The stars came out to play as Monterey Car Week once again drew the attention of the automotive world in California. Adrian Newey, Gordon Murray, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti, Tom Kristensen and Zak Brown were among the leading lights of motor sport who descended on the sun-kissed peninsula, which as usual attracted the world’s most desirable classic and racing cars, not to mention eye-watering auction numbers.

At nearby Laguna Seca, the Motorsport Reunion showcased more than 400 racing cars. Headlining this time was a gathering for the 70th anniversary of Corvette, and fittingly former works driver Ron Fellows took centre stage in a Dan Binks-restored 1987 IMSA Corvette GTO. Fellows raced the 4.5-litre V6 beast, beating IndyCar racer JR Hildebrand in a GTO Pontiac Firebird by nearly half a minute.

Among the highlights was Franchitti driving a glorious Brabham BT44 in the races for 1966-85 non-turbo Formula 1 cars, the Scot finishing fourth in the first race after a great scrap with Danny Baker’s McLaren M23, behind Steve Romak’s victorious Tyrrell 012 and Charles Nearburg’s Williams FW07C.

McLaren team principal Brown could only finish 14th in his ex-Alan Jones Williams FW07, but he made up for that with a fourth place in the Can-Am encounter driving his ex-Dan Gurney McLaren M8D.

Best of show at the 72nd Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K, Jim Patterson’s special roadster claiming his personal hat-trick of such crowns and a record 10th for Mercedes-Benz, moving the German manufacturer one clear of Bugatti. The event, which included the 25th Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance along 70 miles of Californian coastal roads, raised £2.1m for charity.

At the auctions, while total sales numbers were said to be down on 2022, inevitably the headline-grabbers crossed the block for astonishing figures – and equally inevitably, Ferraris dominated. Bonhams claimed bragging rights this year at its sale at The Quail, a Motosports Gathering where the ex-Colonel Ronnie Hoare 1967 Ferrari 412 P Berlinetta sold for £23.5m, as raced by Richard Attwood, Lucien Bianchi, Piers Courage, David Piper and Jo Siffert, making it the fourth most valuable Ferrari sold at auction.

At the Pebble Beach Gooding & Company sale, the highest grossing lot was an unrestored Ferrari 250 GT SWB that went for £7.43m.

The Quail celebrated its 20th anniversary and offered plenty of highlights. The unveiling of the ‘lost’ and re-imagined Lotus Type 66 Can-Am car stole the show – Fittipaldi took the covers off. Best of show from 200 entries was a striking, of-its-time 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica owned by Anne Brockinton Lee. Meanwhile, the motorcycle category was claimed by three-time 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey and his 1991 Yamaha YZR500.

Beyond the Lotus 66 there were a number of new-car reveals in Monterey. Among them were the exotic Zenvo Aurora, a quad-turbocharged 6.6-litre V12 hybrid hypercar, Pininfarina’s B95 barchetta and a prototype of Gordon Murray’s track-only T.50S.