Photo by Michael Furman, courtesy the Mullin Automotive Museum.
The idea behind The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award is a simple one: take the Best in Show winners from the previous year’s six most prestigious concours d’elegance events worldwide, put them head-to-head, and allow a panel of esteemed automotive industry judges to select one car as the “Best of the Best.” On Tuesday, August 16, a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C “Goutte d’Eau” (teardrop) owned by Peter and Merle Mullin was selected as the inaugural Best of the Best winner, after capturing Best in Show at the 2015 Cartier Style et Luxe at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Said to be inspired by the Talbot-Lago 150-C-S’s victory at the 1937 French Grand Prix, coachbuilder Joseph Figoni penned a touring body for the car in the Streamline Moderne style. Two series of these teardrop coupes were produced, including Jeancart (which featured a slight nothchback rear) and the later New York, styled as a more traditional fastback. Of the 14 Talbot-Lago 150-C-S models bodied by Figoni et Falaschi in period, 13 exist today, a tribute to their beauty, and, perhaps, to the status and wealth of their owners.
The Mullins’ Talbot-Lago at the 2015 Cartier Style et Luxe at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Remaining photos courtesy Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Powered by the same 4.0-liter inline six found in other Talbot-Lago 150-C-S models, chassis 90106, the teardrop coupe owned by the Mullins, features an aluminum body, a sunroof, a tilting windscreen and low-restriction exhaust headers for an output of 140 horsepower. The car’s list of past owners includes Woolf Bernato, “Bentley Boy” and former Bentley chairman, and Otto Zipper, who imported the car into the United States and displayed it at Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum. Acquired by Peter Mullin in 1985, the car was subjected to an extensive restoration and is frequently displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.
Selecting one automobile as the finest in the world isn’t a new idea. From 2005 until 2013, the Louis Vuitton Classic Award honored the best cars from the finest shows, but no one, or no organization, has continued the tradition since the award’s demise. Announced at the conclusion of last year’s The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering, the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award pits the winner of The Quail against the winners of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, the Cartier Style et Luxe at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, England’s Concours of Elegance, and Italy’s Cavallino Classic.
The new Best of the Best Award was created by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Ltd., chairman (and passionate classic car collector) the Hon. Sir Michael Kadoorie, Christian Phillippsen, William E. “Chip” Connor and Bruce Meyer. The judging panel tasked with selecting the finest car from among the six possible candidates includes Jay Leno, former Jaguar design director Ian Callum, Ralph Lauren, Chris Bangle, Peter Brock, Nick Mason, Ed Welburn, Miles Collier, Lord March, Henry Ford III, and Jean Todt.
Other candidates in the running for the 2016 Best of the Best Award included a 1965 Ferrari 166 P / 206 SP Dino 0834, winner at the 2015 Cavallino Classic; a 1930 Cord L29 Brooks Stevens Speedster, winner at the 2015 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance; a 1968 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, winner at the 2015 The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering; a Ramseier-bodied 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A, winner at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance; and a 1903 Mercedes 60HP Simplex, winner at the 2015 Concours of Elegance.
The Mullin’s Talbot-Lago will be formally presented with the award in a ceremony taking place at The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering on Friday, August 19.
See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/08/18/1937-talbot-lago-type-150-c-s-goutte-deau-takes-inaugural-best-of-the-best-award/
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