Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance selects 1936 Bentley as Best of Show

A 1936 Bentley was named Best of Show at the conclusion of Sunday’s Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance, held at the Trump National Golf Club.

The elegant vintage B25GP vehicle is owned by Brooke and Gary D. Moore of the Los Angeles hillside suburb of La Canada Flintridge.

Also garnering top prizes were a 1932 Cord L-29 Cabriolet, owned by Bob Lavinia of Paradise Valley, Ariz., which won the Chairman’s Award and took first place in the European Classics division; and a 1930 Cord L-29 Murphy Town Car, owned by the Nethercutt Collection of Sylmar, Calif., which was named Most Elegant and has claimed six Best of Show awards at previous Palos Verdes events. The car also won first prize in the Cord category.

Hundreds of vintage cars and more than 3,000 car enthusiasts gathered on the greens above the sea for this 22nd annual Palos Verdes Concours, overseen by event chairman Peter Kunoth and grand marshal Donald E. Panoz, entrepreneur and founder of the racing team Panoz Motor Sports Group.

Special categories this year were devoted to the automotive creations of E.L. Cord, Preston Tucker and Chrysler designer Virgil Exner, and to specific styles and marques, including American “woody” cars from 1929 to 1950, the Porsche 911, and the 50th anniversaries of the Pontiac GTO and the Ford Mustang.

There were also celebrations of the Volkswagen line, of “Microcars” like the Goggomobil Dart, and an “Innovative Hot Rods and Customs” class, featuring full-scale versions of Mattel Hot Wheels cars.

The list of honorary judges included famed racers Parnelli Jones and Bill Kraus, as well as veteran L.A. broadcast journalist Paul Moyer.

Proceeds from the charitable event, which has raised more than $67,000 since its debut in 1992, were the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Assn. and the Palos Verdes Art Center.

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