Why Luxury Car Collectors Are Skipping Pebble Beach For Concours At Wynn Las Vegas

The fourth annual Concours at Wynn Las Vegas brought together 46 Bugatti Veyrons, a $7 million Pagani world debut, and nearly 7,000 collectors — making it the most spectacular automotive event in Sin City history.

Visitors to Las Vegas are used to eye-popping excess. But even the most jaded high-rollers must have raised an eyebrow at the $1.1 billion worth of automobiles assembled at Wynn Golf Club on a Saturday morning in early November for the fourth annual Concours at Wynn Las Vegas. Nearly 7,000 collectors, industry figures, and enthusiasts showed up for the biggest edition yet, with more than double the number of vehicles on display from 2024.

Presented by Richard Mille—the Swiss luxury watchmaker known for producing timepieces that cost as much as supercars and inking high-end motorsports partnerships with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren—the event occupies a unique position in the concours world, where traditional judged exhibition fields meet Las Vegas glam and contemporary car culture. The automotive art celebrates traditional historical concours elegance alongside sheer celebrations of speed.

For example, 46 Bugatti Veyrons—the largest gathering in history—assembled to mark the hypercar’s 20th anniversary. More than 40 Paganis were also on hand, marking the most ever displayed in North America. And some 230 Lamborghinis represented the Italian marque’s full history, from one of only 13 Veneno hypercars to a 2R tractor from the company’s agricultural origins in the early 1960s.

The weekend saw several automotive world debuts as well. Horacio Pagani himself presented the $7 million-plus Pagani Huayra Codalunga Speedster, while McLaren, which has been ramping up its participation in the Wynn Concours since the event’s inauguration, unveiled its Project: Endurance 24 Hours of Le Mans customer car to the public for the first time with a presentation from British racing icon Derek Bell. You might say McLaren is the local marque of choice, as it operates the McLaren Experience Center at the Wynn, a buzzy retail and brand-activation space.

Then there was another living legend, Christian von Koenigsegg, who accompanied his $5 million-plus, 1,600-horsepower hypercar, Sadair’s Spear. Plus, the incredible Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection, worth $3 million and celebrating a century of the Phantom nameplate, had its North American premiere. Hans Werner Aufrecht, co-founder of iconic performance brand AMG, was also in attendance, adding further gravitas to the proceedings.

“Concours at Wynn Las Vegas has quickly become a benchmark for modern Concours events,” says classic car expert Chris Kramer, Co-Chief Judge for Concours at Wynn Las Vegas. “The mix of spectacular vehicles and unbeaten hospitality makes it a must-visit event for every car enthusiast. To say that I am proud to be a small part of it is an understatement. The judging process becomes increasingly harder year to year, and I cannot wait to see what vehicles come out in 2026.”

The weekend also saw Broad Arrow’s inaugural Las Vegas auction, which racked up $13.7 million in sales, moving 82 percent of the lots offered. The star performer: a “stock” Bugatti Veyron that commanded a record-breaking $2.2 million. The judged competition, meanwhile, recognized excellence across multiple categories and eras. Billionaire collector Bruce McCaw’s 1929 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Barker Tourer took PreWar Best of Show honors, while Brian and Kimberly Ross’s 1951 Ferrari 212 Export claimed PostWar Best of Show. Class winners spanned the breadth of modern automotive evolution, from collectors Rob and Jeannie Hilarides’s 1929 Duesenberg Model J in the Great Gatsby Era category, to Austen Segal’s 1986 Porsche 911 in the Women-Owned and Driven class.

The 2025 lineup featured classes celebrating significant anniversaries and marques. A Mercedes-Benz 125th Anniversary class honored the German manufacturer’s legacy, while Jaguar’s 90th anniversary was also marked; Jeremy and Laura Lee McChesney’s 1955 Jaguar D-Type took top honors in that category. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and Porsche each had their own dedicated classes as well, with winners ranging from Jim Gianopulos’s 1964 Lamborghini 350 GT to Carlos Urrutia’s 1971 Porsche 911 S Coupe.

Special recognition went to several automotive luminaries through the Honorary Helene Awards, named after a pioneering woman in automotive design. The family of Steve McQueen, the “King of Cool,” received the Wynn Lifetime Achievement award, while Horacio Pagani was named Most Celebrated Automotive Designer. Beth Myers, who has her own car museum in Pennsylvania, earned the title of Most Celebrated Collector, with Ron Sturgeon of the DFW Car & Toy Museum recognized as Connoisseur Collector. Architect and Maserati expert Jonathan Segal received the Wynn Innovator honor, and entrepreneur Kevin Hooks was acknowledged as Legendary Collector.

“Concours at Wynn Las Vegas continues to redefine what’s possible for a modern Concours,” notes Brian Gullbrants, Chief Operating Officer of Wynn Resorts North America. “This year’s event united collectors, visionaries, and the world’s most extraordinary automobiles in an absolutely gorgeous setting that captured both the excitement of Las Vegas and the hospitality excellence Wynn is known for.”

That hospitality component shouldn’t be understated. Wynn Resorts holds more Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Awards than any other independent hotel company globally and landed on Fortune magazine’s 2024 World’s Most Admired Companies list. The property’s 4,748 rooms, suites, and villas stretch across two impressive towers, providing the kind of accommodations that match the caliber of machines on display. Add about 194,000 square feet of casino space, 20 dining venues, 14 bars, two spas, 174,000 square feet of retail, two showrooms, two nightclubs, a beach club, and an 18-hole championship golf course, and you have a property suited to host world-class automotive gatherings on a whole other level. Steve Wynn, the casino mogul and connoisseur who founded Wynn Resorts and built the property in 2005, is himself a car collector of some renown.

What sets this concours apart from traditional lawn events in Pebble Beach or Amelia Island is its embrace of all facets of automotive culture, from pre-war elegance and post-war racing heritage to hypercars, supercars, and even restomods, which have their own award. Beyond typical concours d’elegance honors, judges handed out a Wynn Secret Agent award to Joel and Kim Laub’s 1965 Jaguar XKE FHC, a Life in the Fast Lane prize to Tom Radom’s 1994 Jaguar XJ220, and the Wynn Dream Machine recognition to Kevin Hooks’s 1993 Honda NSX Type R.

Insurance moguls McKeel and Soon Hagerty’s 1933 Duesenberg Model J Torpedo Victoria received the Louis XIII award, while The John Shirley Collection’s 1951 Ferrari 212 MM earned the Spirit of Wynn honor, and Tom Maoli’s 1933 Duesenberg SJ Dual Cowl Phaeton won Wynn Rolling Sculpture. Most Elegant awards in both Pre-War and Post-War categories further recognized exceptional design: the William Lyon family’s 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster and Jonathan and Wendy Segal’s 1955 Maserati A6GCS, respectively.

The latest edition of Concours at Wynn Las Vegas showed once and for all that the oft-maligned gambling mecca can host a world-class concours without pretending to be Pebble Beach, and do it with serious style. Plans are already underway for the 2026 edition; if the trajectory holds, expect even more rarities, high-dollar debuts, and reasons for the global car-collector community to make the pilgrimage to the desert.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of Maxim magazine. Subscribe here.