Pebble Beach’s Japanese car show expands to three days

Last year, although they weren’t included on the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links, collectible Japanese cars had their own showcase for two days up on the Lodge’s Peter Hay Hill next to the Infiniti corporate display.

This year, the Japanese Automotive Invitational expands to a three-day event and will share the same theme being celebrated by Infiniti as it marks its 30th anniversary. The theme: Progenitors and Icons: 30 Years of Japanese Luxury.

Infiniti will celebrate with a showing of its tree Inspiration concept cars in its pavilion. The automaker says it will be the first time that the three cars have been displayed together.

The Japanese Automotive Invitational will present a lineup of vehicles including the 1963 Prince Skyline Sport, 1966 Nissan CSP 311, 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport, 1990 Infiniti Q45 and others to represent major performance, luxury, technology, engineering, ingenuity and motorsports achievements.

Among those sending cars to the invitational are the Petersen, California and Malamut museums, as well as collectors including Adam Carolla and Myron Vernis and Nissan North America.

The showcase will be open August 16 and 17 from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and August 18 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is open with no charge.

Also taking place during those times will be live art demonstrations by Makoto Endo, who uses chopsticks to fling ink onto canvas to create one-of-a-kind paintings; guided tours by the MotorTrend editorial staff and a fireside chat at 2 p.m. August 17 with MotorTrend’s Angus MacKenzie.

In addition, MotorTrend editor Ed Loh will host a “30 Years of Japanese Luxury” forum at 3 p.m. August 16 as part of the Pebble Beach Classic Car Forums held at the Inn at Spanish Bay.

For more information, visit the Japanese Automotive Invitational website.