Monterey Car Week 2021: Pebble Beach and the Car Spectacle

Monterey Car Week (the Monterey Car Week) went ahead in 2021 with scarcely a glance at the pandemic. In the billionaire enclave of the peninsula around Pebble Beach, the week was a loud reminder of just how thrilling cars can be-whether they are offensively expensive, lovingly restored old bangers, or hissing, futuristic electric machines.

In Europe, much of the public has drifted away from motor shows, most of which were cancelled because of the pandemic. In sun-soaked California, the mood could hardly be more different.

It is a shame we do not have more initiatives like this on our side of the Atlantic-events where car culture can stand on its own terms, without being disguised beneath a cloak of politically correct “mobility”.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, first held back in 1950 (it began as something like a show of new models until 1955, when it switched its focus to classics), is far from being a static museum of polished historic cars. These machines move under their own power-and their owners make a point of proving it.

In every edition, a convoy made up of many of these rolling treasures covers the 2,200 km journey from Seattle to Pebble Beach in the days leading up to the event. Some will go on to compete or be displayed; others simply add colour and atmosphere to the surrounding gatherings.

Some owners choose a more restrained approach and join the shorter Tour d’Elegance, held on the Thursday before the “magical” weekend.

That route runs between Pebble Beach and the coastal stretch known as Big Sur, passing through the charming village of Carmel-by-the-Sea before returning to Pebble Beach. It inevitably includes the fabulous, zig-zagging 17 Mile Drive, with its breathtaking views over a rugged, green coastline-made grander by towering trees and, of course, the Lone Cypress, the symbol-tree of the Monterey Peninsula that appears on local police uniforms, municipal flags, and more.

Competitions for every budget

These are only a few of the activities tied to the official Concours. Over time, the event has inspired other organisations to launch satellite initiatives across the peninsula (such as the Concorso Italiano for Italian gems, or the Concours d’Lemons for “bangers dressed up to the nines”), stretching the celebrations across a full week.

That is why everything has come to sit under the same umbrella: “Monterey Car Week”, which-according to one of the latest studies-brings in around 55 million dollars in tourism revenue alone (hotels, food, and so on). Across the week, there are roughly 100 000 visitors, with half travelling in from outside the region.

And the upside for the area does not stop there. Every year, millions of dollars are donated (around two million per year) to charities (80 in this region, reaching about 10 000 children)-the most human, and least worldly, side of the entire event.

Vanity fair

For two decades now, the main attraction on the Friday before the Sunday concours has been “The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering”-a kind of vanity fair among some 200 automotive relics. Entry requires paying about 500 euros per visitor (twice the cost of admission to the Pebble Beach Concours, the pinnacle of the whole weekend).

In the classic-car world, liquidity is never in short supply. Tickets sold out back in February through an online lottery… at least for ordinary mortals, because for the well-connected-people with chief-executive-level bank accounts and celebrities-there always seems to be another way in.

At “The Quail”, beyond the caviar, the champagne (more plentiful than a simple coffee…), the smart outfits and the many car obsessives, anyone who wants to focus on the metal itself will still find plenty to satisfy their appetite-and this year was no exception.

No less important are the car auctions held during Monterey Car Week, which have been building worldwide fame since 1990 and are now the best known-and most fiercely contested-anywhere.

Until Sunday ends in one of Monterey’s lavish mansions, countless works of art on wheels-some more than a century old-change hands at ultra-exclusive events run by renowned firms such as Sotheby’s, Gooding & Company, or Mecum.

2020 cancellation increased “appetite”

It seems that, after last year’s edition was cancelled for the well-known reasons, the number of events staged during this special week in the triangle between Laguna Seca, Monterey and Pebble Beach was even higher in 2021. Even so, organisers had to curb enthusiasm, imposing more distancing and discipline than in other years.

From what we saw (with the exception of auctions that were sometimes uncomfortably packed and an overly crowded closing event on Sunday), everything appeared to run in a fairly controlled way. Naturally, the overall atmosphere was more national and less international, since the overwhelming majority of foreigners either could not-or did not want to-fly to California this year.

The wave of Pebble Beach events was enormous. Lamborghini, Audi, Bugatti, Aston Martin and Bentley proudly showcased their latest creations, while Italian sports-car fanatics gathered fuelled by an espresso and devotees of more unconventional old bangers met up to admire freer-spirited machines-all within a radius of only a few miles.

Mercedes-Benz also invited some of its best customers for a secret first look at the future SL, positioned alongside the sensational 1952 300 SL.

Pininfarina and Rimac drew plenty of attention too, thanks to their imminent electric hypercars with more than 1900 cv (which are, in essence, the very same car). And fans of the legendary Volkswagen “bread loaf” (the classic VW Type 2) assembled on a vast, immaculate lawn just outside Monterey.

Ferrari “bred” from Toyota?

We took the chance to exchange a few words with one Monterey Car Week visitor, who confirmed this intense American urge to show their cars to the world.

Kyle travelled from Ohio in his blue Ferrari F430 which is, in fact, a replica built on a 2001 Toyota Celica. He was now displaying it in the huge, public, open car park at Cannery Row: “I bought this replica just four weeks ago for 25 000 dollars,” he explains with a smile, “and I drove from home to here over almost five days.” Why? “Just so I could show the car.”

Among the many anonymous visitors, you also find famous faces-such as Mate Rimac, the talented young founder of the car brand that bears his surname. What started as a company “one to watch” has already turned him into the main shareholder of the joint venture created with Porsche to manage Bugatti’s future: “this is a place where we always sell a few cars,” the visibly happy Croatian says with a grin.

Not far away, Per Svantesson, chief executive of Automobili Pininfarina, is equally upbeat: “finally we can show the Battista to potential American clients and demand here is higher than ever.”

The Volkswagen Group had a strong showing on the closing Sunday, marked by celebrations of the half-century anniversaries of the Porsche 917 and the Lamborghini Countach-made even more notable by the unveiling of a special series of 112 units of a new model (sold for more than two million euros each).

Emotions running high on track and on the lawn

At Monterey Car Week, the atmosphere is always distinctive, not least because it is an open-to-the-public showcase, with a range of events and chances to see very special cars.

That includes BMW 2002s, Audi 200s or Mercedes 560 SELs entered in the “Autobahn Legends” parade, as well as racing cars attacking Laguna Seca at full tilt through the blind corkscrew corner.

Another kind of emotion-just as intense-is experienced by the owners whose cars roll onto the main Concours lawn near the 18th hole of the exclusive Pebble Beach golf club.

Their faces reveal the strain of those determined to impress the judges, matched-or surpassed-by sweaty palms caused more by nerves than by heat. After all, the procession begins before the first rays of sun have dropped down to Earth on the most special Sunday of the year, and the air at that hour is distinctly cool.

A class podium, a podium in the Overall results, or an honourable mention awarded by the knowledgeable jury to a classic car can send any careful owner’s pride soaring-at least as much as the car’s market value.

And the overall winner of the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was, once again, a pre-Second World War model: a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Autobahn Kurier from the Keller collection, one of the most highly valued in the world.

Authors: Joaquim Oliveira/Press-Inform.