The car’s victory at Pebble Beach marked the second win for owner Patterson.
An Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Cabriolet was Best of Show at the 65th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday. The competition drew 219 cars from 16 countries and 29 U.S. states to the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The winning car has a long 145-inch Italian 1924 Tipo 8A chassis, which was acquired in the early 1930s by Swiss Carrosserie Worblaufen to be used as the basis for a new sport cabriolet.
The finished car was displayed at the 1932 Geneva Auto Show and won the Grand-Prix d’Honneur at Cannes in 1933. After being shown, the car passed through three owners prior to being purchased by current owner Jim Patterson of Louisville, Kentucky.
The car’s win at Pebble Beach marked the second win for Patterson. His 1933 Delahaye D8S De Villars Roadster was named Best of Show in 2010. “I won here in 2010 with an all-white car, and now I’ve won with an all-black car. I don’t know if I’ve run out of colors or what,” he joked.
“From the moment that Cesare Isotta and the Fraschini brothers founded their company, they were known for building prestigious cars. And this particular car is very stylish and very powerful,” said Pebble Beach Concours Chairman Sandra Button.
Ferraris were out in great numbers at Pebble Beach this year, along with classic era duPonts, antique Popes, British prewar sports cars and postwar Cunninghams. Special classes celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Shelby GT350 and the 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Continental. Mercury Customs were displayed for the first time.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
