Louisa Skipper's Diary

Perfection on the peninsula

The historic festival on the Monterey Peninsula began with the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours and concluded at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, with so much packed in between.

Over 200 rare historic cars lined up in Carmel, where I was an honorary judge. Jon Shirley’s 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa won best in show.

Gordon McCall’s annual Motorworks Revival party kicked off a week of stylish functions, featuring Morgan, Porsche and Rolls Royce. Meanwhile, at the Quail Lodge Motoring Gathering, Motor Sport’s stand drew a crowd when Sir Stirling Moss, who would be driving a Lola Mk1 at the Laguna Seca race meeting, came by to say hello. We also presented Derek Bell with a Motor Sport jacket at the event which celebrated 50 years of the Daytona Motor Speedway and 30 years of the BMW M1.

Motor Sport then attended the Rolex drivers’ dinner, where David Donohue was honoured for his Daytona 24 Hours victory earlier this year.

Bentley was the featured marque at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. TV’s Jay Leno led an exciting charity auction with Arnold Schwarzenegger for one of The Terminator star’s leather jackets, which raised over $30,000. Robert M Lee won his second concours award of the week, with his 1937 Horch 853. His Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B had also claimed the honours at Quail Lodge.