The Pinnacle Car Show, Pebble Beach Concours, Shifts Leaders, Strategy

Every August, tens of thousands of car collectors, enthusiasts and car makers gather on California’s Monterey Peninsula for what has become the ultimate, and most influential, car event of the year: Monterey Car Week. Streets become clogged with what could legitimately be called the world’s most expensive traffic jam as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys roll cheek by jowl with vintage Bugattis, Duesenbergs and Mercedes-Benzes.

But it’s not just the millions of dollars in cars on display, as well as the auctions, the concours competition and the dazzling new cars that draw the often moneyed and always enthusiastic crowd. They are there for the pinnacle event of the week, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

In the time since the Pebble Beach Concours, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, began it has become not just the most coveted competition for collectors of rare and vintage cars, but one of the most important auto events in the world. A must-attend social event with the love of cars at its heart, the Concours takes over one of the most famous golf courses in the world, the Pebble Beach Golf Links, and showcases the automotive industry at its best.

But now, the event finds itself at a crossroads: With a change in leadership and a change in strategy, can the event continue to be the most important car show in the world?

Does The Future of Pebble Hang On Its Heritage?

The Pebble Beach Concours didn’t start out to be the pinnacle of auto shows; in fact, it didn’t start out as a car show at all. It evolved from a post-road rally event for racers to see everyone else’s cars. But under the guidance of Sandra Button, chairman of the Concours, the event grew, adding more cars on display, elevating the Concours d’Elegance competition to the most prestigious in the world and inviting car makers to show off their newest vehicles to fans and buyers. Luxury car makers leaned in, bringing their best customers to Pebble and shepherding their experiences, throwing parties and hosting guests in luxury suites. Through the evolution, the Concours became the most prestigious car showcase in the world and to date has raised $45 million for charity along the way.

But now, Button is ready to take on a new role and let someone else do the heavy lifting. And the business is shifting; collections are changing hands, the field of premium vintage cars is shrinking and passionate younger collectors are anxious to display their cars and have them judged.

A Leader For The Next Era: Vince Finaldi

Seeing these changes on the horizon, the Pebble Beach Company, which stages the Concours, began a few years ago working with Button to look for the right leader to transition the organization into the future.

They found their answer in Vince Finaldi, a former attorney who was building a second career restoring collector cars in Monterey. But it took more than a few conversations to convince him; after working in the high-pressure world of criminal law, pursuing his passion of restoring cars in a low-key atmosphere appealed to him.

But the opportunity to be part of a such a transformational organization and to contribute to the Concours’ charity giving was appealing. In January of this year Finaldi joined the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance as president and Button’s successor. Button will officially pass the baton in October, following the August Concours, which will mark its 75th anniversary and Button’s 40th. Then, Button will remain as an ambassador and chair emeritus help with the transition.

Building the Future Means Seeing the Road Ahead

“There are definitely some headwinds that I've noted that we're going to have to deal with,” Finaldi said. “One of them is the aging population of collectors and bringing in newer, younger collectors. And also looking at the way they collect and use their cars.”

Younger collectors can approach the market in quite a different way, he said, from the way they find their vehicles to how they approach building a collection. Finaldi attributes social media as a major factor in shaping the modern car collector.

“Social media has been very strong and helpful for the collector car community,” he said. But “it's also caused it to evolve at a really rapid pace, something that we've never seen in the past 30 or 40 years.”

And these younger collectors often approach their collections differently, Finaldi said. “They're they're not afraid to to buy a very expensive collector car and send it to get the color changed right away. They want to drive something that they they like the way it looks,” he said. “They're not as concerned with whether the car was the original color or not, but they're also really concerned about the value of the car and the value in the future.” Despite the difference in how younger collectors view and assemble their collections, their ethos lends nicely to the Concours mission of naming the best in the industry, a process that also often leads to lofty valuations and high-ticket auction results.

But high valuations and sales prices are something newer cars see, too. “Traditionally, we've kind of focused more on the older cars,” Finaldi said. “We have to open up the field to some of these younger supercars. There are very significant supercars out there in their own right. And just because it's a newer car doesn't mean it is not significant enough to be on the field at Pebble.”

But the need to continue to build the competitive field, to increase awareness of the event with collectors and enthusiasts and to continue to lead the automotive showcase industry is what the future depends on, a point that both Button and Finaldi completely agree on. And Button, for one, is quite optimistic.

“Don't look for me 20 years younger,” she told the search committee. “You you need somebody who's going to lean into what's coming our way. And I think they did a great job finding Vince.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com