The Mameco-Ardun Saga Reaches a Fitting Climax at Pebble Beach

By JONATHAN SCHULTZ

Last weekend, a 1953 Glasspar G2 Mameco-Ardun sports car notched another highlight in its remarkable comeback.

The fiberglass-bodied racer, the subject of a recent article in The Times, was awarded the Dean Batchelor Trophy at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance, an award named after the revered automotive journalist that is granted to the most significant hot rod at the show.

Though not a hot rod per se, the G2 is also not an exacting original, its body having served as a snack for pastured horses and its powertrain having been swapped out at least twice. But for the contingent of drivers, owners and engineers who celebrated the G2's return to Pebble Beach after a 59-year hiatus, the emotions inspired by the car were of indisputably genuine provenance.

Mark Brinker, the latest owner of the G2, noted as much in an e-mail to Wheels.

“The Pebble Beach Road Tour on Thursday was my first, and the Mameco -Ardun performed flawlessly. The car does everything well - especially accelerate,” he wrote.

On Saturday, Mr. Brinker was accompanied by Bill Pollack, 87, who competed in a road race in the G2 at Pebble Beach in 1953. The pair drove the original course, with Pollack “narrating each turn and straightaway.”

“He told stories of how the course was driven, his techniques, how he beat Phil Hill in '51 and '52, and talked about the crashes, the personalities, etc.,” Mr. Brinker added. “He is still absolutely razor-sharp with an unbelievable sense of humor.”

Pollack, who Mr. Brinker noted was the only surviving winner of the road race at Pebble Beach, was a magnet on the show field, where he sat in the G2. “All day the car was surrounded by people who remembered the car, knew about the car, but most of all wanted to be with and talk to Bill,” Mr. Brinker said.

“Mrs. Warren Gerdes was brought to tears by her late husband's racecar, that sh e had not seen in 59 years. (She was at the races in 1953.),” Mr. Brinker said, noting another driver who competed in the G2.

To glimpse the Glasspar G2 Mameco-Ardun at different stages in its roller-coaster history, click here for a slide show.