Monterey Car Week Is an Extravagant Celebration of All Things Cars: Here's How Mine Went originally appeared on Autoblog.
A week for everything on wheels
After four years of attending Monterey Car Week, one would think that I could come up with some poetic way to start my traditional overview article of California's finest celebration of automotive madness. However, I don't. Five days of back-to-back car shows tend to fry your brain, but I would be a fool to complain. It is the best kind of torture an automotive enthusiast can put themselves through, and believe me when I say that the lasting exhaustion does not outweigh the experience.
To give you a mere idea of what ensues in Monterey and the surrounding cities of Carmel-by-the-Sea and Seaside, allow me to take you on a digital walkthrough of some of the events I was fortunate enough to attend.
The shows
Motorlux
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
It all starts with the finest mixture of what defines sheer opulence: ludicrously expensive cars and private jets. Hagerty's Motorlux takes place at the Monterey Jet Center and fills the tarmac with some of the best four-wheeled works of art the motoring world has ever seen. This year's highlights included the "200 MPH Club," with icons like the Ferrari F40 and Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale headlining that section, "From Stuttgart with Love," dedicated to every model that made Porsche one of the world's foremost sports car manufacturers, "America's Wild Horse," an ode to the past 60 years of the Ford Mustang, and "The Mercedes Maestro," celebrating the stunning designs of the late Brunco Sacco.
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
Oh, and it would be an utter shame to forgo any mention of the food offerings from the 25+ restaurants, 3 of which were Michelin Guide-recognized establishments. Of course, what goes better with Michelin-level food than drinks from 30+ wineries and 15+ spirit distilleries? In other words, if you want it, you'll find it at Motorlux. It is one of the benchmarks by which Car Week events should be judged, right alongside another show you might all be familiar with.
The Quail
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
If someone were to curse me and say that I could only attend two Monterey Car Week events lest they slash the tires on my Z31, I'd stick with Motorlux and The Quail. Short of hosting their own private event at a rented mansion somewhere in Pebble Beach, just about every manufacturer will show off their latest and greatest at The Quail. The new Bugatti, the new Acura, and one of the biggest Pagani-focused activations I've seen to date are all meticulously arranged within the finely cut greens of The Quail Lodge & Golf Club. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a smattering of vintage JDM finds among the exotics, something I hope signals a permanent change within The Quail's repertoire. After all, the collector's market is changing, and JDM legends like the AE86 are quickly becoming a sought-after commodity.
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
If you thought Motorlux was the pinnacle of food and drinks at a motoring event, wait until you see what the hosts at The Peninsula Hotels have set up here. Apart from the various small bites and drinks offered by the various automakers, The Quail arranges four or so main food tents at the different corners of the lawn. Each has its own theme, ranging from Mediterranean to Spanish and a Japanese-oriented tent at this year's show. Some of them even have live music that fits the theme of the food, with the Japanese tent in particular standing out thanks to an outstandingly talented Koto player. All of this did wonders for the overall vibe, making the entire event a spectacular celebration of all things automotive. If you can find a way to attend, do so; you will not be disappointed.
Concours d'Lemons
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
Alan should thank me for even mentioning his show here. This absolute oil stain of a show ruins the lawn in front of the Seaside City Hall each year, displaying the worst automobiles the world has ever had the misfortune of seeing. It is the foil of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and as far as you can get from a prestigious automotive showing.
Jokes aside, Lemons is one of the best worst things you could spend your time doing at Monterey Car Week. If you need a break from the opulence and pompousness of some of the other shows here, swing by Seaside. There are not enough shows celebrating the automotive disasters of the world, and Concours d'Lemons takes up that awful duty with pride. Nobody here takes themselves too seriously; they know their cars are crap, and that's the point. Last year, a Bricklin barely made it onto the lawn, inundating the entire place with coolant smoke after it horribly overheated from the sheer pressure of existing.
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
It's an absolute hoot, and you're likely to see some cars that are as rare as those showcased at Pebble. Like, when's the last time you laid eyes upon a 1980 BMA Brio? They're nowhere near as valuable, but hey, rare is rare, right?
Concorso Italiano/The Paddock
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
Monterey Car Week's best celebration of La Dolce Vita made a welcome return to the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club this year, alongside a sister event dubbed The Paddock. In an effort to attract a more diverse audience, the organizers at International Car Week created another event dedicated to a wider array of cars. They even collaborated with Radwood, bringing a touch of 80s goodness to a place that would otherwise be full of Lancias, Alfa Romeos, and everything in between. It was a great way to bring people to Car Week who might otherwise think that their car needs to look like the ones at Pebble to warrant attention, and hopefully, it will inspire other event hosts to follow suit.
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
Then there's the crowning jewel of the Bayonet Black Horse, Concorso Italiano itself. Now under new management, the show seeks to bring itself back to the glory days of yore. Dare I say, they've succeeded. The entire lawn was filled with Italian beauties of all eras, from Lancias to Ferraris, to Iso Grifos of provenance I had never heard of. If your stomach decided it also needed attention, there were plenty of food offerings on the side, ranging from Italian to American to Mexican. Arguably, the best place to enjoy your grub was atop the center hill, where the live band would serenade you with anything from Tutu Cutugno to Louis Prima's rendition of C'è la luna mezzo mare. It was the closest thing to Italy without having to get on a plane or a boat, and I'll let nothing stop me from coming back again next year. Arrivederci!
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
Unequivocally, the show that put Monterey Car Week on the map, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is California's finest automotive-themed garden party. On the last Sunday of Car Week, the eighteenth fairway is dotted with some of the rarest and mind-blowingly exquisite automobiles you will ever see brought together in a single place. What tickles me most about Pebble isn't the sheer number of one-offs, prototypes, and former royalty-owned cars; it's the fact that in order to be in the show, they have to drive onto the lawn under their own power. Not only has this given birth to Dawn Patrol, a group of folks crazy enough to wake before the sun and see these mechanical marvels drive onto the lawn, but it also means that these historical monuments get to stretch their legs once more. It is history in motion; it is like watching a zoetrope of people who had no idea you would be watching them exist hundreds of years later.
View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article
This goosebump-inducing thought was none more prevalent than when I watched a 1910 Renault BZ reportedly owned by John Jacob Astor IV, who perished among those on the Titanic, be fired up by its owner in front of my very eyes. One of the country's most prominent socialites and businessmen witnessed this very car in motion more than 100 years ago. That's a century. I shared a moment with someone who existed when the Ford Model T was just introduced, through this single automobile. That's a powerful thought, and one of the foremost reasons why cars will always be part of my life.
The auctions
R.M. Sotheby's
View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article
R.M. is one of my favorite auctions to attend during Car Week, partly because of its massive inventory. Housed within the Portola Hotel and Monterey Conference Center, R.M. Sotheby's took over two massive conference rooms as well as the beachside lot behind the hotel with an incredible variety of vintage and contemporary rides. Picking a favorite is no easy feat, but just as love can move mountains, I think I can manage. Picking the headlining McLaren F1 and red Mercedes-Benz 300SL seems like a cop out, so I'll instead go for the 1906 Züst 28/45 Spider Corsa. I'll go into more detail about my favorite auction cars in a later article, but seeing such a rare race car from an automaker I had never heard of before was an exhilarating opportunity. Doubly so, given that it was in such a preserved and period-correct condition. Just think of what this car could say if it were able to speak and the stories of glory it could tell!
Gooding & Company
View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article
Gooding is a close second in terms of my favorite auctions at Car Week, but I frankly feel like it could very well tie with R.M. Sotheby's. Being in such close proximity to Concours Village means that you could easily stop by when exploring the various activations there. In the same vein as R.M., picking a favorite is a monumental decision, especially given Gooding's penchant for proudly featuring finely patinaed examples of some of the world's most prestigious vehicles. Saying that, it should be unsurprising that my favorite was an unrestored 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux. Seeing a car of this caliber tell stories through each of its scars and blemishes is damn close to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and had I had all the time in the world at my disposal, it would surely be spent studying this Type 57. Look for my longer fangirling article out soon.
Bonhams
View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article
Bonhams is a little bit further from the action, located close to The Quail, but their smaller lot is still an incredibly good time and worth checking out. They've had some rather unusual examples over the year, and my favorite from this auction is no stranger to that concept. Ladies and gentlemen, this is ludicrous engineering at its finest. This is the result of answering "why not?" every time someone asks you why you're embarking on anything that bewilders the common folk. This is the 1919 Bugatti Avio 8C, an exceptional amalgamation of automotive and aviation ingenuity. Again, more details are coming, but just to whet your palate, this thing sports a 14,718cc SOHC 8-cylinder engine with dual carburetors and makes 200bhp through a 4-speed manual transmission. Utterly monstrous, and a true testament to the era when anything was possible with a large enough brain and deep enough pockets.
Final thoughts
There were, of course, so many other moments I can't include in this article for fear of turning into a sequel to The Iliad, but to put it bluntly and mildly: it was an extraordinarily extravagant extravaganza the likes of which has yet to be topped by any other event I've attended. Monterey Car Week is often called "The Car Lover's Mecca," and that is as close as you can get to a one-sentence description of this week of madness. If you can ever make your way to Car Week, even for a day or two, do it. The only condition is that you have to come back and tell me I was right about the whole deal.
Monterey Car Week Is an Extravagant Celebration of All Things Cars: Here's How Mine Went first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 20, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Comments