From Wellington to Pebble Beach – the long way!

Judging time.

To put this in context, if you are a racing driver, Formula One is the absolute peak. As a rugby player, to win the World Cup and if climbing mountains, to stand atop Mt Everest is the proof you are at the top of your chosen field. For old car people, owners or restorers, to be invited to show your car on the lawn at Pebble Beach means you have the summit in sight. To win your class is as good as it gets. But to do it in a car you drive regularly, and to drive a couple of thousand km to be lined up against trailer queens and to still take the silverware is something which has never been done… until now!

The invitation

In late 2016 we received an invitation to enter our 1931 Hispano Suiza J12 in the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This was a surprise and it looked like a fun event, but it was learning that we could also go on the nine day, 1700 mile Pebble Beach Motoring Classic (PBMC) from Seattle down to Monterey that convinced us to go ahead. Although we enjoy sharing our car at events we had never participated in an organised classic car tour before or competed in any concours events.

Provenence and Preparation

We bought the Hispano in 2011 and restored it for touring use around New Zealand which we often do. The three position convertible top, powerful 9.45 litre V12 engine, superb brakes and great handling make it a joy to tour in. It will happily cruise at freeway speeds and, more surprisingly, really likes twisting mountain roads.

Ours was the first J12 built. Hispano commissioned Saoutchik to body a show car to launch the model (also known as Type 68) at the 1931 Paris Salon. Saoutchik built an elegant five passenger three position convertible to show off Hispano’s finest most expensive model. The car was also shown at the Olympia (London) Motorshow later that year and then again in the Geneva Salon in March 1932. It was subsequently sold to the Shah of Persia and delivered in October where it was used as a parade car and remained there until 1963.

The Hispano had covered around 23,000km from new when we bought it in 1979 from the first New Zealand owner, Roy Southward. Roy had purchased it from Bob Ortenberger of Oklahoma who had bought it from the Shah in 1963.

The J12’s low mileage meant that most of the mechanical components had only been lightly worn and only needs light refurbishment. The engine had been fully rebuilt by Bristol Restorations in Wellington, in 2006 and by the time we received our invitation to Pebble Beach the J12 had covered around 30,000km of touring so needed a few things tidied up. Our restorers, Bristols, also went over the car sorting out little details and ensuring it was running superbly.

Seattle

We landed in Seattle in the middle of a heatwave. This was fine by us as we had just come from skiing in New Zealand and prior to that had spent a lot of our southern summer time ice driving in the Canadian Arctic.

On our first night we met our wonderful PBMC hosts, Al and Sandi McEwan who run the PBMC. They treated us to an evening cruise in their perfectly presented picnic boat. After cruising Lake Washington checking out the mansions, house boats and floating bridge we had a superb fish dinner. What a great way to start.

The J12 had made the journey in one piece and was tucked up in Ron and Margie’s fabulous garage (along with a few other PBMC entrants). On starting it seemed very short of power. After driving it and trying a few tweaks we finally found that a carburettor linkage had come loose during shipping. Nothing serious.

On the road with the PBMC

Mid afternoon on Monday 7 August everybody met at Peter Hageman’s firehouse for registration. It was great to see all the cars together for the first time and to start putting faces to names. After an enthusiastic send off we all drove to the Woodmark Hotel ready for our start early the next morning. The evening was spent cruising out on the lake having our first drinks and meal together. Most people on the tour have done it before so it was a mix of new faces and old friends.

The first day was the longest. We started out from a heat struck Seattle and things got hotter as the day progressed (up to around 105°F). The Chinook Pass was a highlight with lots of wildflowers near the top. The forest fire smoke haze limited the view of Mt Rainier and would continue to dog us for the next few days.

On the lawn with Sonia and Mark.

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