Pebble Beach 2016 Winner: 1936 Lancia Astura by Farina

This blog deals almost entirely with production cars and concept cars whose designs are made in corporate styling studios.  But sometimes a coachbuilder design is presented, and this is one of those occasions.

The "hook" for this post is the famed Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance held every August near Carmel-by-the-Sea on the scenic California coast.  Its actual venue is in the area of the 18th hole of the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The winner of the 2016 Best of Show award was a 1936 Lancia Astura clad by Pinin Farina.  Car and Driver magazine's take is here.

I don't see much point in giving Farina's design a critique because Robert Cumberford, Automobile Magazine's doyen of automobile styling criticism, does his usual fine job here.

Below are two photos of the winning Lancia, at least one of which was taken by David Pau Morris.  The first image was from the Sports Car Digest web site, the Morris photo is via Bloomberg.  The remaining photos are many years old and found on the Internet.

Gallery

The winning car as seen at Pebble Beach.

Only a few Farina-bodied Asturas were built, and this is another one.  The windshields are in their folded down position.

Another Farina Astura seen here at a Concours d'Elegance in Oostende, 1937.

The same car and same woman in a different setting.

A photo via Pininfarina.  That firm owned the Concours-winning car for a number of years.

Finally, a Farina Astura Cabriolet in an Alpine setting with its windshield panels lowered.  Very sleek.  The car in the right background is a 1936 Fiat 1500 Berlina.