The world’s biggest car show took place earlier this month, as the rich and famous of the automotive industry descended upon Monterey Car Week.
The seven days, held on the sun-soaked California coastline, featured everything from static car displays and concours to moving roadshows, motor sport events and even a botched auction to steal headlines.
Perhaps the highlight was the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, which took place at Laguna Seca. This year the event celebrated 50 years of IMSA sports car racing, marking the first time the meeting has featured a series as its star attraction. Around 550 cars took part in the event, with bulging grids featuring everything from the humble Formula Ford 1600 up to historic Formula 1 cars, Trans-Am, Group C monsters and more. Two-time F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen was the event’s star guest, running demonstration laps aboard the 1970 McLaren M8D/3 ‘Batmobile’, which was raced in period by Dan Gurney and Peter Gethin following the loss of the marque’s founder Bruce McLaren when testing the prototype at Goodwood that June.
Away from the track, RM Sotheby’s sale, or lack thereof, of the Porsche Type 64 made headlines for all the wrong reasons after the auctioneers overinflated the price by a heady $53m after a communication error resulting in an upset room and bidding being halted.
This year’s show featured a renewed focus on motor sport, according to many attendees. The hottest ticket in town was not Sunday’s champagne-soaked Concourse, but the smaller, more exclusive event known as The Quail: a Motorsports Gathering. As the name suggests it focuses on performance cars and those with a racing history. Tickets started at slightly sobering $950.
