On August 17, 2025 the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will celebrate 75 years of the Formula 1 World Championship with a display of Grand Prix cars that chart the sport’s history.
More than 30 F1 machines will be showcased at the event, led by a Ferrari 312 T2 that was driven by three-time World Champion Niki Lauda during the dramatic 1976 season. His championship battle that year with McLaren’s James Hunt became one of the most legendary rivalries in motor sport, and it was famously chronicled in the hit 2013 film Rush.
The example headed to Pebble Beach, chassis no. 026, was instrumental in Lauda’s ’76 campaign, taking victories in Belgium and Monaco alongside podium finishes in Spain and Sweden.
The most infamous episode of the 1976 season came at the the Nürburgring for the German Grand Prix, where Lauda suffered a near-fatal accident at the Bergwerk corner in perilous conditions. He was driving chassis no. 028 – an updated iteration of 026 – when the smash occurred.
Despite being read his last rites and being inflicted with life-changing burns, Niki returned to the cockpit just six weeks later at Monza, where he finished a valiant fourth. His courage and determination to remain in contention for the title were the basis for one of the greatest sporting comeback stories of all time.
Ultimately, Hunt clinched the 1976 Championship by a single point after Lauda voluntarily retired from the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix on safety grounds. Nevertheless, in 1977 Niki would go on to secure his second World Championship.
Additional F1 icons set to appear at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours will be revealed in the lead-up to the event. The concours will also commemorate the respective centenaries of Chrysler, Invicta, Moretti and the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
For tickets and more information about the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, click here.
