2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Highlights

The 2009 Pebble Beach Concours may be history -- but that's par for the course for the car show held each year in August at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. Every year, Pebble Beach is about history, and the classic cars that defined their generations. This year, a 1937 Horch 853 took home top honors as the Best in Show over a field crowded with vintage Packard Dietrichs and Ferrari Barchettas. This year, our friends at Motor Authority toured the Concours while spending a good part of the weekend racing around U.S. 1 and Carmel Valley Road in a clutch of new cars, including the 2010 Porsche Panamera , Aston DBS Volante, Lincoln MKT and others, while previewing the likes of Devon Motorworks' awe-inspiring GTX, the 2011 Infiniti M sedan and a future vehicle or two we'll talk more about early next year. Here's a recap of the best of the new and classic cars on the greens at the Lodge this year.

Written by: Marty Padgett Photos courtesy of Motor Authority

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It's an early morning on Concours day. The grounds crew and Concours crew are up before dawn to prepare, while media and guests (like car fanatics Jay Leno and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger) start to file in at sunrise for the marshaling of cars on the greens of the Lodge at Pebble Beach. Eight in the morning is well past time to begin -- in fact, it's the first chance we had to look up.

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Named for the 90-degree turn at Le Mans, the 2011 Bentley Mulsanne arrives in mid-2010 with a price tag likely approaching $300,000, before any custom finishes or materials are specified. Bentley promises the new sedan's wood, leather and brightware will be among the industry's finest--and a massively powerful V-8 is expected to power the new sedan to new heights--right into the path of the Rolls Phantom and the Maybach sedans .

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During the four-day Concours weekend, Motor Authority took a few hours for a first drive of the 2010 Porsche Panamera on U.S. roads. The Panamera may not be a 911, but it has a classically sharp sense of the road, thanks to a balanced chassis, a choice of standard or turbocharged V-8 engines , and a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmissions, along with optional all-wheel drive.

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There's a point of no return with some racing machines, where comfort takes whatever back seat might exist and it becomes an exercise in pure power-to-weight ratios. That's hardly true of the 2010 Aston Martin DBS Volante , the "ultimate open air motoring experience," according to Aston. With the new convertible top comes purist-pleasing rear-wheel drive, and a massively powerful V-12 engine under the sleek hood.

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The putting green isn't the only green to take center stage this past weekend. Over at the Historics race at Laguna Seca, the 2011 Fisker Karma has its first public drive debut, where track-sitters saw the Karma take to the legendary 11-turn road course. Onlookers got to see the capabilities of the two 201-horsepower electric motors that power the car, but no drives as of yet. For those interested in paying the $87,500 purchase price for the sleek Fisker Karma , the waiting list is expected to be lengthy. The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid will start delivery in November

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The makers call it an American supercar. The Devon Motorworks GTX offers some convincing support for that conclusion. An 8.4-liter V-10 engine that produces 650 horsepower at 6100 rpm and sends drive rearward via a 6-speed manual transmission. This engine is based on the unit found in the Dodge Viper supercar and comes with the same two-valves-per-cylinder design. Devon Motorworks will produce 36 cars per year at its manufacturing facility in southern California, with prices starting at $500,000.

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If you've followed Dutch sportscar makers Spyker, you know already about the Spyker C8 Aileron Spyder . The C8 Aileron Spyder is essentially a long-wheelbase version of the existing C8 Spyder and like its smaller sibling it features a semi-automatic canvas roof. Power comes from the same Audi-sourced 4.2-liter V-8 as the hardtop, rated at about 400 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque . The Aileron delivers a top speed of 187 mph and accelerates from standstill to 60 mph in a mere 4.5 seconds.

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The new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Sang Bleu is the latest special edition of the Veyron targa. The name add-on means "blue blood," as if a $2 million roadster that requires you have $200 million in the bank to buy, could be anything else.

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A 1930 Deusenberg J Hibbard & Darrin Victoria Convertible (top  left) was built for a French customer and has been completely restored. It's part of a collection held in Michigan. Stunning details and black-on-white paint signal this 1937 Bentley 4 1/4 Litre Gurney Nutting Sedanca Coupe (bottom left). There was a very special edition of the 1941 Chrysler LeBaron Thunderbolt (bottom right). One of four surviving copies, its copper bumpers and trimwork accent a blunt Deco nose. Once owned by actor Bruce Cabot, it's now owned by a private collector in Orange County. Finally, in the top right corner, the popular favorite and the Best in Show at this year's Concours, this short-wheelbase 1937 Horch 853 Voll & Rurhbeck Sport Cabrioletwas bodied in Berlin, and now lives in Nevada.