Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Road Races with another extraordinary photo from the Pebble beach Company, whom we thank. Here is Tom Carsten’s #14 Allard J2 Cadillac driven by Bill Pollack who finished 3rd overall in the Unlimited race, that’s Sports cars over 1500 cc in the 1953 SCCA National Sports Car Championship (round 3) for the Del Monte Trophy. He was also the B class winner.
Behind him, chasing Pollack down the start/finish straightaway, is Sterling Edwards in the white #23 Jaguar XK120C (that’s a C-Type) entered by Irving Robbins. He finished 5th overall and 3rd in class C. Edwards, who built great sports cars, was a man of determination, and he entered the Pebble Beach Road Races time and again, finally winning overall in 1954 — driving a Ferrari 340 MM rather than a car of his own making.
Finished 5th? Pollack finished 3rd. So who was 4th? It was Chuck Manning in the special he built himself, the #60 Manning Mercury Special (Rob Manson owns a similar car but not this one). If Manning is not in the photo then either he was ahead of Pollack and got overtaken, or he is behind Edwards and caught up before the end of the race. All will be told when we get our hands on the multi-volume much-heralded history of the Pebble Beach Road Races by Mark Brinker due out in July 2026. Watch this space.