Monterey Car Week 2012

(Above: Can-Am and Le Mans legends take to the track at Laguna Seca.)

Every August, the small seaside town of Monterey, California, briefly becomes the center of the automotive world. With the historic races, now officially known as the 'Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion', at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and a multitude of auctions selling collector cars of all kinds, there's something for everyone. It feels like every corner you turn on the Monterey peninsula reveals another 'once in a lifetime' sighting of a car you never expected to see outside a museum.

(Above: Charles Wegner's 1959 Ferrari 250LWB.)

The Rolex Reunion has a featured marque every year, and this time it was the Shelby Cobra. 2012 marked the 50th anniversary of Caroll Shelby's iconic car, and in the aftermath of his sad passing, this year's events in Monterey became a celebration of the great racer and builder's life, as well as of his cars. At Laguna Seca, 45 original competition Cobras took to the track in their own dedicated class, including one of the six original Daytona Coupes, several others appeared in other classes, and hundreds of Cobras were on show in the pits, paddock, and camping areas. Quite a few significant Cobras were on show across town at Pebble Beach, as well.

 

(Above: the Cobra class pace lap passes through Turn 6.)

 

(Above: Just a few of the many historic Cobras on display.)

Classes at Laguna Seca represented almost every period of auto racing before the current generation. From the dawn of motorsports in the early 1900s, to the peak of performance at Le Mans and in IMSA in the 1980s and 1990s, and with everything from Mille Miglia-style GTs to historic NASCAR stock cars, just about every form and era of road racing was on track.

(Above: 1950s and '60s sports cars and GTs dive into Laguna Seca's infamous 'Corkscrew.') 

(Above: The Ford GT40 probably needs no introduction! This 1966 example is from the Collier Collection at The Revs Institute.)

(Above: James Alter's 1952 Jaguar XK120.)

(Above: 1991 Mazda RX7 GTO IMSA car. One of the most modern machines of the weekend.)

(Above: This BMW E9 3.0 CSL was driven by BMW North America's chairman, Ludwig Willisch.)

(Above and below: Dick Deluna in his 1917 Hall-Scott 'The Four'.)

(Above: Rob Fisher's 1957 AC ACECA.)

(Above: Ranson Webster's 1976 Porsche 956.)

(Above: This Porsche 935 was recently 'rescued' from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum and restored by renowned collector Bruce Canepa.)

On Sunday, the Pebble Beach country club, a few minutes away from Laguna Seca, hosted their famous Concours d'Elegance. This is one of the most prominent events in the classic car concours world, and the event was filled with owners, fans, manufacturers, and celebrities. In addition to the Pebble Beach show proper, several manufacturers of high-end cars showed off their newest concepts, and some had stands displaying their current models.

(Above: A beautiful Ferrari 250GT LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta. This car belongs to David Cottingham, in England.)

 

(Above: Cars of the Maharajas were featured at Pebble Beach, and 1910 Brooke 25/30HP 'Swan Car' was a crowd favorite')

(Above: 'especially since it was accompanied by this companion car! Both can be found in the Louwman Museum, in The Netherlands.)

(Above: Dodge's new Viper GT-S.)

(Above: Lamborghini's 'Sesto Elemento' prototype. This carbon fiber trackday monster weighs less than 2300lb, and will make around 600HP in production form. Too bad it won't be street-legal!)

(Infiniti was the title sponsor of Pebble Beach this year, and their EMERG-E electric supercar concept attracted quite a bit of attention. Infiniti hasn't confirmed production, but there are two fully-functional 'mules' being tested, and it would certainly make an impressive rival to Lexus's LF-A and LF-LC.)

Auctions are also a major part of the Monterey scene. Gooding, RM, and Mecum are just some of the events held during the week. Gooding's auctions, held at Pebble Beach on Saturday and Sunday, set a new record for total sales at an event auction.

(Above: This 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Prototype crossed the block for $6,000,000, at the lower end of the estimate.)

Stay tuned for future features on the cars and events from Monterey 2012!

Related posts:

1. Gallery: 2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by PatrÃ'³n
2. The Garage visits 2008 Monterey Historics
3. Friday Freeway
4. As If It Couldn't Get Any Better
5. Rennsport Reunion IV