Pebble Beach Remembered
By Art Evans
Shortly after World War II, road racing returned to the United States, first on the East Coast with races at places like Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen, and shortly thereafter on the West Coast, most notably at Pebble Beach, on the Monterey Peninsula. The first Pebble Beach Road Race was held on November 5, 1950 and was sanctioned by the San Francisco region of the SCCA. Racing at Pebble Beach continued for six more years until the April 1956 event where Ernie McAfee tragically lost his life, thus bringing to a close what many believed to be one of the finest road racing venues/events on the West Coast.
In “Pebble Beach Remembered”, historian Art Evans creates another one of his unique “scrapbooks” chronicling this seminal road racing event. Evans has collected and reproduced all of the event programs and results for each running of the Pebble Beach Road Races, as well as period reports, 500 period photographs and personal remembrances from many of the drivers and personalities that took part in those early races, including Pete Lovely, Bill Pollack, Carroll Shelby, Masten Gregory’s brother Riddelle and many others.
While the book does not have a central narrative, it really doesn’t need one because the period programs and accounts do a great job of telling the story of each year’s event. Between the reproduced event programs, the results and the photography, this 240-page book will be both a welcome treat and valuable research asset for any fan of ’50s racing history.
Available for $34.95 from The Transportation Book Service, PO Box 446, Hudson, WI 54016 or by calling (800) 289-3504.
