The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award Finalists Are Announced

1928 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix: Best of Show, Chantilly Arts et Elegance Richard Mille

Bugatti makes this list three times, but first with a preservation-class car that won at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, held September in Paris. Despite being nearly a century old and having been campaigned hard as a race car (including by the factory in the Targa Florio), it has only ever been maintained, never restored. Its much-scarred paint dates from 1933 and was applied by the second owner on the instructions of Ettore Bugatti himself. No subsequent owner felt the need to repaint it, and surely nobody will now.

1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider: Best of Show, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

This Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 is a time-warp example of the motorsport-dominating model of the 1930s, one powered by a new-at-the-time straight-eight engine covered, in this case, with a body by Figoni. This particular vehicle made history last year as the first preservation-class car to win a major concours d’elegance with its deserved victory at Villa d’Este, on the banks of Lake Como. After a short racing career, it had one owner and very light use for nearly eight decades before passing into a renowned Belgian collection, accounting for its remarkably original condition.

1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports: Best in Show, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

This was a big moment in the collector-car world: the first time a preservation-class car had won Best of Show at Pebble Beach, the first time an overseas owner had won (Swiss collector Fritz Burkard), and the first win for the marque since 2003. But none of this was a shock given the provenance, quality, and looks of this Bugatti. That beautifully patinated paint was applied on the specific instructions of former owner King Leopold III of Belgium.

As a factory racer, it won grands prix in the hands of René Dreyfus, who also campaigned the Delahaye on this list that won at the Quail. Rebodied as a road car, this Bugatti kept winning grands prix with the great Jean-Pierre Wimille driving. Obviously, winning is a habit it has retained.

1937 Bugatti Type 57 S Roadster: Best of Show, Cartier Style et Luxe at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

This low-slung former racer may have previously been one of just three chassis to wear Bugatti’s famous “tank” bodywork, with which the marque won Le Mans and set a series of speed records. This example was rebodied with four seats and coachwork by Corsica to become the fastest road car of its day. Now owned by Lord Bamford and known affectionately as Dulcie, based on its license plate, it won the 2024 Cartier Style et Luxe show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, held in the gardens of Bamford’s fellow English peer, the Duke of Richmond.

1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Convertible: Best of Show, Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace

The sole British car on this list was the winner of the Concours of Elegance held at Hampton Court Palace in September. But it isn’t entirely British: with a body by stateside coachbuilder J.S. Inskip, it is one of the few Phantom IIIs to be completed in America. The model was the last large Rolls-Royce to debut before the outbreak of war, and the last engineered with significant input from Sir Henry Royce. It’s hard to imagine a more imposing automotive memorial than this 7.3-liter V-12 behemoth.

1937/1946 Delahaye Type 135 Cabriolet: Best of Show, the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering

The elegant, exuberant looks of this Delahaye don’t need nostalgia to impress. Rebodied by Franay after the war, it won the Prix du Honneur at the 1947 Paris Salon. And it may have more than just design significance. Some believe that it may use the chassis of “the car that beat Hitler,” which was the nickname of the Delahaye that won the 1938 Pau Grand Prix against the state-backed Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow of Rudolf Caracciola. The Delahaye won with the support of the French Government and with Jewish driver René Dreyfus at the wheel.

1947 Delahaye Type 135 MS Narval Cabriolet: Best of Show, the Amelia Concours d’Elegance

Another Delahaye, and another winner of a prestigious U.S. concours in 2024. At Amelia Island, Fla., it was the turn of this stunning 1947 Narval dressed in coachwork by the much sought-after Figoni et Falaschi. Part of the collection of Dana Mecum, founder of Mecum Auctions, this showstopper beguiled onlookers with its fully faired wheels and chrome work. One of only seven made, the example represents the postwar swan song of the coachbuilding era, before more modern construction techniques took over.

1957 Ferrari 335 S: Best of Show, Salon Privé Blenheim Palace Concours

This truly extraordinary competition Ferrari witnessed some of the most infamous moments of motorsport history, racing in the tragic—and final—Mille Miglia of 1957, and the Cuban Grand Prix in which Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped. Like many great race cars, it was endlessly modified by the factory and was driven in period by the very best, including Sir Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn, Wolfgang von Trips, and Fangio himself in an earlier configuration. Now in an esteemed stateside collection, this 335 S was used by movie director Michael Mann as a reference for the race cars in his recent Ferrari biopic.

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1964 Ferrari 250 LM: Best of Show, Palm Beach Cavallino Classic

The 22nd example of just 32 ever made, this Ferrari 250 LM competed in the two great 24-hour races—Le Mans and Daytona—in period. The car, now owned by U.S. collectors Chris and Ann Cox, was the subject of a recent Ferrari Classiche factory restoration, and the work certainly paid off. At last January’s Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach, Fla., this Prancing Horse took a well-deserved but hard-earned victory early on in the concours, winning the “Competizione” category against other 250-series Ferraris—each among the most desirable and valuable cars on earth.