What began 28 years ago as the “Jet Center Party,” a way for Gordon McCall and friends to kickoff the Monterey Car Weekend has become McCall’s Motorworks Revival, the VIP social event of what is now Monterey Car Week that draws 3,000 people for the A-list gathering.
Gordon and Molly McCall’s guests tend to be the Jet Set, and not just because the event still is held amid a wonderful mix aircraft and automobiles, and with a steady stream of gourmet culinary delights from noted California chefs with champagne and award-winning wines.
“Our 2019 event is set to be one of our most thrilling and glamorous yet,” Gordon McCall said just before the guests arrived Wednesday night.
He was correct. Again, the evening was an eclectic mix of aircraft — including a B25 Mitchell bomber and P51 Mustang — motorcycles and automobiles.
Gordon and Molly McCall are the masters of organizing a fabulous social automotive gathering. Gordon has been a class judge at Pebble Beach, where he was field coordinator for more than 25 years. He also is the founder of The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, another huge garden party/car show that takes place Friday.
Among the highlight vehicles at the Revival this year was the BMW 320 Turbo campaigned by Jim Busby Racing in the IMSA GTX series. The car debuted in 1978 in FIA Group 5 competition before being sold to Busby. The racer houses a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder M12 engine built by McLaren.
Another featured vehicle on the tarmac was an exacting replica of the 1935 Bugatti Aerolithe and built with an original Bugatti Type 57 chassis engine and running gear and boasting a hand-formed magnesium body built using the same methods as the original car.
The latest business aircraft was on display, including the Embracer Legacy 500 with a flying range of 3,123 nautical miles, and the Pilatus PC-12 turbine-powered single-engine business aircraft.
The “Jet Center Party,” as many still know it, is a mixture of pleasure and self-indulgence, all in the name of automotive luxury lifestyle, and as a way to benefit the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation that provides assistance to CHP families in financial crisis as well as scholarships for their sons, daughters and spouses.
Worth noting that two watch brands, Chronoswiss and Reservoir, each donated a watch to raise funds for the California Highway Patrol Foundation CHP-11-99. Chronoswiss gave a Flying Regulator with special engraving, and Reservoir donated a Supercharged Classic. Funds raised go to families of CHP officers in need.