The headline event of Monterey Car Week 2025 – the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – will mark 75 years of Formula 1 on August 17 with a special display of more than 30 Grand Prix cars charting the sport’s storied history.
Headlining the showcase is the Ferrari 312 T2 raced by triple World Champion Niki Lauda during the 1976 season. That year’s title duel between Lauda and McLaren’s James Hunt has since passed into motor racing legend, immortalised by Hollywood in the 2013 film Rush.
The Ferrari 312 T2 on display – chassis 026 – secured victory in the Belgian and Monaco Grands Prix, and also claimed podiums in Spain and Sweden.
By the time the F1 circus rolled into the Nürburgring paddock for that year’s German Grand Prix, Lauda had switched to chassis 028 – a development of 026. It was in this car that he suffered his fateful crash at the Bergwerk corner in treacherous conditions. The impact set the Ferrari ablaze, inflicting severe burns and nearly costing Lauda his life.
In one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, Lauda returned to the cockpit just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix – despite having received the last rites in the aftermath of the accident. Miraculously, he finished fourth, and went on to battle Hunt for the title until the final round in Fuji, Japan.
Hunt ultimately clinched the championship by a single point, after Lauda voluntarily retired from the rain-soaked race in Japan on safety grounds. Lauda went on to secure the second of his three World Championships the following year, in 1977.
More headline cars for the concours’ F1 anniversary display will be announced in the coming weeks. Elsewhere, the world-renowned automotive pageant will honour the centenaries of Chrysler, Invicta, Moretti and the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
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