Nigel Matthews is an internationally-known concours judge and collector cars appraiser who had the good fortune to be judging the Postwar Touring Class at Pebble Beach last week. He sent me photos of the top three, which I'm happy to post for your enjoyment over the next few days. The overall winner was this 1948 Delahaye 135MS Faget-Varnet Cabriolet. It's no surprise that a Delahaye should win, for the firm built many fast and beautiful cars from its inception in 1896 until it ceased manufacturing automobiles in 1954, having been bought by Hotchkiss, which then switched Delahaye production to trucks. Figoni, Chapron, and Letourneur et Marchand made bodies for these cars but to be frank, I've never heard of Faget-Varnet, though Motor Trend informs me that it "...nonetheless was a pioneer in monocoque body construction and won many Concours d'Elegance during the 1930s." Wherever you are, Faget-Varnet, congratulations. You've done it again.

[Photo: Nigel Matthews]