Well, it’s finally happened. Monterey Car Week 2019 actually should be considered Monterey Car Weeks because activities will stretch beyond the usual thanks to the new Concours at Pasadera scheduled for August 9.
“Accompanied by free-flowing Champagne and heavy hors d’oeuvres, attendees will enjoy an up-close-and-personal visit with more than 50 beautiful cars in two categories and four award classes: Vintage/Pre-1940 cars; Domestic and International automobiles built before 1990; and Modified vehicles enhanced in design and mechanical performance by the collector,” organizers of the new concours say in their announcement.
“The special category will be Modern Classic 1990-2020, covering a full generation of automobiles reflecting design influences and technical achievements from the recent past, present and future.”
The new concours will be held at The Club at Pasadera, which is the new name for the former Nicklaus Club Monterey, located on the Monterey-Salinas Highway. The Monterey Herald reported that the country club, which is the site of the annual Legends Of The Autobahn car show during Monterey Car Week, was purchased in July by a group of local investors.
Another newcomer to the 2019 Monterey calendar is RADwood, a car show and retro lifestyle event celebrating the 1980s and 1990s. RADwood will stage its inaugural Monterey event as part of the Legends Of The Autobahn show on August 16 at The Club at Pasadera.
Technically, Monterey Car Week has stretched beyond the usual 7-day definition of a week for many years because of the Monterey Pre-Reunion vintage races (nee Monterey Pre-Historics) that take place the weekend before Car Week at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
On August 10-11, more than 300 vintage racing cars are scheduled to participate in two days of competition in 10 groups.
What follows is the daily schedule of events during Monterey Car Week or, if you prefer, Weeks. This list does not include the collector car auctions, which will be previewed in a separate story tomorrow:
Friday, August 9
Concours at Pasadera (inaugural event), The Club at Pasadera (former Nicklaus Club Monterey), 100 Pasadera Drive, Monterey, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11
Monterey Pre-Reunion vintage auto races, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, access by South Boundary Road or Barloy Canyon entrances, practice begins at 8 a.m. with final race each day starting at 5:20 p.m.
Competition will be staged in 10 run groups, including the new Masters Endurance Legends USA category for cars from 1982 Group C to their modern equivalents, as well as 1966-1985 Masters Formula One.
Automotive Fine Arts Society exhibition, New Masters Gallery, Delores Street between Ocean Avenue and 7th Street, Carmel-By-The-Sea, daily from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. through August 17.
The AFAS annual exhibition moves from a tent at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to a week-long showcase in an art gallery in Carmel.
Monday, August 12
Automobilia Monterey, Ballroom, Embassy Suites, Seaside, open Monday, August 12 through Wednesday, August 14, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and until 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
17th annual sales showcase of original and vintage posters, photographs, badges, mascots, signs, art, model cars, books and more offered by nearly four dozen dealers.
Monterey Porsche Classic, 1781 Del Monte Boulevard, Seaside, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Porsche Monterey hosts a car show featuring classic Porsche vehicles.
Tuesday, August 13
Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours on the Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Carmel-By-The-Sea, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A free multi-marque car show featuring outstanding cars produced from 1940-1973 as well as Porsches and Ferraris produced through 1989, and this year with a class for Micro Cars arrayed along 18 blocks of Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel.
Classic Motorsports Monterey Cruise-In, Lighthouse Avenue, downtown Pacific Grove, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Another free event staged in a quaint downtown setting featuring all sorts of interesting cars presented in a street fair atmosphere.
Wednesday, August 14
Carmel Mission Classic, San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission, 3080 Rio Road, Carmel, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This seventh annual event isn’t free, but when you enter you are handed a wine glass so you can sample a variety of local vintages as you tour the grounds of the historic Spanish mission and view spectacular classic and exotic vehicles. The event benefits the Knights of Columbus and a long list of charities supported by that service group.
Little Car Show, Lighthouse Avenue, downtown Pacific Grove, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The biggest little car show of Monterey Car Week celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. This event features mini, micro, electric, steam and arcane vehicles, including home-builds, and those with internal combustion engines not exceeding 1,601cc.
Prancing Ponies Car Show, Dolores & Ocean Streets, Carmel-By-The-Sea, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
This car show is open only to vehicles owned by women, and while the show takes place on August 13, there’s a VIP party and fashion show the previous evening, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Crossroads Carmel. The Prancing Ponies Foundation has a mission to “create women leaders one girl at a time.”
Monterey Reunion Week Cars & Coffee, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 9 a.m. to noon
Before the vintage racers take over the track, Laguna Seca hosts a cars and coffee cruise-in for historic, classic, collector and racing cars, with a “special opportunity” planned for cars from 1957 or earlier.
McCall’s Motorworks Revival, Monterey Jet Center, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
28 years ago, Gordon McCall invited those arriving early for the Monterey Car weekend — that’s right, just a weekend, not more than a week of activities — to a kickoff party at the local airport’s Jet Center hangar. But the event has grown into a major social event and VIP gathering that mixes stunning cars, motorcycles and historic and private aircraft, food and festivities.
Thursday, August 15
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Considered America’s showcase for vintage sports car racing, the Reunion brings together more than 500 historic racing machines that compete in 14 race groups from August 15-18. New this year is the Masters Endurance Legends group. Featured are cars that competed in various IMSA divisions as that sanctioning body celebrates its 50th anniversary. There also is a class for pre-war racing machines. Featured this year as well is an appearance by the 1970 McLaren M8D Can-Am car, which will be driven by Formula 1 champion Mika Hakkinen. Laguna Seca is famous for its Corkscrew curves as cars descend the hill around which the track is built.
Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, cars depart Pebble Beach resort via Portola Road at 17 Mile Drive at 9 a.m., travel a route along Aguajito Road, Monhollan Road, Via Malpaso and Carmel Valley Road to arrive for on Ocean Avenue, Carmel-By-The-Sea at 11:30 a.m., return to Pebble Beach at 2 p.m. after driving Highway 1 to Big Sur.
Some people consider the Tour to be the highlight of Monterey Car Week. The same cars that will be judged while parked on the 18th Fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links at the concours d’elegance on Sunday are driven out on regular roads as they tour the Monterey Peninsula for anyone to watch, and with no fees, simply pick a spot and place your lawn chair along the side of the road and enjoy the cars.
Pebble Beach RetroAuto, The Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Event opens on August 15 but continues through Saturday, August 17.l
Nearly three dozen selected vendors offer vintage automotive collectibles and automobilia, luxury goods and “technological tools to enhance today’s driving experience.”
Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum, The Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach. Event opens on August 15 but continues through Saturday, August 17.
The Forum is organized by the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and presents the perspectives of experts in the collector car hobby. Admission is by registration through the website. Here is the schedule:
August 15
2 p.m., Spike Feresten’s Car Radio show with special guest Adam Carolla.
3:30 p.m., How Hot Rod magazine Spread the Sport across the Country, with Bruce Meyer, Jim Miller and Ken Gross
August 16
9 a.m., Driving Trends in the Collector Car Industry with Craig Jackson
11 a.m., Porsche and the movie Hurley featuring Hurley Haywood, Patrick Dempsey and Spike Feresten
1 p.m., A Bright Future for the Past: A Conversation with Tomorrow’s Restorers featuring Paul Russell, Dave Kinney, Donald Osborne and students from McPherson College
3 p.m., 30+ Years of Japanese Luxury Cars featuring Alfonso Albaisa, Dave Christ, John Ikeda, Angus MacKenzie, Tom Matano and Ed Loh
5:30 p.m., Sketchbattle Pro, a live automotive sketching competition
August 17
10:30 a.m., Assess & Caress with Donald Osborne and Jay Leno
Noon, Revs Institute Presents: Protecting the Family Legacy and Preserving Automotive Enthusiasm During the Coming Revolution, featuring Miles Collier, John Elkann and Paul Ingrassia
1:30 p.m., The Theory of Automotive Evolution featuring Leslie Kendall, Stewart Reed and John Nikas
3 p.m., Coachbuilders of Our Future, featuring David and Michael Moal, Andy Leach, Chip Foose and Wayne Carini
4:30 p.m., The Outlook for the Future of Urban Transportation: Battery-Electric Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Advanced Rapid Transit, with Tomas Stone, Wolfgang Egger and Herman Kraviez
Friday, August 16
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Pebble Beach RetroAuto, Pebble Beach Forum and AFAS Exhibition continue.
Legends of the Autobahn, The Club at Pasadera, 100 Pasadera Drive, Monterey, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
10th annual concours d’elegance featuring more than 400 cars from a variety of German marques. Admission is free but there’s a $25 per car parking fee. This year Legends shares its show field with RADwood’s inaugural Monterey Car Week event. But the RADwood event will feature a twist as its showcase of 1980s and 1990s vehicles and fashion will be limited this time to European cars and motorcycles.
Porsche Werks Reunion, Corral de Tierra Country Club,81 Corral de Tierra Road, Salinas, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fifth annual free showcase of all things Porsche, with judging based more on cars that have been lovingly maintained rather than undergone concours-quality restoration.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, Quail Lodge, Carmel, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering provides an automotive showcase and a festival of food in an elegant outdoor atmosphere. The admission ticket is pricey, but sells out quickly months ahead of time. For its 17th year, the event features the 25th anniversary of the McLaren F1, the Bentley centennial and a tribute to the electric car movement, a showcase of Hollywood vehicles from the Petersen Automotive Museum, as well as several new vehicle debuts.
Pacific Grove Rotary Concours and Rally, Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, noon to 5 p.m.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the local Rotary Club stages a free car show (followed by a road rally tour of 17 Mile Drive) in the downtown business district of Pacific Grove. In recognition of Carroll Shelby’s display of his Cobra at the inaugural event, the 2019 show will offer the Shelby Cobra as the featured marque.
Saturday, August 17
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Pebble Beach RetroAuto, Pebble Beach Forum and AFAS Exhibition continue.
Concours d’Lemons, 440 Harcourt Avenue, Seaside, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“An ugly oil stain on the Pebble Beach Auto Week, the Concours d’Lemons returns once again to Seaside,” is how organizers of the anti-concours phrase the presence of their event on the Monterey Car Week calendar. This free showcase features automotive misfits, as our Bob Golfen described it last year, turning rust and ridicule into an art form. “Here,” he noted, “the rotted, rusty, battered dregs of motoring are unabashedly celebrated for their very awfulness.” Seriously, you need to see this show to believe it takes place.
Concorso Italiano, Bayonet Golf Course, Seaside, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In its 34th year, Concorso Italiano celebrates all things Italian, but especially Italian cars and Italian cuisine. Among its features this year is the 50th anniversary of the Iso Lele, an Italian-American hybrid by Iso Rivolta. Only 285 of the coupes were produced, the first 125 with Chevrolet engines and the final 160 powered by Ford. Also featured will be the Zagato centennial, Abarth’s 70th anniversary, 60 years of De Tomaso, 50 years of Ferrari Dino, and the showing of the new De Tomaso P72 and the Apollo IE Intersa Emozione.
Ferrari Social at the Barnyard, 3663 The Barnyard, Carmel, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
For the 22nd year, members of the Ferrari Owners Club will show off their cars at this event at the Barnyard shopping center.
Exotics on Broadway, Broadway Avenue, Seaside, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Formerly staged as Exotics on Cannery Row, this free car show is moving to Broadway Avenue in Seaside where there will be more room for cars and various vendors who cater to the luxury and exotic automotive market.
Sunday, August 18
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion continues at Laguna Seca.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, The Pebble Beach Lodge, Pebble Beach, Hagerty presents Dawn Patrol at 5:30 a.m., official concours d’elegance opens at 10:30 a.m. and prize giving concludes at 5 p.m.
For its 67th car show, staged on the oceanside 18th fairway of the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will celebrate the Bentley and Zagato centennials and will have special classes for Bugatti racing and touring cars, for cars that appeared on the cover of Hot Rod magazine, of Thomas Flyers, Ballot and the Lamborghini Miura. Don’t forget to take in the showcase of concept cars at the entrance to The Lodge and the Japanese Automotive Invitational up on Peter Hay Hill.
