Monterey Historics and Pebble Beach Concours

Another year, another amazing week in Monterey. For collector car aficionados, the third week of August means only one thing – Pebble Beach. That’s the annual pilgrimage to the Monterey Peninsula to ogle some of the greatest vehicles from throughout automotive history, a chance to see some of your favorite vehicular icons from across the globe. Whether your tastes run to exotic supercars, museum headliners, vintage racers or even hot rods, there is something for everyone in and around Monterey. What started 56 years ago as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has grown into a series of events that includes the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota, The Gathering at the Quail, Concorso Italiano, The Motorsports Revival at the Monterey Jet Center, The Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours on the Avenue, and about twenty other notable shows and parties, drives and tours, auctions and sales.

Relatively easy to manage if you have your interests focused and attend only one major event while you’re up there, it quickly becomes overwhelming to the easily distracted, as it’s almost impossible to stay away from the copious car porn everywhere you look once you arrive. Imagine finally scoring a date with the number ten pick from your fantasy top ten dream girl list of all time. She doesn’t want to go out more than once, but numbers one through nine are all lonely and free, but just this week. How can you say no to them? As if that wouldn’t be hard enough, they are all standing right in front of you, begging you to pick them for the day. What red-blooded American male could say anything other than, “Please ladies, there’s plenty of me to go around.” Sure you’ll be unable to walk for a week, but passing up the opportunity to spend some time with each of them would be a crime, and so you say yes to it all.

Tuesday The idea here is to pace yourself and not overdo any one encounter. We’re back to cars here, in case you were wondering. Get yourself up to Monterey early in the week and take in the free Concours on the streets of quaint downtown Carmel. This was the first year for this Tuesday event and it was quite a coming-out party. The normally privacy-hungry Carmelites opened their doors and streets to one of the most eclectic gatherings of the entire week. The majority of Ocean Avenue from the park down to Il Fornaio was shut down and interesting cars were proudly displayed right in front of those trademark boutiques, shops and restaurants that make Carmel such a great place to visit. And the cars -- an amazing assortment of European sports cars, dragstrip-ready muscle cars, iconic racecars and tail-finned classics, as far as the eye could see. They even had a fly-by from a trio of military jets.

For a first year event it was really spectacular. The cars were great, but the setting really made it magical. So much so that you don’t feel guilty about bringing number ten along to a car show. Let your date wander in and out of the shops if she tires of the cars. But how could anyone really tire of these cars? The best part about it for visitors was that the whole thing was free of charge. The best part for media was that our press pass also included breakfast, lunch and dinner at Il Fornaio. Looks like number nine might get a nice Italian dinner out of this tonight. Highlights had to include a super rare Grand Sport Corvette, a 1952 Cunningham C4R, the lone surviving magnesium Jaguar D-Type, the trio of microcars, the Morgan coupe, and the refreshing laid back atmosphere that permeated the Avenue. Jolly good inaugural event.

Wednesday Wednesday is a day that allows one to take in the Quail Tour. With an early start (resist the temptation to stay up too late with number 9) one can get out to the Quail early in the morning and follow some of the entrants as they drive around the Peninsula for lunch and then finish up at the Monterey Jet Center for Gordon McCall’s epic party that serves as the kick-off for the official activities of the week. Although it’s not advised to mix in with the cars on the Tour, you can position yourself by the roadside and take in some of the best sights and sounds of the whole week. With an emphasis on European classics from the ‘50s and ‘60s, watching the Quail Tour is like sitting trackside at Le Mans in the golden era of road racing. The glory days of the dual-purpose racers are brought back to life right before your very eyes. Number 8 will be thrilled with the fabulous lunch at Tehama.

The Tour wraps up at the Jet Center on Wednesday evening. The Jet Center, as you may have guessed, is the small airstrip that serves as Monterey’s airport. You won’t see a lot of 737s or A320s here though. It’s mostly used by the well-heeled residents and visitors who have decided it would be better to have their vehicles trailered into town for the week. And thanks to the efforts and vision of Gordon McCall, you’ll also see a wide array of some of the best of the best from the coming week positioned between the hangars during the soiree. Cars from the adjacent Christie’s Auction, Quail Tour participants, displays by sponsors like Lexus, Bentley, and Superformance, as well as showpieces brought out just for this Motorworks Revival are littered about. But that’s not all there is to this shindig.

Along with canopies under which some of the most exclusive food and wine purveyors in the area are serving up samplings of their fare, you’re likely to spot celebrities from the automotive universe as well as those from the outside world too. Oh, and Mr. McCall also brings out some aircraft. Private jet companies show off their latest offerings and a selection of vintage and classic military flyers are also on the tarmac during the party. Expect to see strange combinations of these, like Don Shula eating tiramisu while walking between an F-18 and a Lexus LF-A show car. The “Jet Center Party” as it’s unofficially dubbed, used to be free to a select group of invitees. The inevitable hurt feelings and under-the-table negotiations for passes led Gordon to start charging $200 a head for the honor of partaking in this fest. The tickets sold out in minutes. Luckily we scored another press pass this year. We hope we are as lucky next and hope that number 7 felt as lucky tonight.

Thursday Thursday is the day we devote to the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance. It again requires some sacrifice on the part of the fan, but an early morning start is advised here as well. In its 10th year, the Tour is much like the Quail Tour in that it allows the show participants a chance to drive around the Peninsula and take in the scenery before they are judged later in the week. Unlike the Quail version, Pebble’s Tour awards points to vehicles that complete the long run down towards Big Sur and back along 17-Mile Drive and PCH. The green ribbon each finisher receives acts as a sort of tiebreaker if the judging on Sunday is too close to call. Just like the Carmel Concours and the Quail Tour, the Pebble Tour is free to spectators. The budget minded can actually see most of the vehicles in these high-dollar shows with a bit of careful planning, and in this case, a good alarm clock.

With a 5 am wake-up call, one can head down to the Polo Grounds near the Pebble Beach Golf Links to see the cars all lined up for the run. After schmoozing with the likes of Jay Leno, Stirling Moss, Bruce Meyer and Phil Hill, you can hop in your car and jump ahead to see the motorcade whiz by (or wheeze, as the case may be) along the twisty and scenic, tall-tree-shaded 17-Mile Drive. After seeing them pass, you can actually get ahead of them again and drive down the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway and take up another photo-op position along with thousands of other fans by the side of the road. We prefer a spot near the ‘30s-era Bixby Bridge which provides a scenic backdrop for the cars as they pass atop its concrete roadway, the crystal clear Pacific Ocean lapping at the sand hundreds of feet below. Unfortunately, a thick fog had ensconced our scenic span in a white blanket that made photos a bit less eye-catching than in years past. Oh well, it was still great to see and hear the cars pass below our position, and it was free after all.

The Tour winds down the coast and back and the cars finish with a celebratory lunch in downtown Carmel. This is another chance to get in some serious gawking by the thrifty and knowledgeable.  The best part of this arrangement by far is that it’s not just the Tour participants that show up for lunch on Thursday in Carmel. It seems every exotic or collector car owner who has come to town for the week decides they want to have lunch in Carmel on Thursday. The ensuing juxtaposition of multi-million dollar classics and supercars -- Ferraris from 1947 through 2007, LP640s and Duesie SJs, Bugatti Type cars and Veyrons – is just mind-blowing. Number 6 will feel much better about that early start time if you pop for lunch. Keep her entertained until late afternoon, because the night could be a long one. There are typically a number of parties that carry on into Thursday night, some private and others hosted by some of the manufacturers about to debut new models.

Speaking of debuts, Pebble is a unique event in this regard too. Most manufacturers reserve their debuts for the world’s major auto shows, but some cars just scream to be shown in Monterey. This year was a bit light, but the vehicles that did premiere were notable. Aston Martin brought the DBS. Callaway had the new C16 Speedster. Mercedes showed the SLR Roadster. Infiniti brought out the EX35. They can’t all be supermodels, err, supercars. It’s a pretty packed dance card if you’re up for it. Unfortunately, we had half a dozen or so gals waiting back at the hotel for us and had to call it a night.

Friday, you see, is when the somewhat leisurely pace of the previous few days gets shifted into passing gear for the rapid rollercoaster ride to Sunday’s main event at Pebble. Friday is a day where one could head to Laguna Seca to see a special salute to Ferrari’s 60th birthday and the F40’s 20th, or just watch practice for the weekend’s Historics. As tempting as that sounds, there are two other major events to choose from that will eat up the better part of the day. You can go to Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club to visit Monterey’s version of Little Italy at the Concorso Italiano, or you can head out to Quail to attend The Gathering. The most adventurous try all three. Maybe bring a different date to each. We’ve limited our selection to two, and ultimately settle for just one.

Friday The Gathering at The Quail has become one of the most coveted tickets in Monterey. Much more exclusive than Concorso, but not as ritzy as Pebble, it’s a more intimate gathering of some very prestigious cars that will make your heart flutter. Smaller and more manageable with roughly 150 cars on display, the Quail focuses less on 100-point flawlessness and more on the visceral reactions the cars stir in us. It’s more about elegant styling than nut and bolt restoration perfection. This year they celebrated the Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series II cabriolets. Of the roughly 40 vehicles ever made, more than half showed up for the Gathering. Unfortunately, we couldn’t. We were across town at a slightly less prestigious golf course in nearby Seaside.

The Concorso Italiano is still seen as a sort of little brother to Pebble. Although it has quite a history itself now, and trophies are awarded, it is not a true Concours. The quality of vehicles is quite high, but this is more a show for sports cars and exotics than for the Pre War classics. As the tagline says, it is a celebration of all things Italian. Food and wine and fashion help keep visitors busy while they are taking a break from drooling over the acres of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis, Lancias, De Tomasos and other Italian and non-Italian cars around them. Although there tend to be few truly standout classics at Concorso, there is a certain magic in seeing 100 308s all lined up along the fairway. Not even at the factory would you have seen this many prancing horses all in a row. It’s really spectacular.

Cheap date tip: Although the tickets aren’t really cheap, this is one of the bargains of the bunch. Quail and Pebble are ridiculous, Concorso is merely expensive. But for the price of entry you get to visit Italy for a whole day if you choose. That sounds like an incredible bargain to us. On second thought, this is Italy. Why would you want to bring a date? There will be plenty of exotic looking women to see along with the exotic cars. You can work your way around the course and feel the different moods of the regions as you pass through. The sleepy south, the industrious north, and the wild and romantic coastline are all within a few hundred yards here.

Although Ferrari was celebrating its 60th birthday, Lamborghini was the star of the show this year. There were rumors we might see the super secret new Lamborghini supercar here, but that was reserved for a few would-be customers off-site. What we got instead was a Miura Spyder and the very first Countach ever made. Pretty fair trade I’d say, even if they were brown and green respectively.

At the end of the day, Concorso spills back onto the streets of Monterey in a traffic jam that would look more at home in Modena. Owners actually drive these cars around while they are in town and are now happy to be free of the show and wish to paint the town red (or yellow or green or orange or silver or blue). The problem is that the roads outside Concorso are eternally under construction and traffic goes nowhere fast. Locals who have to get home hate the congestion. Visitors to the area love the opportunity to camp by the road and see if any of the exotics will burst into flames idling along for an hour or so in this mess. It’s another budget shopper’s paradise, with the added thrill of the frequent revving matches these guys get into.

Friday night means more parties and this time you can actually enjoy them. Hopefully number 5 likes to party. Stay out to your heart’s content, or take advantage of the time to visit one of the numerous auctions going on around town. Kruse, Bonham’s, Christie’s, RM, Russo & Steele and Gooding all hold auctions during this weeklong melee. The Blackhawk Collection also holds a sale of some of their choicest museum/dealership offerings. RM and Russo are the two choices tonight. Russo has more of a muscle and specialty car slant, while RM focuses on the big money classics. By way of example, this year Russo featured cars built and inspired by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and a selection of Reggie Jackson’s immaculate GM muscle car collection. RM had a rare Ferrari 250 GT LWB Cabriolet, aka the California Spyder. It sold for $4.5 million. If your pocketbook holds enough to get you in trouble here, then skip the booze. If your bank account looks like mine, drink away.

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