Twenty years in. The La Jolla Concours d’Elegance closed out its final awards ceremony Monday, April 27 — wrapping a four-day celebration along the California coast that drew more than 150 world-class automobiles to Ellen Browning Scripps Park under the theme Icons of Speed: Historically Significant Super Cars. What began in 2004 as a modest local car show — originally called the La Jolla Motor Car Classic — has quietly become one of the most thoughtfully curated concours on the West Coast calendar.
Final class results and the Best of Show announcement are expected to post to lajollaconcours.com and the event’s Instagram channel later today. The defending title belongs to John and Kimberly Word’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, which took Best of Show at the 2025 event. This article will be updated as 2026 results are confirmed.
A Weekend Built Around Experience
The event opened Friday evening, April 24, with Motorvault — a curated VIP soirée at Scripps Park running 6 to 10 PM that included a live auction and a first look at select entries. Saturday’s Tour d’Elegance sent entrants on a scenic coastal drive, starting with breakfast on Prospect Street and finishing at a private Rancho Santa Fe estate with its own track and private collection. That same afternoon, roughly 80 Porsches and hypercars lined Prospect Street for the free public Porsches & Power on Prospect showcase. The main judged concours ran Sunday, April 26, with awards carrying into today.
VIP guests took home a commemorative poster signed by artist Scott Jacobs. Ticket pricing, organizers have noted, was kept deliberately accessible — a point of pride for an event that draws enthusiasts of every age alongside serious collectors.
“The challenge is, how do you get someone who doesn’t care about cars to still love this event? You do it through experience.” — Michael Dorvillier, Honorary Chairman
The Headline Cars — Three Entries Worth Watching
Curation for the 2026 field was led by Vice Chairman Christopher Peterson — a 25-year collector car veteran with prior stints at Symbolic Motor Car Company and RM/Sotheby’s Motorsport. Three entries stood above the rest in pre-show coverage.
Jaguar D-Type, chassis XKD 522 (1955). Built at Browns Lane and delivered new to Charles Hornburg’s Los Angeles dealership, this car raced in Southern California with drivers including Carroll Shelby and competed at Torrey Pines in 1956 — the same coastline where it appeared this weekend, seventy years on. Malcolm Sayer’s aerodynamics and a monocoque construction borrowed from aviation gave it a top speed exceeding 170 mph. It was part of a run that produced three consecutive Le Mans victories from 1955 through 1957.
Ford GT40 Mark III, chassis MK3 1105. One of seven Mark IIIs ever built and one of just four in left-hand drive. This road-going variant of Ford’s Le Mans weapon was originally owned by Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, who reportedly garaged it meticulously and refused to drive it in the rain. The Mark III softened the GT40’s competition edges — revised bodywork, a more accommodating interior, added luggage space — while keeping the chassis that ended Ferrari’s Le Mans dominance.
Ferrari 250 GT LWB “Tour de France,” chassis 1321 GT (1959). The final and most developed example of the TdF series, bodied in Scaglietti aluminum and powered by a 2.9-liter Colombo V-12 breathing through triple Weber carburetors for approximately 260 horsepower. Belgian brothers Jean and Armand Blaton — racing under the pseudonyms “Beurlys” and “Elde” — campaigned it to a GT class victory at the Nürburgring 1000 km and a third-place overall finish at Le Mans. It remains in its original Garage Francorchamps livery.
16 Classes, a 20-Year Arc
The full 2026 class roster ran sixteen categories — Pre-War American and European, American Muscle, The French Connection, Rising Sun JDM, Mercedes-Benz SL (1954–1972), Porsche Sonderwunsch, The Leaping Cat — Jaguar, Formula 1 Exhibition, and Hyper Car Exhibition, among others. Pre-war Mercedes-Benz 540K special roadsters and a 1938/1947 Delahaye Type 145 by Chapron were confirmed in the featured Icons of Speed class alongside the Ferrari F40 and Mercedes-Benz 300SL.
Event proceeds benefit the La Jolla Historical Society — the same organization that took stewardship of the concours roughly 16 years ago and shifted its focus toward authenticity and historical accuracy. Additional local non-profit partners share in proceeds each year.
“We really enjoy showing our cars against the wonderful ocean backdrop at the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance. Because the entrance fee is very reasonable, we get to share car stories with folks of all ages.” — Bill Ceno, Ferrari and Porsche collector, Rancho Santa Fe
What to Watch
Check lajollaconcours.com/the-archive/past-awards/ and @lajollaconcours on Instagram for the official 2026 Best of Show and class winner announcements. ClassicCarCraze.com will update this article as results post.
Stay in the loop
Get the latest classic car craze updates delivered to your inbox.