17.08.2004 The 50th anniversary of the first Ferrari in the US was honoured at famous the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach over the weekend, as the Maranello cars took pride of place

On the day that Ferrari secured its sixth consecutive Formula 1 World Constructors’ title, California celebrated in grand style.

The fiftieth anniversary of the first Ferrari in the US was honoured at the 54th staging of the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach, with the Maranello cars taking pride of place.

The importance of the event can be gauged by the sheer number of vehicles present: at least 1500 Ferrari from every era gathered for the three day event in California.

As well as the Pebble Beach meet, there were races held at Laguna Seca, a rally organised by Ferrari North America and the Concorso Italiano.

Together with the President of Ferrari North America Maurizio Parlato, the many participants were welcomed by Ferrari Vice-President Piero Ferrari, the engineer Amedeo Felisa and Sergio Pininfarina.

‘After the celebrations in New York with the Empire State Building decked out in red and the exhibition at the Rockefeller Center, the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach is another important American honour for Ferrari. The number of cars on show at Pebble Beach is impressive but what really renders this exhibition unique is the quality of the models.

'Alongside some very rare examples, some of the cars have won some of the biggest races in the past for Ferrari. It is a fantastic testimony to the passion of the American collectors for our marque.’

Among the Ferrari on display at Pebble Beach is one of the very first examples to have rolled out of the factory at Maranello: the 166 Spider Corsa from 1947, the first year of Ferrari production.

Also on show was the 250 GT Zagato Berlinetta Speciale from 1956, the super-rare Ferrari 340 and 375 Pinin Farina (with the name still in two parts) Berlinetta from 1953, and the 121 LM Scaglietti Spider from 1955. Of the models that have made Ferrari history is the 166 MM Touring Berlinetta in which Luigi Chinetti won the Le Mans 24 hour in 1949. Chinetti was the first importer of Ferrari vehicles into the United States. The Le Mans 1960 winning 250 Testarossa and the 330 P4 Daytona 1967 winning car are also exhibited.

Ex-F1 drivers Phil Hill and Dan Gurney took part in the Prancing Horse celebrations in California. American Hollywood director and producer John Lasseter was there, as was television comic Jay Leno and entrepreneurs Steve Wynn and Ralph Lauren.

The event was wrapped up with the traditional ‘Concorso Italiano’ with an exceptional number of Ferraris on show in Monterey and the ‘Monterey Historic’ run at Laguna Seca.

In front of thousands of fans and together with tens of Ferrari models from every age, 15 of the 36 Ferrari 250 GTO constructed between 1962 and 1964 were displayed at Laguna Seca. To give some idea of what these cars represent for today’s collectors, they have been valued at $250 million. The models include 15 F1 single-seaters from 1970 to the present day.