Five Cars That Mattered at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

A hard choice to make

To be able to show your car at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours, established in 1950, is an acknowledgement of its importance. For car collectors, the third Sunday in August at Monterey is the Super Bowl of the car collecting world; just being asked to show a car greatly affects its value. In a field where every car matters, we could have chosen any five. Nevertheless, we think these five boast particularly interesting histories or influence.

1979 BMW Art Car No. 4 by Andy Warhol

On a show field boasting multi-million-dollar cars, this is, perhaps, the most valuable car shown: the 1979 BMW Art Car No. 4 by Andy Warhol. Consider that the original Andy Warhol painting “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” sold for $195.04 million at a Christie’s New York auction in 2022, and you’ll understand why this car is so valuable.

BMW has been producing Art Cars since French racer and art enthusiast Hervé Poulain and BMW’s Head of Motorsport, Jochen Neerpasch, persuaded Alexander Calder to paint a BMW 3.0 CSL. The result was the first BMW Art Car, which debuted at the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. Typically, artists paint their art car designs on a scale model, which is then transferred to the car by a BMW painter. But not Warhol; he painted the car himself with help from an assistant in a mere 28 minutes. “I attempted to show speed as a visual image,” Warhol said of his approach to painting the car. “When an automobile is really traveling fast, all the lines and colors are transformed into a blur.”

Composed of brushwork and finger strokes, the paint adds 13 pounds to the car’s weight. In racing, weight is the enemy, which is why current BMW art cars use a wrap reproduced from the artist’s original work. BMW Art Car No. 4 is a 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 race car, with a 470-horsepower, 3.5-liter inline six-cylinder engine with twin overhead cams and four valves per cylinder mounted mid-ship. It placed second in class at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans.

1966 Duesenberg Model D Prototype

The creation of Chrysler Corporation’s Vice-President of Design, Virgil Exner, the Duesenberg Model D was designed for a proposed Duesenberg revival under the auspices of Fred Duesenberg, son of Duesenberg co-founder August Duesenberg. Exner mixed contemporary and classic design in a stylistic departure from then-current automotive design norms. Inside, it was lavishly trimmed in European mahogany, cashmere broadcloth, leather upholstery, mouton carpeting, a gauge panel, and an optional television and minibar. Full instrumentation was standard at a time when idiot lights were de rigueur.

Using a stretched Chrysler Imperial chassis, it measures a massive 244 inches overall, one inch longer than a Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 limousine. Beneath its 80-inch-long hood is the 1966 Chrysler Imperial’s 7.2-liter V-8, delivering 425 horsepower. Thankfully, dual 16-gallon fuel tanks are standard, as are four-wheel disc brakes and Dayton 15-inch wire wheels. After its debut, Exner held a private showing for more than 100 Detroit auto executives and designers. But financing dried up, as did any hope of a revival. Yet the neo-classicism Exner envisioned provided Detroit automakers with a new design direction that would give birth to the Lincoln Town Car, Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, and a host of others. It’s a look that would survive for more than 30 years.

1939 Chrysler Custom Imperial C-24 Derham Touring Phaeton

Originally designed for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the 1939 Chrysler Custom Imperial C-24 Derham Touring Phaeton was built by the Derham Body Company of Rosemont, Pennsylvania, on a substantial 144-inch wheelbase. It’s one of 307 limited-production Custom Imperial C-24s and the only parade phaeton built. It features dual side-mounts, elongated wind-wings, and bulletproof glass to protect its famous occupants, England’s King George VI and Queen Mary. Power comes from an L-head Inline eight-cylinder engine and a single carburetor that produces 138 horsepower at 3,400 rpm through Chrysler’s three-speed Fluid Drive semi-automatic transmission. The Imperial was fitted with four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes, an independent front suspension, and a live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs.

After the Fair, it returned to Chrysler’s executive garage in Detroit, where it was later used in 1942 on a secret tour of Chrysler’s defense plants by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, along with Michigan Governor Murray Van Wagoner, Chrysler president K.T. Keller, and War Production Board Chairman Donald Nelson. The company that crafted the car, Derham Body Company, was founded in 1887 near Philadelphia, and remained in business through 1971 by bulletproofing cars for Third-World dictators.

1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo

Winner of this year’s Best-in-Show at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the 1924 Hispano Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo was commissioned by Andre Dubonnet of aperitif fame. Dubonnet contracted aircraft maker Nieuport-Astra to build an aeronautically-inspired race car using a Hispano Suiza H6C chassis, a lowered radiator, and a 52-gallon fuel tank. Engineer Henri Chasseriaux specified a torpedo-shaped body constructed using 1/8th-inch strips of mahogany bonded over inner 3/4-inch ribs using cadium, which is used in the production of violins, secured by aluminum rivets and varnished.

Most of the wood is original to the car, and its body weighs 160 pounds, lighter than steel bodies of the era. It’s propelled by an 8.0-liter single-overhead-cam inline six-cylinder engine and mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission. Producing 45 horsepower, the Dubonnet entered the car in the 1924 Targa Florio in Sicily, where it placed sixth. It also ran the 1924 Coppa Florio, placing fifth. After this, Dubonnet added a windshield, fenders, and headlights for use as a daily driver. Hispano-Suiza was established in 1902 by Spaniard José María Castro Fernández and Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt. Its name means “Spanish-Swiss,” a reference to the company’s founders, and this car is considered their finest car.

1931 Ruxton Sedan

Odds are you’ve never heard of Ruxton – and no wonder. Only 96 were built, of which 18 survive. It was created by William Muller at the Edward G. Budd Company, an automotive body supplier in Philadelphia. Muller, fascinated by Miller race cars, developed a front-wheel drive prototype that captured the interest of Budd board member Archie Andrews. He convinced Muller to move the prototype to New York while Edward Budd was out of town before planning to build and sell the car, tapping Wall Street investment banker William V.C. Ruxton for financing. Ruxton agreed, but doesn’t want his name used. Andrews ignored him, and Ruxton sued.

Nevertheless, the front-wheel-drive car entered production powered by a 100-horsepower Continental 4.4-liter straight-eight. Moon Motor Company of St. Louis, Missouri, agreed to build it to offset slumping sales of its own cars, but when Andrews gained a controlling percentage of Moon stock, company president C.W. Burst objected and sued Andrews, who prevailed. However, in the interim, Andrews sought to supplement production by reaching an agreement with the Kissel Motor Car Company of Hartford, Wisconsin.

Again, Andrews attempted to take control of the company, but George and Will Kissel prevented it by letting Kissel slide into voluntary receivership. Since Kissel produced transmissions and final drive assemblies for all Ruxtons, the Ruxton assembly stopped, sending Moon into bankruptcy. Kissel reorganized as Kissel Industries, but Moon’s tangled affairs remained in courts through 1965, 27 years after Andrews’ death and 34 years after Moon’s bankruptcy. Once settled, 365 creditors split $26,000. If Ruxton is remembered at all today, it’s for the lawsuits it spawned, rather than the car itself.

Final thoughts

What were your favorites from Pebble’s lawn? Are there any we missed that absolutely should have made the list? Let us know in the comments!

This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.