24h Le Mans
The coastal city of Monterey plays host to one of the biggest classic car meetings in the USA every August, with a week of events including exhibitions, parades, auctions, a race around the legendary Laguna Seca circuit and a Concours d’Elegance. This year, BMW, the marque that took victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999, is very much in the spotlight at the American show.
Every summer, classic car enthusiasts gather for Monterey Car Week, a huge show held in the city located between Los Angeles and San Francisco in California. Like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it is the ideal opportunity to take their collector models and supercars out on the road.
Things kick off on Tuesday 16 August with Automobilia Monterey, a two-day fair where visitors will be able to browse (and buy!) rare automobile memorabilia such as scale models and posters. Also on Tuesday, owners of classic British cars get together for the week’s opening dinner. Proprietors of German and Italian motors will have their own gatherings later in the week. In fact, Ferrari and Porsche, two of the three most successful constructors in the history of Le Mans with nine and 18 trophies respectively, have their own dedicated events.
Smaller vehicles are celebrated at the Little Car Show on Wednesday, where this year’s theme is American cars. Then, Thursday, there is the Tour d’Elegance held along the famous 17-Mile Drive, a coastal road lined with Hollywood-style properties and offering splendid views over the Pacific Ocean.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion also begins on Thursday at Laguna Sec. We could compare this event to Le Mans Classic, with the added attraction of cars from Formula One and the American championships. This year, the guest of honour is BMW, marking the constructor’s centenary. In fact, the event’s poster features two cars that took to the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – Jeff Koon’s 2010 Art Car, which will go on show alongside the 3.0 CSL decorated by Alexander Calder in 1975 – and a car that won the French endurance classic, the 1999 V12 LMR, which will be raced by works driver Bill Auberlen.
Meanwhile on Friday 19 August, supercar fans are in for a treat with Exotics on Cannery Row, an event held on the seafront promenade named after the former sardine canneries, since rehabilitated to create a bustling tourist district. Cannery Row is also the title of a well-known John Steinbeck novel.
Rounding off the week on Sunday, there is the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, named after a district of Monterey and featuring several marques and special classes. Some are directly linked to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, such as the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT4 victory this year, or the BMW centennial celebrating the marque that triumphed at Le Mans in 1999. Then there is Delahaye, with the 135 S designed by Chapron coachworks, Marcel Pourtout, another coachbuilder who fitted out cars entered at Le Mans in 1938 and 1949, and Bizzarrini, the small Italian marque founded by Giotto Bizzarrini in the 1960s and whose Iso Grifo finished ninth overall (first in class) at Le Mans in 1965.
Finally, the leading auction houses all have a number of former Le Mans models on sale, such as the 1962 Ferrari 268 SP and Paul Newman’s 1979 Porsche.
Photo (copyright Louis Monnier): Cars in Laguna Seca's Corkscrew corner at 2014 Monterey Car Week.
Want more news? Sign up for free and get exclusive content and videos on myACO!
