Who needs Geneva, Tokyo, or even Detroit? Carmakers know they have a captive audience at Monterey Car Week, and that’s why they choose it to reveal some of their best new concepts and performance production cars. With the demise of the traditional “car show,” events like those at Monterey take on more significance.
Manufacturers spend millions on concepts and cool new production cars, and they can get the most flying eyeballs on them at Pebble Beach and other spots around the peninsula. Plus, almost everyone who writes about—or claims to write about—cars will be there.
Here are our favorites among the many revealed over the course of another great week in Monterey.
Corvette CX and CX.R Vision Gran Turismo
First of all, these are just concepts, they’re not for production. It even says “Not Available For Sale” on every photo Chevrolet provided.
But they are “a glimpse of the high-performance future,” Chevy said. The two cars “will serve as inspiration to inform Corvette design language for years to come.”
Should be a nice future.
“Drawing on more than 70 years of performance innovation, these Corvette concepts honor the heritage of America’s sports car—and propel it into the future.”
Unbound by the limits of a production car or the rules of any racing sanctioning body, designers got to show off a shape they’d really like to see—if there was no FMVSS, no ground clearance requirements, and no worries about solar gain.
One example is not just gullwing doors, but an entire power-operated, automatically opening roof that lifts off as you approach to allow ingress to the futuristic cockpit.
The two cars—the grey CX for the street and the Corvette-yellow and black CX.R Vision Gran Turismo for the track—are the last of three Corvette ideations coming from GM studios around the world. Designers in the UK released their ‘Vette earlier this year, followed by an aerodynamically efficient two-tone model from GM’s new design studio in Southern California.
The roofline itself is just 41 inches high (GT41?). Big sucker fans produce “massive downforce,” while trimming the airflow over the active front diffuser and active rear wing to refine aerodynamic balance in real-time, GM says.
Power comes from four torque-vectoring electric motors, one at each wheel, and tops out at 2,000 hp, Chevy claims. They’re fed by a 90-kWh lithium-ion battery.
The interior is finished in “red ballistic textile and carbon fiber, with silicone leather and milled aluminum. The entire windshield functions as a sort of full-screen HUD, too.
Pity it won’t go on sale. Which aspects would you like to see on a future production Corvette? Let us know in the comments.
Lexus Sport Concept
Lexus is saying almost nothing about its Lexus Sport Concept that debuted at The Quail on Friday. Aside from stating that it exists, the luxo division of Toyota said only, “The progressively styled, future-focused yet truly authentic sports car signals the way forward for Lexus design.
“This inspiring concept car features a wide, low-profile two-door form that blends dynamic and emotional elements into a vision for a next-generation sports car.”
In the absence of hard information, that means we can speculate!
The design looks like a two-door version of the battery-powered LF-ZC sedan revealed at the Japan Mobility Show 2023. Or like the Electrified Sport Concept revealed in 2022. The latter car came with a promised 60-mph time in the low-two seconds and a range of 430 miles thanks to solid-state batteries.
What will the Sport Concept be? We’ll have to wait and see.
Lamborghini Fenomeno
Also at The Quail, Lamborghini unveiled its limited-edition Fenomeno, a car of which only 29 will ever be made. That creates what is known as “demand,” and owners will no doubt clamor for it. Fenomeno means”phenomenon” in both Italian and Spanish, and the wild-looking supercar is certainly that.
With 1,065 hp total output from its hybrid drivetrain—824 hp from the naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 and 242 from the three electric motors—the Fenomeno accelerates to 62 mph in just 2.4 seconds and hits a top speed of over 217 mph. That’s phenomenal.
“The Fenomeno introduces the most advanced technical solutions in our history, pushing the boundaries of performance and design, while honoring the values and achievements that are a fundamental part of our DNA,” said Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini.
“Unveiling the Fenomeno at The Quail, a prestigious celebration of automotive excellence in our largest global market, offers the perfect setting for our customers to experience this few-off masterpiece in person.”
The Fenomeno follows other limited-edition specials from the Raging Bull like the 2007 Reventón, Sesto Elemento (2010), Veneno (2013), Centenario (2016), Sián (2019), and Countach LPI 800-4 (2021). Among these, two have debuted at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering: the Roadster version of the Centenario and the Countach LPI 800-4.
El Fenomeno is based on the Revuelto but with nine more horsepower, making it the most powerful V12 in the company’s history. The battery for the three electric motors also grows from 3.8 kWh to 7.0.
Pricing wasn’t released but the Revuelto stickered for a tad over $600k.
Ford Bronco Roadster Concept
“It’s like a birthday present to Bronco,” said Bronco design chief Robert Gelardi.
It’s Bronco’s 60th birthday this month, and Ford celebrated with this minimalist Bronco concept.
“We wanted to see how far reduced we could make it,” said Gelardi during a walkaround of the big brute on the Concept Lawn at Pebble Beach. “So it has no roof, no doors, no floor mats. We made everything as simple as we could make it.”
If you’ve ever spent time among early Bronco enthusiasts and their rigs, you will notice familiar themes on this new take using a modern Bronco. The concept is inspired by the 1966 U13 model. There was a U13, U14, and U15.
When Ford introduced the Bronco on August 11, 1965, it was marketed as “the world’s first four-wheel-drive sports car,” Ford said. The Bronco team’s brief back then was to make “a Mustang for off-road.”
The result captured the same element—fun comes through simplicity—that made the pony car such an overwhelming success, Ford said at the concept’s introduction last weekend at Pebble.
“Fun through simplicity” was central to all three of the original Bronco body styles. But where the U14 half-cab pickup and the U15 wagon (which is most similar to the Bronco SUV Ford sells today) were unquestionably fun, the U13 Bronco Roadster was the closest in execution to an off-road Mustang.
Will Ford offer something like this in production?
“It’s a one-of-one,” said Gelardi.
Then we suggested Ford make another model, the Oly Bronco with the paint scheme of Parnelli Jones’ Baja winner. That idea got no response from the designer.
Nichols N1A
If you remember the great sports racing cars of the 1960s, you’ll love the Nichols N1A. The car you see here was on the Concept Lawn at Pebble, shown in “final, pre-production” form. The plan is to sell them in the US under the small manufacturers law for $600,000 apiece.
What is a Nichols? It was penned by former McLaren F1 designer Steve Nichols, who is in something of a dispute with the great Gordon Murray as to who designed the McLaren MP4/4 F1 car, the vehicle in which Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won 15 out of 16 races in the 1988 F1 season (it would have been all 16 had not Jean-Louis Schlesser cut off Senna at Monza while Senna was lapping him and taken him out of the race). Murray vehemently denies Nichols designed that car. The controversy is a whole ‘nuther story.
Right now, Nichols is making these, and they look pretty fun.
It’s powered by your choice of Chevy engines. The company’s website says the choices are a 460-hp LT1, an upgraded 520-hp (assumed LT1, doesn’t say), or a 7.0-liter 650-hp “unit with throttle bodies and trumpets.”
On the concept lawn, Nichols CEO John Minett said the car there was a 7.0-liter, 700-hp LS3-based block.
“We’re going to custom blocks,” Minett added. The car comes with traction control and ABS selectable to your choice.
Minett has put 15,000 miles on it and says it’s “surprisingly docile.” The website is more prone to hyperbole:
“Acceleration is brutal—grip and handling familiar only to those who have driven racing cars of the highest calibre,” reads the sales literature.
We wish them luck. Looks like it would be a blast.
Lucid GravityX
The name is pronounced “Gravity Cross,” not “Gravity eX.” There was some discussion about that within Lucid.
Calling it “A grand new concept of electric exploration,” Lucid revealed the GravityX the Thursday before Pebble on the very ramp the show winners would cross days later. The concept sports a raised suspension, new off-road-ready wheels and tires, wider wheel arches, tow hooks, and a uniquely styled new roof rack that incorporates LED lights on the front rail.
The Gravity X concept also features redesigned front and rear fascias to improve approach and departure angles and a wider track to go with that lifted ride height, 21/22” all-terrain tires, and protective skid plates.
That’s Astral Drift paint, too, but you can call it “sand.” On the hood are topographic maps of Death Valley and Big Sur, keeping with a California Road Trip theme.
The concept is based on the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring model that’s been in showrooms since December. Specs for that model include up to 450 miles of EPA-estimated range, all-wheel drive, and a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds, as well as seating for up to seven.
No production plans were announced.
Shelby American Super Snake-R
Shelby American took the wraps off its new Super Snake-R at Motorlux the Wednesday before Pebble. The car is based on the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Claimed horsepower is listed at “850+” by Shelby American.
The company says it starts with the 500-hp Dark Horse and supercharges the 5.0-liter V8, giving those 850+ “dependable” horsepower (on 93-octane gas). Shelby American adds that the supercharger is “available for post-title sales only.”
“We’re unlocking the reliable 5.0-liter Coyote’s great potential by supercharging it, making well over 850 hp in a vehicle effortlessly maintained at any Ford dealership,” promises company president Gary Patterson.
Shelby American claims the fully adjustable coilover suspension, wider stance, flowing metallic bodywork, and Shelby specific chassis stiffening system “really sets the new car apart.”
At 4,004 pounds it’s 116 pounds heavier than the Dark Horse, despite what SA says is liberal use of carbon fiber and magnesium. Price is listed at $224,995.
Ford Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon
There’s a lot of carbon fiber in the new and mighty Ford Mustang GTD, and to show it off Ford unveiled the Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
Ford said Laguna Seca was the perfect venue “to highlight how race-inspired lightweight carbon-fiber technology plays a critical role in GTD’s body, looks, and performance.”
The car is unpainted, which shows off the carbon fiber like a muscle bodybuilder’s T-shirt at the beach. But shaving the paint off also saves 13 pounds on the GTD’s curb weight compared to the already spartan Mustang GTD Carbon Series with the Performance package.
“Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon is the ultimate expression of the Mustang GTD’s high-tech, high-performance construction and is a reminder of the race-derived, cutting-edge capability that sits beneath the surface of every Mustang GTD,” said chief program engineer Greg Goodall. “(It’s) a great-looking car and now it stands out even more with its striking exposed carbon body and functional aero elements.”
As with the Carbon Series, you can see the carbon weave of the hood, roof, rear deck, and rear wing, where the weave matches up perfectly down the midline of the vehicle, Ford pointed out. Additionally, fenders and side panels match up to the dorsal elements of the vehicle, presenting a cohesive pattern in the carbon-fiber bodywork.
The car also features unique black Brembo brake calipers, matching an anodized body with gloss-black “GTD” script.
Inside is a combination of black leather and something called Dinamica microfiber suede and Hyper Lime stitching on the seats, door panels, center console, instrument panel, and steering wheel. There’s even a reflective center gradient down the middle of the seats that adds an additional bright spot to the purposeful and focused interior.
Look for the first Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon delivery in October.
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