Here’s a fine article in the New York Times on the auto-related festivities at Monterey and Pebble Beach this year. I have never been–I missed out when my in-laws moved away from the area before I could attend–but I hear good things. And really, since some of these events do not require big money tickets, how can you beat the history…and the cars?
Alfa-Romeo 8C (pic sourced from autoworldnotes.blogspot.com)
Some excerpts:
Monterey’s Festival, Rich in Tradition
Genesis, in this instance, was a small sports-car meeting, advertised as “European road races,” that took place on a 1.8-mile makeshift circuit in the Del Monte Forest, admission $1. More or less as an afterthought, a car show, given the French title of concours d’élégance to maintain the European theme, attracted 32 entries, most of them new models owned by Forest residents, was added. Admission was free.
A college dropout from Santa Monica with ambitions to be a racing driver won the main event in a Jaguar XK120, despite an uncooperative clutch. In later years he would win at Pebble again and also win the concours’ Best of Show award with a 1931 Pierce-Arrow that he and his brother had restored. The erstwhile student was Phil Hill, who would ascend to the title of World Driving Champion in 1961.
Most of the action happens during the third week of this month, with the climax being the 63rd Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, which can lay claim to being the world’s most important, on Sunday, Aug. 18. Over the years, activity has spread from the Del Monte Forest to 16 locations in the Monterey area, including Carmel’s main thoroughfare, Ocean Avenue, where more than 200 cars are expected at the seventh annual Concours on the Avenue on Aug. 13.
Shall we pack our bags?