Monterey Car Week, the Motorlux report

Our man Peter Singhof dives into the first party of Monterey Car Week. He steered away from (most of) the champagne to bring us this report on Motorlux.

So, Monterey Car Week finally set off. After Motorsport Pre-Reunion – the appetizer, really – the Kickoff Concours on Pacific Grove by Classic Motorsport on Tuesday opened the festivities of what is the most important classic car and historic racing event in the US.

Martini Porsche, chassis #001

On Wednesday, the auction companies opened their previews to the public. This year a wide range of high-quality cars will go over the block in what might become a record year for the classic (race) car market. Gooding & Co. has a Lotus 18 Formula 1 on offer, and chassis #001 in the Martini Porsche 935s. And a Ferrari 333 SP, to name but a few. RM Sotheby’s has a 2006 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21 – ex Juan-Pablo Montoya and tested by Lewis Hamilton – to whet our appetite, and a spectacular 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider, one of two made. But of course, RM’s big news yesterday was this announcement.

Time for a party

Gooding & Co. and RM Sotheby’s set up their cars at the usual locations either in the Pebble Beach grounds and the Portola Hotel in downtown Monterey. The newest of the auction houses, Broad Arrow set up their preview at the airport jet centre. After putting Broad Arrow into place, the Hagerty group also acquired the McCall Jet Centre Party that has been the first big social event of the Car Week for years. Renamed into Motorlux, the event opened its gates this evening at 6pm while just around the corner in one of the neighbour hangars the first day of the auction was held.

Fine dining

Soon after the opening many people floated in to meet like-minded car enthusiasts but also the high-society of the Monterey area that took the opportunity to meet up during one of the most busy weeks on the peninsula. Greeted with a glass of champagne, there was a lot to explore on the tarmac at the private aviation centre. Car manufacturers like McLaren or Alfa Romeo showed their latest models, but also small specialized car brands like Kimera had their modern interpretation of the Lancia 037 on display. Apart from the cars on auction, many more classics were on display, in between the private jets and the helicopters.

Welcome addition

After a first look around, people lined up at the various booths to have a taste of fine wine, whiskey, gin or cocktails and champagne setting the mood for the chats to socialize with collectors all over the world who come here every year. As the sun set and the evening hours progressed, the dance floor started to fill with people, others sat down in the different lounges or stood around the bar tables. Normally those cocktail parties dry out very early in the US as many people have early dinner reservations in Monterey or Carmel, but even after several hours the party was still busy and when the first entrants of the Pebble Beach Concours left because of the early start of the tour tomorrow morning the party was still in full swing.

On to the next

Motorlux is definitely a plus for Car Week, as it never seemed to be this crowded on Wednesday evening in previous years, a larger variety of food and booze might have convinced even more people than in the past to spend some money on the well-sought-after tickets. As said, Thursday will be the more traditional day with the Pebble Beach Tour, but most likely most of the party people will be back on Friday at the Quail Motorsport Gathering when the party continues all over the day.