Stovebolt Special Returns to Pebble Beach Decades after Historic Run in Last Road Race
December 18, 2025
The “Stovebolt Special” — a 1950 HWM fitted with experimental disc brakes and powered by the very first Chevy V8 used in road racing—competed in the very last road race through the tree-lined course in Pebble Beach. Photo Credit: Julian P. Graham / Pebble Beach Compamy Lagorio Archives
HWM Race Car Made First Road Racing Use of a Chevy V8
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA (April 22, 2026) — At the drop of the green flag, in what was to be the very last road race at Pebble Beach although no one knew that then, two-time past winner Bill Pollack jumped into the lead in a much-modified car that would come to be known as the “Stovebolt Special”—a 1950 HWM fitted with experimental disc brakes and the very first Chevy V8 to be used in road racing. The date was April 22, 1956.
For a brief time, the car led the Ferraris of Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Ernie McAfee as well as every other car in the race. It was powered to win—and might have done so but for the many tight corners of the tree-lined course, which the just-completed special struggled to navigate since its handling was not yet dialed in.
Ultimately it finished sixth overall—a fine achievement in a field comprising the top sports racing cars and drivers of the day.
Although the Stovebolt Special now resides in England with renowned auto journalist and current owner Simon Taylor, it will return to Pebble Beach this August for the 75th celebration of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, an event that began in tandem with the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950.
The HWM had already lived a long and storied life when it raced at Pebble Beach. In original form, as a works race car bearing a four-cylinder two-liter Alta engine, it served as the steed for Stirling Moss in his first paid competition. He raced the car for HWM throughout much of the 1950 season, recording several fine results including a third-place finish behind the Alfas of Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio in the Bari Grand Prix. With Johnny Claes at the wheel, the HWM won the Grand Prix des Frontieres. It was also driven by Rudi Fischer and Raymond Sommer.
A few years later, the car was sold to 20th Century Fox to be used in the film “The Racers,” starring Kirk Douglas—and was crashed in accord with the script.
It was Tom Carstens who bought the wreck and resurrected it for Pebble Beach, not simply rebuilding it, but doing all that he could to improve the chassis, transmission, and body. The new Chevy V8 engine was bored and stroked to just under five liters by Bobby Meeks at Vic Edelbrock’s shop and then was fitted in the car by Eddie Kuzma, who managed that task by repositioning the firewall and fabricating new rear bodywork. Ted Halibrand’s shop added a quick-change rear axle and the disc brakes.
The finished creation was called the Stovebolt Special by “Sports Cars Illustrated” magazine—and the name stuck.
The return of the Stovebolt Special to Pebble Beach is made possible thanks to Simon Taylor as well as the American Hot Rod Foundation (ahrf.com), particularly founder Steve Memishian and foundation manager David Steele.
The 75th Concours will pay tribute to its historic ties in racing as well as the many “first-ever” gatherings of cars that have made it famous. The former road racers will be showcased in two special classes, one focusing on cars that raced in close-to-original form as made by their manufacturers and the other focusing on specials that were much modified.
The event will also feature cars ranging from early American Speedsters to Ferraris and Japanese race cars, and the latest new creations and dream cars will be displayed on the Concept Lawn.
# # #
Contact: Kandace Hawkinson or Camryn Garcia
media@pebblebeachconcours.net; 831-622-1700 concours
An Unmatched Tradition of Automotive Excellence since 1950
August 16, 2026 — Just 111 Days left!