Pebble Beach Concours

MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025

CAR GUY CHRONICLES’ JIM PALAM HITS THE LONG PEDAL AND RACES TO THE HIGH-OCTANE EVENTS DURING MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025.

Monterey Car Week is an unapologetic showoff. Heck, its ‘week’ lasts 10 days! Its calendar crams in over 35 official events. MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 attendees – and there were over 100,000 of them – travel from all over the world to the Monterey Peninsula for the privilege of getting stuck in traffic jams and paying three to five times the going rate for hotel and motel rooms – just so they can wear event lanyards and wrist bands, wave auction paddles, and hobnob with movers, shakers and superstars of the automotive and motorsports worlds.

Ahh, but the elixir that ultimately attracts and seduces these multitudes of Car Week fans, including myself, are magical machines – some over a century old and some still on the drawing board – that can not only transport us to destinations near and far, but also titillate our senses, break us free from mundane lives, help us embrace the concept of freedom, and ultimately move us into the immersive realm of possibility!

Nearly a year ago, with the best intentions, I began a process of foresightful preparation to overcome all obstacles that would prevent me from spending a full seven days as a freelance photojournalist covering MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025. Well, even with all my proactive and prudent planning, by August 1st, I had to accept the fact that ‘My Car Week’ would only last for four days. But I’m happy to report that I was able to cover these exciting events: Gooding Christie’s Auction (preview), Porsche Club of America Werks Reunion, Mecum Auction, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, and the unparalleled Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

So, gang, let’s get my special Car Guy Chronicles MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 report rolling!

One of my favorite events during was the 51st Annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, which ran from August 13th through the 16th. On Saturday morning, August 16th, I captured this shot, top, of Charles McKee wheel-hopping his ’66 Shelby GT350 down into the corkscrew at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He raced hard in the Group 4-Ken Miles GT Trophy-Race 1, finishing 15th in a competitive field of 26 cars.

An alarm clock miscalculation brought me to Laguna Seca an hour before the required 8 AM safety meeting, so I headed into the paddock to see who might be there early to prep for the day’s racing. A mechanic in the IROC (International Race of Champions) tent had just pulled a tire on this famous ‘05 Pontiac Firebird, which over the years has been driven by Mark Martin, Sam Hornish Jr., Max Papis, and Hélio Castroneves. This RWD racecar is powered by a 500-horsepower, 350 GM V8, mated to a Jerico 4-speed manual transmission.

Right after the National Anthem finished playing, I rushed to a trackside position behind the K-rail at Laguna Seca – just yards away from this charging field of iconic Formula 1 racecars as they were finishing their formation lap and heading towards the green flag. The reunion was celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Formula 1. In the excitement, I fumbled my earplugs and dropped them out of reach. These mid-1960s to mid-1980 cars are known for their ear-splitting, high-pitched engine screams that were unfiltered by today’s modern technology. Note to Self: Always-always-always carry a spare set of earplugs!

Racing buddies Charles Nearburg and Gunnar Jeannette entered two beautiful Lancia D50s in the Group 9-Juan Fangio Cup Rolex Race at the Annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. Charles finished the 9-lap race in first place in his ’54 D50A car No. 30, and Gunnar finished right behind him in P2 in his ’55 D50 car No. 50. I grabbed this shot of Charles skillfully twisting down the infamous Corkscrew.

MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 During my early Saturday morning exploration of the still-wet paddock at Laguna Seca, I discovered a 1917 Hispano-Suiza Boattail Racer in the Ragtime Racers display area. It was the only car at this early hour that was uncovered. This historic racecar features a 1917 Panhard chassis, a water-cooled 1918 Hispano-Suiza 8 aero engine, a 1920s Lorraine-Dietrich 4-speed transmission, and a dual-chain drive. This gem was found hidden in a barn in France and brought to America by its present owner, Kip Cyprus.

Back in 1998, the marketing gurus at Victoria’s Secret customized a white Lamborghini Diablo SV and featured it in a sexy two-page catalog spread. One of the clever things they did was invert the Diablo’s distinctive “SV” logo and splash large chrome VS decals along the sides of the car. The Diablo disappeared until Cannonball Runner and YouTuber Ed Bolian assembled a team to find the car and restore it back to its sexy glory. Not only was Ed’s VS Diablo one of the featured cars at the 2025 Concorso Italiano, it was also parked in my hotel’s parking lot!

So many of the MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 events are praiseworthy, but there’s still one that rouses dedicated fans out of their warm beds before sunrise. Dawn Patrollers line up along the entry road to the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links so they can be the first car enthusiasts to ogle and praise the show cars as they motor in to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. I captured this shot of Urban Outlaw Magnus Walker, his partner Hannah Elliot, and a business associate as they marched from the asphalt road to the manicured grass very early on Sunday morning, August 17th.

The sunrise provided perfect lighting for William “Chip” Connor’s impeccable ‘32 Invicta 4.5 Litre S Type Carbodies Tourer sitting in front of a wondrous Spanish Bay backdrop. This rare, low-slung, four-seat British tourer features coachwork by Carbodies, a powerful 4.5-liter Meadows straight-six engine, Rotax headlights, and a center spotlight. The S-Type was Invicta’s most famous model, competing at Brooklands, winning the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally, and capable of hitting speeds well over 100 mph. This car won Pebble’s Gran Tourismo Trophy.

Size matters. With my 24-70 mm lens on my Canon, I could not step back far enough on the already crowded show field at Pebble Beach to fit the entire 18-foot length of this stunning 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo in the frame – and also include the two judges on the right. This impressive-in-every-way Best of Show winner was commissioned by aperitif heir, military pilot, and gentleman racer, André Dubonnet. The H6C is powered by an 8-liter overhead-cam engine and features stunning coachwork of riveted lightweight mahogany.

Racecar liveries have come a long way since a big number was painted on the side of a car using removable, water-based paint or even shoe polish. BMW brought its Le Mans M Hybrid V8 Art Car No. 20 to Pebble Beach, and it got more buzz about its Julie Mehretu artwork livery than it did about the car’s state-of-the-art racecar technology. Mehretu’s design features digitally altered photographs, which are superimposed in several layers of dot grids, neon-colored veils, and black markings. This car and its BMW hybrid running mate experienced technical issues back in June during the last two hours at Le Mans and did not finish.

MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 Heading back to my car after a long day at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, I veered over to Concorso Ferrari, which is a central venue on the Pebble Beach Golf Links during the Concours. Here you could drool over billions of dollars’ worth of rare, collector, and new release Ferraris. This ‘24 Ferrari Daytona SP3 in blue quickly caught my eye – as it did with other Ferrari fans at the Concours. 599 SP3s were built, and those were only offered to Ferrari’s best customers – at a starting price of $2.2 million.

Close your eyes and imagine you’re a Venezuelan racecar driver, Mauricio Marcotuli. It’s March 15th, 1959, and you’re sitting in your custom-ordered, white, 12-cylinder 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa. You’re at the starting line at the La Trinidad Street Circuit outside of Caracas, Venezuela. When the race is over, you will be standing on the winner’s podium with a wreath hung around your neck. Now open your eyes. It’s August 14th, 2025. You’ve parked your TR in front of Goodings at Concours Village in Pebble Beach. You’ve just completed the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance. You haven’t aged a bit. Life is good!

There were lots of fabulous cars at Gooding Christie’s 2025 Pebble Beach Auctions. I had a chance to preview the cars a day ahead of the auction, and I’m excited to present some of my picks in this report. Having joined the Porsche ranks in 2020 with the purchase of a humble 914, I may have been a tad distracted by this eye-popping Porsche 911 RSR-17, which was sitting across the hall from the Big-Ticket Ferrari. It’s the first mid-engine 911 RSR Landmark Model representing the pinnacle of modern GT Racing. Specs: 503 horsepower DOHC Flat 6 engine, 6-speed transaxle, Heritage “Coca-Cola” livery. Sold for $2,260,000 – significantly under its $3.5 M estimate.

From August 15th to the 16^th, Gooding Christie’s realized $128,783,810 in sales, with an 85% sell-through rate. Their top seller was LOT 26, a sublime ‘61 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione that sold for $23.3M. This was the highest non-charity sale for all of the MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 auctions! It was also the top sale in Gooding’s two-decade-long car auction history. The lightweight aluminum-bodied Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione is a rare, race-oriented version of the California Spider.

This is what classic automotive style looks like, Comin’at-ya’. The 1930s were known as the Art Deco and Streamlining Era. Boxy functional design was shifting to more elegant and aerodynamic forms. Compared to today’s technology-driven minimalist forms, the front of this ‘37 Lagonda LG45 Rapide is a masterpiece of stunning symmetry. Only 25 LG45 Rapides were built. Power is from a 4.5 Liter OHV Inline-6 engine mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox. The Gooding pre-auction estimated sale price was $700,000 – $900,000.

Back in the 1960s, there was a very vocal and often demonstrative competition between Ford and Chevy. As a showman, racecar driver, and car builder, Carroll Shelby’s star grew brighter and brighter. The Chevy boys at Bill Thomas Race Cars in Anaheim, CA, decided enough was enough. In 1963, they introduced the Cheetah GT Coupe, a lightweight, fiberglass-bodied, Chevy-powered sports car. Only two dozen “Cobra Killers” were built between 1963 and 1966. This documented, four-owner ’66 was lot 168 at the Gooding Pebble Beach Auction. It is powered by a Rochester Ramjet Fuel Injected 327 Chevy V8.

My first MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 destination on Friday, August 15th, was over to the Monterey Pines Golf Course, where Porsche Club of America had set up their sprawling PCA Werks Reunion 2025 across four manicured fairways. Over 12,000 enthusiasts attended to get up close to more than 700 original, restored, and customized Porsches. It was impossible to pick just one for this report, but Jorge Fuente’s ‘Harlekin’ 993 Tribute Car was impossible to ignore. Porsche built and painted the original for the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show. Jorge’s 911 GT tribute car was built by AP Car Design in Germany and vinyl-wrapped by 405 Motoring in Inglewood, CA.

Mecum Auctions Monterey 2025 was located on the Del Monte Golf Course, a mile or so from the Werks Reunion. So, Part Two of my Friday was spent exploring the staging areas at Mecum. As soon as I spotted the low-slung Monza Red ’93 Jaguar XJ220, I knew this unique supercar would be in my report. At the time of its introduction, the aerodynamic XJ220 was powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine producing 542 horsepower, which helped make it the fastest production car in the world. Questionable changes in engine specs soon dethroned the XJ220. Designed by Keith Helfet, the XJ220 is approximately 5 meters long by 2 meters wide.

Not many of us like a tease, but this rare car tease was more than acceptable. The hard-working team at Mecum Auctions has been at it since 1988, and they know that dangling a tasty collector car carrot in front of a captive enthusiast audience – like MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025 attendees – will get them some bites. So, this very rare ‘62 ‘Bianco Speciale’ Ferrari 250 GTO was unveiled this August at their Monterey 2025 Auction. Chassis No. 3729GT was the only 250 GTO to leave the Ferrari factory in white. It will be the featured car at Mecum’s Kissimmee Auction in January 2026.

Covering Monterey Car Week is an honor, but it can be demanding both physically and mentally. As my assignment was wrapping up, I made a final stop, this time at Arkadia-Life’s exhibit in Concours Village. I was hoping the folks there would let me chill out in their high-tech sofa chair that looks like the front end of a vintage Porsche. Some of its impressive features are seven E-Storage zones that are activated by a knock of your knuckle, a 13-speaker audio system, and adaptive ambient lighting. Everything is brought together using luxury-grade automotive craftsmanship with Swiss-watch-caliber assembly precision. By the way, you’ll need at least $20,000 to get started to get seated. Ahhh…

Story & Photos © Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/

For more information about MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2025, please visit https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/

2024 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE

A surprise Best of Show winner at the 2024 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE knocks some of the polish off Pebble’s shiny traditions!

For 73 glorious years, the world’s finest automobiles have been assembled on show lawns and fairways in Pebble Beach, a sophisticated seaside town in Monterey County, CA. These flawless machines of impeccable provenance and engineering excellence – like the 1932 Röhr 8 Type F Streamliner, above – are painstakingly prepared, polished and pampered, sometimes for years, with the goal and aspiration of winning Best of Show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

On August 18, 2024, 214 cars from 16 countries and 29 states lined up for the traditional sunrise procession between rows of passionate fans and international media professionals. They were carefully escorted onto the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links and once carefully parked and feather-dusted, the celebration and judging began.

I had no idea that this rock-chipped and weathered 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports Grand Pix car driving quickly by me during Dawn Patrol, would go on to win Best of Show honors at the 2024 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE! The car was driven and presented by Fritz Burkard of the Pearl Collection in Zug, Switzerland who was as surprised as the competitors and audience was when this Preservation Class entry took top honors at the show. In that this Bugatti is considered by many to be the most successful racing Bugatti in history, and that it has extraordinary provenance dating to King Leopold III of Belgium, those in-the-know probably knew that it had a very good chance of outshining the competition this year.

That’s not Ted Turner escorting a sleek 1931 Packard 840 Deluxe Eight Waterhouse Convertible Victoria and a long row of historic, classic and collector cars onto the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links. This sunrise procession is just one of the many honored traditions that make the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance the worldwide attraction that it is. The first Pebble Beach Concours was held in 1950, making this year’s show the 73rd Celebration.

I had the pleasure of not only photographing this perfect 1967 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strata Series 1 Coupe, but also meeting Andy Hilton, General Manager of Paul Russell and Company and members of his restoration team who brought this 2nd Place Postwar Sports class winner to Pebble Beach. Paul Russell and Company offers restoration, preservation, maintenance, sales and brokerage services on pre-war through 1960s Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, and other fine automobiles. That’s Andy, second from right. You can learn more about this exceptional company by visiting, https://paulrussell.com./

Upon its release in 1998, the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR “Strassenversion” was the most expensive production car ever built, and the first true Supercar produced by Mercedes-Benz. This V12 powered “Street Version” was every bit a racecar. The 26 that were produced were built to satisfy homologation rules that required 25 road legal cars to be built, in order for the CLK GTR racecar to be eligible in the FIA GT1 class. If you were flush enough to buy one in 1998 you paid at least $1,547,620.00. The CLK-GTR is powered by a 612 horsepower 6.9 Liter V12, weighs 3,404 pounds, and has a top speed of 213 mph!

“What goes around, comes around.” is a fitting “Racing Circles” proverb for this beautifully restored 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage. Thomas Mittler of Santa Fe, NM brought this historic Maserati to Pebble Beach where it finished 2nd in the P-2: Maserati Race Cars category. Legend has it that it was the last car Carroll Shelby raced. As I circled around the show field, I was introduced to Randall Shelby, one of Carroll’s grandsons. That’s Randall by the Tipo 61.

My unofficial, visual tally of ‘Owners vs. Designated Drivers’ piloting cars onto the show field at Pebble Beach is, Owners 35%; Designated Drivers 65%. This adds up as many of the cars are brought to the show by handlers, custodians, restoration shop owners, and younger family members. This one-off 1937 Chrysler Imperial Town Car was the only classic I saw that was chauffeur-driven! Again, this makes perfect sense since this aristocratic C-15 limousine by LeBaron was originally commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler for his wife Della, and is now owned by Long Island, NY-based automotive historian and collector, Howard Kroplick.

One of the surprising contenders for Best of Show honors at Pebble was this radically low, tapered-wedge-shaped 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero Bertone Coupe. At just 33 inches high, it could have been easily overlooked in the Wedge Concepts and Prototypes section. But it was in fact one of the crowd favorites, with handlers offering limber showgoers a chance to bend-in behind the Zero’s articulating steering column. Phillip Sarofim of Beverly Hills, CA brought the Zero to Pebble where it was awarded the Gran Tourismo Trophy.

The magnificent Maserati 8CTF open-wheel, single-seat racecar was the first non-American production car to be awarded a permanent place in the annals of the US Library of Congress. With driver Wilbur Shaw behind the wheel, the Boyle Special won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940! One of the three 8CTFs built by Maserati, chassis number 3032, is currently on display at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.

Shannine Yngvason is a talented artist who for years wowed audiences with her avant-garde music. Since 2018 she has been wowing the high-value collector car market with her custom House of Wolves leather car interiors and luxury leather goods. I met her early Sunday morning near Casa Ferrari at the Concours. She is posing next to one of her favorite cars – the iconic 1949 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta, the sports roadster that helped build Ferrari’s international reputation as THE builder of Victory Lane racecars.

If you’re a Speed Freak then you’re going to find the Aspark Owl Electric Supercar something of a hoot! Its electric powertrain generates 1,985 horsepower and 2,000 pound-feet of torque, capable of propelling the Owl from 0 to 60 mph in 1.69 seconds. Its aerodynamically-sculpted carbon fiber bodywork enhances downforce, minimizes drag, and it flies an Owl to a top speed exceeding 249 mph. Only 50 units were produced in a limited series. Warning: The $4,253,147.00 price tag just might keep you up all night!

Madylon and Dean Meiling’s racy red 1954 Maserati A6GCS Fiandri & Malagoli Spyder seems appropriately parked by the blue waters of Carmel Bay. Maserati’s trident logo was designed by Mario Maserati in 1914 and was inspired by a statue of Neptune in Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore. It symbolizes the fiery power of the Maserati and the driving force of the sea. The trident was of course also a weapon and no doubt, Maserati considered its racecars the ultimate weapons on the world’s racing circuits.

In the early 1950’s, Mercedes-Benz had developed two body styles for their W 196 R racecars – a streamlined, covered wheels version that offered superior handling and speed on the high-speed circuits, and a variant W 196 R open-wheel car that was better suited for the twisting race circuits. What a thrill it was to see this World Champion 1955 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach. As I walked away from taking this photo, I glanced back and had a fleeting image of Juan Manuel Fangio behind the wheel!

One of the many highlights of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the opportunity to see rare and historic cars perhaps for the first time – as was the case when the unmistakable high-performance, racecar rev of this impossibly long and low 1957 Maserati 450S Zagato Berlinetta caught my attention as it rolled by me early Sunday morning. This is a one-off 450S fitted with a Coupe body. It was developed for Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio for Le Mans. Owner Rob Walton of Scottsdale, AZ took home the coveted Phil Hill Cup.

This rainbow-striped 1986 Porsche bb Targa Hybrid is a reimagined classic that was displayed on the Concept Lawn. It’s another vintage Porsche project from the creative team at Galpin Motors in Southern California. Galpin has resurrected the iconic bb-Auto restoration company to produce unique high-performance Porsches. Hybrid power comes from a 400 horsepower Ed Pink Racing 4.0 Flat Six engine plus a 110-kilowatt Vonnen electric motor, delivering 550 total horsepower. The subtle “bb” badging is an homage to the bb-Auto Rainbow Turbo Targa originally crafted in collaboration with Polaroid for the 1976 Photokina photography show in Germany.

This 73rd Celebration of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance featured a carefully curated display of Land Rovers and Range Rovers that were used by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – either in an official capacity or as part of her personal fleet. They were delivered to Pebble courtesy of the Royal Household, Land Rover Classic, the British Motor Museum, and private collections. Pictured is the rugged and spartan 1958 Land Rover Series II State Review vehicle.

It was the 1950s and automotive designers and manufacturers were heavily influenced by the Space Age. Aerodynamic and streamlined design was the focus, as well as advances in propulsion technology. The 1955 Ghia Streamline X Coupe made its debut at the 1955 Turin Auto Show. With coachwork by Carrozzeria Ghia, the X Coupe featured a streamlined and finned aluminum body atop a square tube chassis. Power was from a lightweight, compact single-stage 70 horsepower AiResearch turbine engine, and could (on paper) propel the X-Coupe to 160 mph!

When I got back home from Pebble Beach late Sunday night one of my automotive news feeds reported that Ford’s 1979 Probe I Ghia Concept Car, which was one of the Wedge-Shaped Concept Cars I had photographed as it drove into the show field early Sunday morning, had caught fire in its trailer as it was being towed back to Scott Grundfor Company. This California restoration shop bought the Probe 1 from Ford in 2002, and owns several other Ford concept cars. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the fire did not spread to the thick foliage lining the roads in and out of Pebble Beach. The Probe 1 was valued at approximately $1,000.000. (Fire photo courtesy of MotorTrend)

2024 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE Words & Photos ©Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/

For more information on the 2024 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE, please visit https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/

LAND ROVER @ PEBBLE BEACH: QUEEN FOR A DAY!

LAND ROVER @ PEBBLE BEACH: QUEEN FOR A DAY! uniquely celebrates the vehicles of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

LAND ROVER @ PEBBLE BEACH: QUEEN FOR A DAY!

10 historic models will attend LAND ROVER @ PEBBLE BEACH: QUEEN FOR A DAY!, including two of the earliest Royal vehicles: the first Land Rover Series I State Review vehicle and a Land Rover Series I owned by the Royal family. A modern twist on the traditional British garden party will take place at an exclusive hospitality area adjacent to the vehicle display.

Vehicles on display include 1954 Land Rover Series I State Review vehicle, 1954 Land Rover Series I (NXN1), 1958 Land Rover Series II State Review vehicle, 1966 Land Rover Series IIa Station Wagon (JYV1D), 1974 Range Rover State Review vehicle, 1990 Range Rover State Review vehicle, 1983 Defender 110 V8 (A444RYV) and 2009 Range Rover (CK58 NPJ).

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II dedicated her life to service and was the first female member of the Royal family to volunteer for military duty when she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in February 1945. Her specialty was driving and servicing military and rescue vehicles. It is said that this time sparked her love of driving and the mechanical aspects of vehicles, which lasted a lifetime.

For more information about Land Rover Classic, please visit https://www.landrover.com/explore-land-rover/land-rover-classic/index.html

Check out details about the Pebble Beach Concours @ https://pebblebeachconcours.net/

MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023

CGC’s Jim Palam presents highlights from events that fill the most exciting week on the concours and historic racing calendar, MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023.

“Suddenly, as if by magic, the cars appeared!” I have to admit that I was like a kid at a magic show when I took in the sights, sounds, pomp and pizazz of MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023. How the organizers, presenters, participants and attendees managed to all come together to revel, rejoice, race and reward in the relatively limited confines and congested roadways of Monterey and Carmel is at times mystifying. Top photo, Kode61 Birdcage Concept; Left, Dea Wison, President, Ferrari Club of America, Sacramento Chapter.

For those who have attended Car Week you know that you’ll need a bag of tricks and another bag of money to secure accommodations anywhere within 50 miles of Monterey during Car Week. Even though I have more than ten years of practice for this “Room Booking” trick, things did not go as planned when upon my arrival I discovered my motel was well, not the kind of place you’d stay if you care about your health, safety and relationship with the Almighty!

I won’t bore you with the details but the upshot of this discovery forced me to cut my Car Week stay from five days to two. The good news is that those two days included time at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to check out the Heritage Corvettes participating in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and the 70th Anniversary of the Corvette – and a gorgeous day at beautiful Pebble Beach to cover the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. So, clear your mind of all things dull and tedious – because it’s time for a little MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023.Renowned Austrian sports car restoration expert Egon Zweimüller was up before sunrise to drive the loud and fabled ’64 McLaren M1A past the tony Pebble Beach Lodge and onto the show field at the Concours D’Elegance. I chose this grainy photo for this caption because it shows Egon’s high quiff hairdo and sideburns – an homage perhaps to Elvis Presley who drove the M1A in the 1966 motion picture Spinout.” This car was awarded the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy at Pebble, the award for the most significant car of British origin.What a thrill to rise before sun-up for “Dawn Patrol” and watch historic and fabled cars from bygone eras roll along the entrance road and onto the manicured Pebble Beach show field! This is no illusion I thought as I watched this blue, 2-seater Delahaye 135 CS Competition Spéciale cruise-by. Only 17 examples of this 1930s era racer were ever built. It features a shortened chassis, a powerful in-line 6 cylinder, 170 horsepower motor and race-carved bodywork by Figoni.When you build your own car, you have the freedom to design whatever strikes your fancy, and the freedom to name your creation any name you want. Lou Fageol was a bus and truck builder who built a spectacular, streamlined car dubbed the “Supersonic.” That car debuted in 1949, toured the auto shows and ended up stored on the family’s farm. In 1952 Lou’s son Ray reimagined the car with a new body and wrap-around windshield and named the rebuilt car by combining his name and his wife Pat’s name. Fast-track to August 20, 2023 where the Pataray rolled up onto the awards ramp at Pebble Beach to take the Class V: American Dream Cars of the 1950s 3rd Place award.If you’re a “Boomer” you might remember the post-war decade of the 1950s as a truly magical one. In the design world anything was possible and almost everything took on a streamlined, space-age look. This 1953 Kurtiss Sorrell SR-100 Roadster is a great example of 1950s zeitgeist, with its “Looks Fast Sitting Still” sweeping lines. After grabbing this shot during Dawn Patrol the Sorrell grabbed first place in the Class V: American Dream Cars of the 1950s Class at Pebble.Designing sleek automobiles certainly was not just a 1950s paradigm. The 1921 Rumpler Tropenwagen is considered to be one of the first serially produced aerodynamic cars to be manufactured. Take a look out your window now and there’s a good possibility you’ll spot something sleek, albeit likely chiseled as well. When I first got to Laguna Seca on Saturday, I spotted this streamlined beauty atop a trailer making its way to its exhibition spot in the paddock. Corvette historians will recognize the Bill Mitchell helmed, mid-engine, gull-winged 1976 Aerovette. Targeted for a 1980 production run, the Aerovette’s magic just wasn’t there in the eyes of Corvette Chief Engineer Dave McLellan, who instead gave a green light to a new front-engine C4 Corvette for 1984.Was GM’s Vice-President of Design Bill Mitchell a motorsport magician? A staunch supporter of Zora Arkus-Duntov, he was the guiding force behind head-turning Corvette racecars when GM was not officially racing, including the 1959 Corvette Stingray XP-87. Its chassis was influenced by the Mercedes 300SL. Power was originally from a high-performance 283 V8. The car achieved 155 mph on a test run with Dick Thompson behind the wheel. Check out my short video of the XP-87 and two other Heritage Corvettes as they were staged for an exhibition run at Laguna Seca.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_txd4kuCEg Known in racing circles as “The Lightweight Corvette”, 125 Grand Sports were originally planned to be built in the early 1960s; only 5 are currently documented. However, there was a 6^th! So yes, I was excited and yes, it was magical to discover the fabled 1963 Corvette Grand Sport #003 sitting in the Heritage Corvettes exhibition tent at Laguna Seca. There’s lots of racing lore surrounding these Grand Sports, the most valuable Corvettes in private collections. These vicious Vettes were built to face off in the GT Class against the then dominating Shelby Cobras.There was another magic-maker at GM in the heydays, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who joined Chevrolet Engineering Research and Development in 1953 as an assistant staff engineer. Not only was he an exceptional engineer, Zora was also a racecar driver who applied his track experience and vision to help build the Corvette’s performance legacy. One of the many Corvette racecars that Zora and his team produced was this bad-to-the-headrest-bullet, magnesium shell, fuel-injected Corvette SS, known within GM as the XP-64. With Juan Manuel Fangio behind the wheel during a practice lap at Sebring in 1957, it turned a 3:27.4 lap. Unfortunately, there were suspension and overheating problems by lap 23 and the XP-64 failed to finish the race.While the words “historic” and “vintage” are used in association with the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion that fires-up during Monterey Car Week at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it’s an illusion to think you won’t see historic and significant racecars running at high speeds around the fabled and freshly-repaved 2.238- mile road course. Then again, there are the Ragtime Racers, a dedicated group of vintage race car owners who charge their 100- year-old machines around the 11 turns and through the Corkscrew to thrill the spectators. The bright yellow No. 7 Lexington is a fan favorite.It’s hard to not notice yellow cars, but it’s almost impossible to ignore a rare and fast Porsche 906E Weinsberg Coupe finished in black and yellow, caution stripes – even if its roof is just 38.6 inches from the ground. This year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance featured a carefully curated display of historically significant Porsches from 1948 to 1973 that included sports and competition cars – like this ready-to-race 1967 906E Weinsberg Coupe from the famous Ingram Porsche Collection in Durham, NC. The 906Es were revised for the 1967 racing season with a change to Bosch fuel injection. Total production was 54 cars.OK, I could have selected a red Ferrari for this spot, but you’ve seen plenty of them, right? So, I’m sticking to our yellow car formula one more time to bring you this stunning, 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione which was beckoning on the lawn in front of Casa Ferrari at Pebble Beach. Now there’s a complicated history for this car with multiple owners since 1960, race entries at Le Mans, Goodwood and Montlhéry and a well-documented restoration. It was originally identified as a 1931 GT and later rechristened as a Comp/60, chassis 2021 GT. That’s the easy part of its provenance; it gets way more complicated. So, I’m just going to finish with stating the obvious: it is one of the most beautiful sports cars ever produced!There’s a certain etiquette that one needs to follow when attending a high-end Concours. It’s markedly different from the behavior on display at the Piggly Wiggly Cars & Coffee! One needs to dress well, be mindful of your language and by all means, do not get in front of a judge who is inspecting a show car. In this shot, owners, judges and car caretakers gather for a “Concours Klatsch” alongside the Peter Mullin Museum’s 1939 Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Note that there are no containers of coffee in this klatsch!The 2025 Mustang GTD is a street-legal, track-ready Supercar that was revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours, and it got lots of attention. You’ll need around $300,000 to buy one and for that you’ll get a true Supercar, that will be initially built by Ford and finished and fine-tuned by the racecar magicians at Multimatic in Canada. According to Ford, “Every line drives unrelenting, aerodynamic performance on the streets — and the track — for a corner-obliterating, pulse-raising experience.” It’s powered by a supercharged 800 horsepower, 5.2L V8 mated to an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. This setup is, according to Ford, “…tuned for monstrous potency on pavement.” Look out…Speaking of Mustangs, I couldn’t help but draw a connection between this beautiful 1956 Ferrari 250 GT’s roof louvers and the mid-1960s Mustang GT Fastback’s louvered roof detail. I was also a bit concerned about identifying this Ferrari based on the show placard that offered only the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT designation. I could not find another 1956 250 GT that has these high, straight and peaked rear fenders – until I found just one 1956 GT that was a prototype for the famous 14-louver 250 GT competition car. If my research is correct, this is the one-off 1956 Ferrari 250 Europa GT Scaglietti Berlinetta. Ferrari experts are encouraged to chime-in.The sweeping Art Deco lines of this striking 1937 Peugeot Darl’Mat Pourtout Roadster owe their sexiness to custom sports cars builder Emile Darl’Mat, coach- builder Marcel Pourtout, designer Georges Paulin and their collaboration with Peugeot. Emile had a very supportive relationship with Peugeot and as such they gave him the resources to develop his own sports car. The Darl’Mat had successful runs at Le Mans in 1937 and 1938. A total of 104 Darl’Mats were built in coupe, convertible, roadster and competition roadster styles. It’s estimated that there are 30 remaining today.Ferrari has built over 220,000 cars since its founding by Enzo Ferrari in 1939. The company built its first car in 1940 but it wasn’t until 1948 that we got the first Ferrari road car – the Ferrari 166 Inter. What’s impressive is not the number of cars but the consistent excellence and excitement built into the brand. The first thing I did when I entered the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was check out the Ferrari Monza SP1, a forerunner in Ferrari’s limited edition “Icona” (Icon) line. An Icona showcases modern aesthetics and technologically advanced components to deliver the highest performance possible. The SP1’s V12 engine produces 785 horsepower. Top speed is 186 mph. Thrills, are no doubt unlimited!When this beautiful deep blue convertible rolled past me during Dawn Patrol at Pebble Beach, I at first thought it was a 1950s vintage Italian car sports car. Well, I was right about the decade but I later learned that this is a 1954 Edwards America Convertible. One of only 5 built, the Edwards America was conceived by West Coast sportsman and industrialist Sterling Edwards who hired legendary fabricator Phil Remington and engineer Norman Timbs to make his American Sports Car dream a reality. The bodies were fiberglass, the Rocket V8 motors and transmissions were from Oldsmobile. The design and coachbuilding were exceptional but production costs were astronomical by mid-century comparisons. Sticker prices ran between $5,000 to $8,000, but unfortunately, few buyers ran to the showroom.As I’ve mentioned in previous CarGuyChronicles reports, one of the reasons I love going to automotive events and carguy gatherings is the opportunity it presents to meet fascinating people. During my shortened, two-day stay to produce MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023, I met dozens of wonderful car owners, celebrities, racers, crew members, journalists and support personnel. One of the nicest guys I met is Meguiar’s car care products company CEO Barry Meguiar. He, his wife Karen and friends were standing next to me at Dawn Patrol. Just about every other car driver that passed by yelled out “Hey Barry!” and he knew them all by their first names. Many will also remember Barry as the always smiling host of the successful TV show Car Crazy.Car Guy Celebrities are hard to pigeonhole. They come from all walks of life; all parts of the world. Some are wealthy, some are struggling – but all share a passion for motor-powered vehicles. I can’t think of a better car guy contrast than the always smiling, always natty Barry Meguiar and one of the other car guy VIPs I met ‘Urban Outlaw’ and Porsche disciple, Magnus Walker. Magnus is hard to miss: his long dreadlocks cascading down from his straw hat, his long legs covered in worn denim. We met under the Heritage Corvettes tent at Laguna Seca and struck-up a friendly conversation. For a great look into Magnus’ life and Porsche collection, check out Tamir Moscovici’s film Urban Outlaw by going to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdvPwr_77A0 A quick shuttle ride from the Pebble Beach Lodge and the Concours is Concours Village, which is billed as a premier location for manufacturer displays. It’s also where you go for speaker panels, automobilia treasures, retail concessions, Will Call and the Media Center. It was here, in the Maybach pavilion that I discovered the monster-truck-size PROJECT MONDO G, the ahh, well, uhm, moon vehicle? OK, I’m not sure how to categorize this creation, but it is a show car collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and fashion-forward puffy garment maker Moncler. I think if we’ve learned anything since Carl Benz applied for his motorized vehicle patent back in 1886, it’s that innovation and progress will sometime confound, sometimes amuse – but almost always amaze. You could say it’s something magical!

For more information on MOTORSPORT MAGIC: MONTEREY CAR WEEK 2023, please visit https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/

2023 PEBBLE BEACH: BEST OF SHOW!

Fit for a king, a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster won the ultimate concours honors: 2023 PEBBLE BEACH: BEST OF SHOW!

The winning 540 K Special Roadster was originally ordered in May 1937 for Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan, and delivered in September of the same year. The King opted for a Special Roadster with a Sindelfingen body, a highly elegant sculpture exuding performance and speed. It is characterized by the high side line of the doors, curved body contours with a recessed radiator and a flowing rear end with concealed spare wheel. After only five changes of ownership in seven decades, the current owner purchased the vehicle at auction during the Pebble Beach Automotive Week in 2022, for $9.9 million.

This victory is the tenth “Best of Show” title for a Mercedes-Benz vehicle since the start of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1950. This means that Mercedes-Benz is now the most successful brand in the history of this crowning event in the classic car calendar. It prevailed over a field of Best of the Best classics, winning 2023 PEBBLE BEACH: BEST OF SHOW!“The 540 K Special Roadster winning 2023 PEBBLE BEACH: BEST OF SHOW! at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance crowns the immense commitment of RM Auto Restoration and Mercedes-Benz Heritage to the restoration of this outstanding vehicle. We are proud to have contributed to this success story with the unique expertise of our Classic Center and the archives. The intensive and good cooperation with RM Auto Restoration during the past months has made this success possible”, said Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Heritage

This 540 K Special Roadster was ordered by the Afghan royal court in 1937, and delivered in the autumn of that year. Further history: in the mid-1940s, the French-educated monarch brought the vehicle to the Afghan embassy in Paris. The supercharged sports car arrived in Great Britain in 1950 as a gift for his son-in-law, and was sold to a US collector in 1953. Throughout its long and varied history, the 540 K Special Roadster has always been maintained and preserved in authentic condition. To date, the vehicle has only very few miles on the clock.The current owner of the 2023 PEBBLE BEACH: BEST OF SHOW! vehicle is Jim Patterson. The winners of the “Best of Show” at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2015 (Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Worblaufen Cabriolet, built in 1924) and 2010 (Delage D8 S de Villars Roadster, built in 1933) also come from his collection. The most recent Mercedes-Benz automobiles as winners of the “Best of Show” award were Arturo and Deborah Keller’s Mercedes-Benz 540 K Autobahnkurier in 2021 and Bruce McCaw’s Barker-bodied Mercedes-Benz Type S Touring Car in 2017.A total of 760 chassis for 500 K and 540 K models of the W-29 Series were produced at the Untertürkheim plant between February 1934 and November 1939. 354 had the five-liter engine and 406 the 5.4-liter engine used from 1936 onwards. Nine body variants were available; they were completed at the Sindelfingen plant’s special vehicle workshop. About 60 units of the variants with roadster bodywork were produced.

For more information about Mercedes-Benz Classic, please visit https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/classic/