Photography by Vijay Sankar Anil; press release info from Pebble Beach Concours
The collector car world’s top prize, Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, was awarded to a Duesenberg SSJ originally owned by Clark Gable.
This year, 218 cars—including 33 international entries from 14 countries and 185 US entries from 30 states—pulled onto the competition field. The winning 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster was shown by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio.
While the show cars always look incredible during the concours, it was the Hagerty Dawn Patrol experience that really opened our eyes to the otherworldly magic of cars appearing out of the mist in the early morning. As they roll onto the concours lawns starting at around 6:30 AM, the glowing yellow lights and the puffs of smoke accompanied by the striking engine notes create an atmosphere that is truly unmatched. To witness this and mark it with a complementary hat from Hagerty, you need to be at the lawns by at least 5:30 AM. After going through the effort of summoning the energy to do so after experiencing the constellation of events that is Monterey Car Week, we can attest that it is well worth the effort.
It is indeed something that the concours-goer must experience once in their lifetime.
Coming back to the winners of the show:
“Duesenberg often tops the list of desires for people with a passion for American classics, and the iconic SSJ is the marque’s ultimate expression,” said Concours Chairman Sandra Button. “This Special Speedster, one of just two made, offers both style and performance—and has a fantastic Hollywood backstory.”
The SSJ embodies the dramatic styling of the era, with its sweeping hood line and rakish, aerodynamic windshield. It has been recently restored to its initial presentation, with a black lacquer finish and a light saddle leather interior.
“I won once before, 19 years ago, but I appreciate it a lot better now,” said Yeaggy. “I appreciate the hard work it took and the time it took to get here. People don’t realize how hard it is, how special it is, to win this award. It’s amazing.”
Yeaggy won Best of Show with the 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster known as the “Mormon Meteor” in 2007. Duesenberg retains its status as the Pebble Beach Concours’ winningest American marque, now having earned a total of eight Best of Show trophies.
In an interesting twist, today served as a homecoming of sorts: “I found out recently,” said Yeaggy, “that the second owner lived right here on the point in Pebble Beach. He owned the car for almost 12 years, so this car has come back home today.”
This year’s race for Best of Show featured several strong contenders, including the 1938 Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet shown by The Pearl Collection of Baar, Switzerland; the 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta shown by the Heinecke Family Collection of Bangkok, Thailand; and the 1954 Ferrari 375 America Vignale Cabriolet shown by RQ Collections of The Woodlands, Texas.