There’s a new face at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Why does this matter? Because Pebble Beach is still the most important concours in the world, and still the biggest event in the ever-growing Monterey Car Week. Because it attracts the greatest cars on the planet and the most influential owners. Because the might of the car industry gathers there every August.
And that’s not to mention the $45 million that’s been raised for charity by the Concours, with a record $4 million raised in 2025 alone. So, Pebble Beach is deeply important, and we were the first to speak with both the outgoing chairman and her replacement about the change at the top.
This year, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will celebrate its 75th anniversary. Incredibly, chairman Sandra Button has been at the helm of the Concours for 40 years, but from October she’s stepping back from day-to-day operational leadership to take on a new ambassadorial role.
Her replacement is Vince W Finaldi, a collector car enthusiast and restorer with a remarkable CV. His grandfather left Italy in the 1920s to work at General Motors, before returning home to open his own car workshop, at which his sons worked.
One of those sons later became Vince’s father, and set up an auto shop in the US, as did his brothers. And so, the young Vince grew up surrounded by cars, but rather than going straight into the automotive business himself he served in the US Marines as an infantryman in the 1990s. From there he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California Berkeley and earned his law degree from the University of California Los Angeles.
He went on to become a highly respected trial attorney and legal strategist, litigating cases on the highest level, and he was involved in crafting laws and protections to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. When he retired from the full-time practice of law in 2022, he relocated with his wife and two daughters to the Carmel Highlands and opened Finaldi, Inc., an auto shop focused on the restoration, service and sale of European collector cars.
Amid all this, he’s gathered a collection of over 1000 automotive books and manuals, and has owned more than 50 collector cars, including a Ferrari 500 Mondial and 365 GTB/4 Daytona, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, a Porsche 356 Speedster and several Lamborghini Miuras.
Vince has now joined the senior management team as president of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. On October 1 Sandra will become brand ambassador & strategic advisor, continuing to represent the Concours around the world.
She’ll be a tough act to follow: Sandra kept the Concours at the top of its game by strengthening the leadership team, instituting both a Selection Committee and an Advisory Board, increasing the range of cars shown on the Concours showfield, bringing in the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance and – most of all – consistently engaging with the most significant collectors and enthusiasts around the world.
“I’m going to help the Concours for a couple more years after this transition with Vince, which will happen officially in October,” Sandra told us. “By the time I finish that commitment, it’ll be 2029, and I’ll be turning 70. I still feel like I’m the right person for the job and I’m vital – but there’s so much generational change and so much change in what the focus is for cars, that I think the event needs somebody who is going to lean into the future in a different way.”
What will she miss about her current role, we asked. “Well, cars don’t get to Pebble Beach by themselves,” she said. “As much as we say we’re in the car business, I know we’re in the people business really. Getting ready to host all these people and have them come is really exciting but it’s challenging. And I love my team. I have people here who have been with me for decades, and I was their first boss, as an intern in college, and they’re still here. There are some decades-long relationships that I’ll really miss.
“What won’t I miss? Well, of course it’s a business, and there are things that have to be done that are part of the business. I’m very good at the financials and that kind of thing, but managing the budgets and all of that… I will be happy to have that pressure off.
“I think people think of Pebble Beach as maybe being top of the game, maybe being snooty or not approachable. And I think that part of my success is that I believe in authenticity and that connection between people, and if I sit next to Prince Michael of Kent or Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, we just talk like people, right? I think part of my success has been that I appreciate the individuals more than their title or the dollars in their pocket or the kind of cars they own. I just really like people.”
The fundraising for charity has clearly meant a lot, too, as Sandra explained: “It’s interesting to have the opportunity in your professional life to give back so much. And what’s cool about the fundraising that I get to do is the way the Pebble Beach Company Foundation is set up. All the money goes to work. Of course, they have a manager and an administrator, and a team of people there, but the Pebble Beach Company pays for them. So every penny of every dollar that’s given goes where it’s supposed to go.”
This is the world into which Vince is now being immersed, although he’s been attending the Concours for years. “When I was interviewing for this job, I said, ‘Look, I’m not Sandra. I’ll never be Sandra. If that’s what you’re looking for, then good luck.’ She’s become an institution in the car world and she’s irreplaceable.
“What I hope to do is be able to carry on what she’s built here, which is a wonderful event, a lifestyle event, something that brings people together and raises a lot of money for good charities,” continued Vince. “So they’re huge shoes to step into, but I consider it a privilege.
“My work as an attorney, especially in the latter part of my career, was really just connecting with people, telling stories, building a team, running a team, being able to inspire the people to follow you and to do really difficult work, without a lot of supervision. And it was also negotiating deals and getting things done. That’s a lot of the stuff Sandra’s doing on a daily basis.
“It’s the pinnacle concours in the world. So my first plan is just to get in there and to learn everything I can about, alongside Sandra. To listen to people, listen to the entrants, listen to the judges, listen to the vendors, listen to the manufacturers, and see what people want and what’s going great and what can be approved upon. But in the short term, I don’t see any major changes.
“But you’ve got to remember that a concours is a living, breathing event. Even from year to year, it’s never static. Car culture is always changing. The way collectors collect and use their cars is always changing. The people are always changing. People age out. People pass away, new collectors come in. So the Concours, in order to stay alive and to stay at the forefront, has to take into account those changes.
“That’s one of the reasons why I think the tour on Thursday is such a great thing, and that’s something I’d like to emphasise even more – it’s where you get the kids interested, and that’s where you keep this whole thing that we have going here alive.”
If you’re heading to Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this year, you’ll see both Sandra and Vince – and you’ll see special displays to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the world’s leading concours.
For more information on the Pebble Beach Concours, visit www.pebblebeachconcours.net.
