My Latest Return from Car Week
After yet another road trip, I am once again grateful to be home. This was a road trip of another kind – one involving driving cars to observe other cars. And no, it wasn’t to attend a race, and it didn’t involve going to a museum. Sound strange? Give up?
It’s a series of events we’ve been to numerous times – Monterey Car Week. Yes, the week of events that’s grown to ten days, that every year attracts a growing number of more than the 100,000 people who were here last year. Add that to the normal population of 45,000 who live in Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel, and you can guess what happens. I was leery this year would be too crowded, that I would be turned off by the gridlocked traffic and the younger, more boisterous enthusiasts. I was wrong.
A 2025 Aston Martin Vantage at Aston’s On The Avenue in my wife’s favorite color combo – gorgeous.
Yes, Sunday’s culminating Concours was more crowded than ever, and that was a turnoff. I also realized something – the novelty has worn off. I recognized several cars I have seen at the Concours before, as if old ideas were being recycled. There was less of the impressive and more of those trying to impress; less of the good and more of the shallow. Fewer fun surprises accompanied more dressed-to-the-nines posers there to generate clicks for their TikTok accounts. Less knowing or caring about cars as human history, more classless displays of gauche behavior juxtaposed against the presence of youthful excitement. Change was in the air.
This year I took preventative measures, choosing to avoid nearly all the events of which those types would avail themselves. I say nearly all, because I was determined to experience events I previously had not, Motorlux being one, Astons on the Avenue the other. It so happened they were both on Wednesday, one after the other, taking the whole day and evening.
Another beautiful V12 Vantage Q car at Astons On The Avenue
We displayed one of our cars at Astons on the Avenue, a classy event sponsored by artist and car enthusiast Simon Bull’s Meuse Gallery and benefiting research for a cure of Multiple Myeloma. Simon is a class individual, so it came as no surprise he had enlisted the participation of Il Fornaio restaurant and Aston Martin itself. It was full of enthusiasts and engaged spectators on Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel, a wonderful experience.
A beautiful metallic green DBS Superleggera just across Ocean Avenue from a blue on blue Valhalla
Upon its four o’clock termination, we fired up the Aston and headed straight to Motorlux at the Monterey Jet Center. Forty-five minutes and some 6 miles later we were directed to our VIP Tarmac parking, thanks to preferential treatment afforded by our Hagerty Driver’s Club membership. It’s a club more than worth the price. Hagerty purchased this event a couple years ago and has done a great job keeping it a must-do event.
The price of admission is steep, as evidenced by my wife’s reaction when she saw the digital tickets. Two hours later she was singing the event’s praises, marveling at all there was and declaring it worth the price of admission. I’m afraid I have to agree.
Above: A look from the mezzanine of one of the Motorlux hangars at Monterey Jet Center. The only fully carpeted aircraft hangar I’ve ever seen, and after 45 years in aerospace, I’ve been in a few.
Below: The Tesoro, a Ferrari Testarossa restomod from Dione Motorcars of Manhattan Beach, California.
Once in you pay for nothing. Limitless gourmet food, heaps of excellent sushi and beluga caviar, generous pourings of choice scotch, whiskey, tequila, mixed drinks and wine; tours of custom corporate jets, million-dollar motor homes, displays of classic planes, autos, and hypercars. First class decor, music, and discussions with vendors and customizers – a little bit of everything for the connoisseur, the curious, and the enthusiast. Mostly, it was a party and quite a good one. We had a blast.
Despite what most car nuts do when in Monterey, on Thursday we sleep in. Although this is the day when the momentum noticeably begins ticking up to Sunday’s climax, we take a leisurely brunch at the Red House in Pacific Grove, the drive without drama to Asilomar State Park and the Woodies in the Woods car show of true woody station wagons of the 1920s through the 50s. Another off-beat, fun event we have never attended.
Woodies in the Woods at Asilomar State Park in Pacific Grove
After that, we head downtown to the Monterey Convention Center at the Portola Hotel for a tour of cars staged for the RM Sotheby’s auto auction. Some of my favorite cars are from Sam and Emily Mann, who have impeccable taste for beautiful design. Several of his 1930s Art Deco cars are here to be auctioned off this evening. The group of Aston Martin owners who tour the pre-auction viewing has tripled from past years, to me indicative of the growing fascination with this nearly two-week car-lover’s marathon.
From Sotheby’s we bale three hours south to the Dutch town of Solvang. Our intent is to escape the last two crazy days building up to the Pebble Beach Concours, lay low for a day, then do some wine tasting in the colorful countryside of Paso Robles before returning for Sunday’s concluding Concours that hosts some 15,000 people.
Sam and Emily Mann’s 1938 Delahaye D8-120S Aerodynamic Coupe by Pourtout in the pre-show before auction at RM Sotheby’s. One of my all-time favorite cars. Sam Mann said, “Of all the automobiles that we have ever owned, it is perfection, in line and in form.” Yes, it is.
You can imagine the crowds if you realize they are mostly interspersed between the 220 display cars on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach golf course along with small sections of two adjoining fairways. But it hasn’t been as easy to get to as previous years – fewer volunteers directing traffic and helping you find the correct parking lots that are interspersed among parks, the forest and along 17-Mile and Cypress Drives. We got waylaid, but it turned out to be in a good way.
Looking for a route to take advantage of closer disability parking, we stumble upon a sign: “Aston Martin Parking.” What? I think, Hey, we’re driving an Aston, maybe we can park there and get a shuttle to the concours field. We pull in and are promptly directed to the designated parking, then taken by shuttle a block or so to… the exclusive Aston House, where only the highest ranking of Aston customers are allowed. A small comedy ensues.
We are warmly greeted by the ladies at the welcome desk. They ask for our names. I confide, “I’m pretty sure we are not on the list.”
An uncertain look crosses her face. “Well, let’s check anyway,” she smiles.
I smile back. “Certainly,” and give her my name. Sure enough, no Morgan appears on the list. “We really just stumbled upon the ‘Aston only’ parking and thought the attendants would shuttle us to the field, rather than here,” I confess with a grin. “Although we’ve bought several Astons, I’m pretty sure we’re not on the preferred customer list.”
She smiles back with an appreciation of my honesty. “Tell you what,” she says graciously. “How about the two of you go on in, have a morning coffee and the light breakfast, and rejoin us here in about fifteen to twenty minutes?”
“Well, that would be most appreciated, and very gracious of you. Thank you so much,” I reply. And with that, we avail ourselves of an espresso, a fruit and yogurt breakfast and a tour of the lovely grounds adjoining the Poppy Hills golf course. We then excuse ourselves, thank our lovely friends at reception, shuttle back to our car and continue on in search of our preferred parking.
It’s here the Concours appears to falter. It’s harder than usual to find our advantaged parking lot, and when we do, the next twenty-plus minutes see shuttle busses passing us with waves that they are already full. We’re in parking lot ‘A” for crying out loud. Shouldn’t we be getting a shuttle designated to our lot? No such thing anymore, apparently.
A group in our que finally calls an Uber and, in a continuation of our morning’s good fortune, offer the back seat to us. “Absolutely! We would love to join you. Thank you so much!” we say. The Uber promptly arrives, and all six of us climb in. With some back roads shenanigans, our knowledgeable driver twists and winds his way to within a block of the Concours entry point. Fantastic.
All that said, the Concours reveals some stunning vehicles, as always. But, there are also fewer surprises than previous years. Maybe it’s because we’ve been here before; the newness has worn off. Maybe some time in the future I’ll want to return. My only regret this year is missing the Tour d’Elegance, the Little Car Show and the Concours d’Lemons.
1955s: left, an Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sport; right, a Lancia Nardi Blue Ray I, both designed by Vignale.
That probably says everything you need to know about my current impressions of Monterey Car Week. The offbeat, the fun and approachable appeals to me more these days than the otherworldly heights of the Quail or the Pebble Beach Concours. Stuffiness has never been my thing, and getting too serious about cars is less and less appealing as I grow older. Don’t get me wrong – my wife will still insist I’m way too serious and picky about cars. Sigh. She’s probably right….
