Monterey car week: (Clockwise from above) Next year is the centenary of the 24-hour Le Mans race.Photos: Stephan Cooper & Tom O’Neal
If you keep up with international motoring affairs or golf, you would be familiar with the city of Monterey. It’s famous for the Pebble Beach golf course and the Concours d’Elegance.
Monterey, in California, is the battleground for one of the more popular PGA Golf Tour events and hosts one of the most spectacular motoring events in the world.
The Weathertech Raceway is the hub for the famed Monterey car week. This year, from 11 to 20 August, people from around the world flocked to the city to watch collectors pay homage to past, present and future cars.
The Monterey car week is a diverse array of motoring-inspired events, races and auctions of exorbitant proportions to those who struggle to understand the heritage that many of these masterpieces of racing represent.
This year the car week auctions saw a 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport sold for a princely sum of $22-million, a 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe fetch $10.345-million and a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540k Sindelfingen Roadster go for $9.905-million. This year’s auction now holds the new record of $496-million in sales. It’s a record that hasn’t been broken in seven years — and the new record surpassed the 2015 record by a whopping $101-million.
Bugatti announced its new Mistral, the W16, the last of the Veyron and Chiron bloodlines. Photos: Stephan Cooper & Tom O’Neal
This year, the car week focused on what will be one of motoring’s greatest celebrations next year. In June 2023, the world of endurance racing will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 24-hour Le Mans. The endurance race has brought us some of the most sought-after road cars and memorable clashes. The event led to the creation of films such as Ford v Ferrari.
Legends from the endurance race made their way to Monterey this month to feature in this celebration of motoring. Cars such as the original 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider, 2003 Bentley Speed 3 and a 1937 BMW 328 NSKK race car showed off on the streets of Monterey. Along with the vast selection of race cars, the unveiling of the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy kicked off the excitement for next year’s endurance race.
The 1956 Jaguar D Type won Rolex Best of Show at this year’s The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering event. Photos: Stephan Cooper & Tom O’Neal
Where there is racing, expensive cars and prestige, there is a brand that always shows up. Luxury watchmaker Rolex has been a representative in prestigious sporting events around the world and has played a part in the Monterey Car Week since 1997.
It has supported the collaboration of French endurance racing and American motoring tradition by adding to the already high prestige of this event on the Pacific coast.
Now, wherever there are expensive cars, typically in the old-school variety, you can bet that charity has a role to play in the event. According to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance website, “The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance brings together our passion for cars with the opportunity to raise money for people in need. With the help of our generous donors and sponsors, as well as many volunteers, the Concours has been able to raise over $29-million for charity since its inception in 1950.”
This 1932 Duesenberg J Figoni Sports Torpedo won Best in Show at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Photos: Stephan Cooper & Tom O’Neal
Wherever there is a car show of this proportion and exclusivity, it is guaranteed that there will be an assortment of prototypes unveiled to the public and that companies such as Bugatti will show off their latest and greatest wares.
This year Maserati presented the Spyder (convertible) variant of the MC 20, Bugatti announced the Mistral, the last of the Veyron and Chiron bloodlines, and Rolls Royce displayed the Phantom II, which comes with a revised selection of customisation options.