-off concepts – will be the unique Aston Martin Bulldog which was intended to be the first road-legal car capable of a genuine 200mph. Bulldog never achieved the magic ‘double ton’ in period but last year it was driven to 204.5mph by Aston endurance racer Darren Turner.

The concession to modernity will also be demonstrated in another feature, this time dedicated to BPR and FIA GT race cars. BPR Global GT was born from the 1992 demise of the World Sportscar Championship and ran from 1994 to ’96 before evolving into the FIA GT Championship.

Founded by motor sport impresarios Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter and Stéphane Ratel, BPR (from the drivers’ surnames) began with a calendar of eight, four-hour races contested mostly by 911s, Ferrari F40s and Callaway Corvettes. The series grew to 12 rounds the following year, with the latest supercars of the era – such as the McLaren F1 GTR, Bugatti EB 110, Dodge Viper and Jaguar XJ220 – adding considerably to the spectacle provided by the races.

The 1990s BPR/FIA GT feature at Pebble Beach will not only include examples of the race cars that took part, but also the road-going versions.