One of the most out-of-this-world-looking vehicles took home Best in Show honors at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Despite the fact that there was some extremely strong competition from 229 cars this year, the winner — a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo — was clear and obvious the second I walked onto the 18th fairway on Sunday morning, and it seems like most people had the same thought. Quite simply, there’s nothing else like this in the world, and no other car really stood a chance.
I’m sure you’ve never heard of the Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo — commonly known as the Tulipwood Torpedo — before yesterday, because I certainly hadn’t, but what we’ve got here is an aero-inspired wonder made out of mahogany with a shape that more closely resembles a boat than a car. It was first commissioned by André Dubonnet, a World War I ace fighter pilot who also just so happened to be the heir to the Dubonnet fortune. He wanted to go racing, and what better car to go racing in 100 years ago than a wood-bodied behemoth with an 8-liter inline-six that pumped out a whopping 45 horsepower. The car raced at both the Targa Florio and Coppa Florio.
Designed by Henri Chasseriaux, the car was constructed out of strips of mahogany, with each one being individually carved to shape and joined to an inner rib system by about 8,500 rivets. In total, the body is super lightweight, and only weighing in at around 160 pounds. That’s some impressive craftsmanship, no?
The road to Pebble Beach
The car was restored and brought to Pebble by a couple out of Naples, Florida, who actually won Best in Show back in 2022 with a Figoni-bodied 1932 Duesenberg J. They removed the pontoon fenders that some tacky owner had installed at some point in the past, restoring it to its original torpedo shape.
“I like wood! I’m a wood boat antique collector. I started collecting them 40 years ago, before it became vogue-ish to do that. So I’ve always loved varnished wood, and when I saw this I said, my gosh! This is right in my wheelhouse,” Lee Anderson Sr, the car’s owner, said. “This is what I really like.”
The Andersons bought the car back in 2022 at RM Sotheby’s Pebble Beach auction, clearly feeling good about their Best in Show win that same year. Soon after their purchase was finalized, a grueling two-year restoration that required over 12,000 hours of research and work kicked off, according to MotorTrend. Luckily, when it was purchased, most of the car’s mahogany was still intact. As for missing bits, RM sourced 100-year-old wood to complete the restoration.
“This Hispano-Suiza ticks every possible box. The underpinnings are technically advanced,” Concours Chairman Sandra Button said. “The body is meticulously hand-crafted, light, and lovely.”
I’ve got to hand it to this year’s judges. It can be hard to withstand the temptation to give another Nazi car the top prize at Pebble, but they did so with ease, making the right choice. It’s hard to stand out in a sea of gorgeous vintage cars, but the Tulipwood Torpedo did just that, and seeing it in person was absolutely one of the highlights of my weekend.