CGC’s Jim Palam spent THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY, shot almost 3,000 photos & boiled it down to 18 highlights in this special report.
You might think that our report’s lead photo, above, is of a group of historic racecars charging into the squeeze at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s infamous Corkscrew during the 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, but this is actually one of the many instances of congestion in Monterey street traffic! And, futile attempts to reach a Car Week destination before they run out of gas! To say that the Monterey Peninsula was overcrowded and overtaxed this year is an understatement. With over 100,000 fans out and about, “Car Week” (August 7th through August 16th) was an attendee’s calculation of indeterminate chaos, and their need for automotive style, culture, and speed.
My Monterey Madness assignment was pragmatically cut down to two nights and three days because I could not find accommodations in Monterey, Carmel, Seaside, Pacific Grove, Del Rey Oaks, or Sand City. $175 motel rooms were going for $1,200 to $2,500 a night – if you could find one. Back in April, I had managed to grab an overpriced Motel 6 room one and a half hours away in the shadows of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, CA, but the dreaded thought of inching my way back and forth during THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY in the ” Car Crawl” was not acceptable!
Now the good news: Two days before heading up to Monterey from my home in Solvang, CA, I received a text from an ex-business partner who, with her classic car-broker husband, had rented a cute little Airbnb in Pacific Grove and they had an extra bedroom to rent. I gratefully grabbed it, and by 12 noon on Friday, August 14th, I was grabbing photos and stories at the 76th iteration of Monterey Car Week. Was it chaotic? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely! So, let’s charge into some of the highlights from my THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY.
This 1974 Lotus John Player Special Europa was originally purchased as a Twin-Cam road Car. To prepare it for IMSA GTU competition, it was refitted with a 1600-cc Ford Cosworth BDA mated to a Hewland FT200 gearbox. Racing in the 1978 24 Hours of Daytona, the clutch failed and the owner/driver abandoned the car on the track. That’s when co-driver Hirum Cruz jumped in, and using only 2nd and 4th gears, raced 18 more hours to finish the race. Now here she is, 48 years later, charging down the Corkscrew in the 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion with new owner Christof Jantzen behind the wheel.
It was pretty cool watching six living American 500-cc World Grand Prix Champions reunited to ride their iconic Japanese heritage race machines during the Japanese motorsport-themed segment of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, August 15th. Included in the pack accelerating out of turn No. 2 are Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts Jr., Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, and an unknown back marker.
I arrived at Laguna Seca early on Saturday, so I had a chance to check out some of the legendary Japanese performance machines that were conveniently parked right outside of the Media Center. This 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-T was built for the 1988 IMSA GTP season. It earned its nickname “Elvis” because of its commanding success record: Eight pole positions, nine victories, and ten fastest laps in 1988, a win at the 1989 12 Hours of Sebring with drivers Chip Robinson and Arie Luyendyk, and nine pole positions, ten victories, and seven fastest laps in 1989. Elvis rocks!
Here’s another early Saturday morning capture in the paddock at Laguna Seca. American pro motorcycle racing legend Nicky Hayden rode this 2006 Honda RC211V to the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, securing Honda’s 14th premier-class riders’ title and helping the Japanese manufacturer reclaim the constructor’s championship. Tragically, Nicky died at the age of 35 in 2017, after being struck by a car while training on his bicycle in Rimini, IT.
Go Neighbor Go!!! I met Santa Ynez Valley car guy and racer Stu Hanssen about six years ago at one of our Sunday morning Cars & Coffee gatherings. I captured this shot of him charging his recently acquired B/Production 1965 Corvette towards turn No. Nine at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, August 15th, in the Ken Miles Trophy Race. Stu’s Sting Ray roadster is powered by a fuel-injected 327 and has raced at Daytona and other tracks since the 1960s.
Right after picking up my Pebble Beach media credentials at Concours Village on Friday, August 14th, I headed across the street to the Gooding Christie’s Pebble Beach Auction Preview. I grabbed a photo of David Gooding, president and co-founder of this world-renowned automotive auction house, and then took photos of their featured car, one of six built: a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. It set a new record for American cars, selling for an all-in $42.9 million. (My bid of $1,000 fell short by $42,899,000. Oh well…)
One of the last display areas you pass in Concours Village as you head to the show field is the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge – where outside, I discovered the elegant 2026 Maybach SL 680. It’s powered by a 577-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission that sends power to all four wheels through the 4MATIC® drive system. The SL 680 is estimated to sprint from 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, with a top speed of 161 mph. Pricing starts at approximately $234,000, though optional bespoke paints and market adjustments can push the tab considerably higher.
It was the first car to catch my attention Sunday morning on the Concept Lawn at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The Audi Nuvolari on display is a European Prototype, with production limited to 499 units. According to Audi, it will be the fastest and most powerful production vehicle in the brand’s history, delivering over 987 horsepower from its 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 and three electric motors. The Nuvolari Prototype is built on a lightweight space frame with a carbon exterior. The estimated starting price is $701,000 in the US.
It’s a one-of-a-kind Art Deco masterpiece and considered the rarest Rolls-Royce in the world. The 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Jonckheere Coupé – famously called the “Round Door Rolls” – features nearly circular doors, a massive sloping grille, twin sunroofs, and a sleek aerodynamic body. When not on display at exclusive events like the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it is secured in the vault at the Petersen Museum in LA.
In the early 1950s, coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone teamed up with visionary designer Franco Scaglione to create three automotive jewels that would make up the revolutionary Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica (B.A.T.) Series: the 1953 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5, the 1954 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7, and the silver beauty pictured here – the 1955 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9d. All three of these drivable, kinetic sculptures were on display at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
There were over 15,000 attendees at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and I think I saw them all during my THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY! At 1 PM on Sunday, August 16, hundreds surrounded this 1,000-hp Sunbeam Land Speed Record car as it prepared to fire up its two gargantuan 22.5-liter Matabele V-12 aircraft engines. Back in 1927, this British engineering icon broke the World Land Speed Record at Daytona Beach by becoming the first-ever land-based machine to go over 200 mph. From now until March 29, 2027, when it makes a return to Daytona Beach, the Sunbeam will be making a fundraising tour of the States to benefit the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire, UK. When both engines finally fired, the Pebble crowd roared! For more information about this vintage engineering marvel, please visit https://carguychronicles.com/sunbeam-1000-horsepower-land-speed-record-breaker/
This very special 1950 HWM-Chevrolet “Stovebolt Special” returned to Pebble Beach from its home in the United Kingdom to be displayed at this year’s Concours. It was outfitted with experimental disc brakes and the first Chevy V-8 to be used in racing to compete in the last road race at Pebble Beach on April 22, 1956, with Bill Pollack behind the wheel. The return of the Stovebolt Special to Pebble Beach was made possible thanks to current owner Simon Taylor and the American Hot Rod Foundation. At Pebble 2026, it finished first in class R2.
Winner of The French Cup at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, this magnificent 1937 Dubonnet Xenia Saoutchik Aerodynamic Coupé made its way from the now shuttered Mullin Automotive Museum to the current caretakers, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Originally owned and developed by André Dubonnet, the grandson of Joseph Dubonnet of aperitif fame, and engineer Gustave Emile Chédru, this one-off luxury car is built on the chassis of a Hispano-Suiza H6B, and features aerodynamic coachwork by Saoutchik.
Sometimes the Concours d’Elegance is less about the cars… and more about The Cameras! This time-traveler-photographer came to Pebble Beach adorned with period-correct pre-1955 camera gear. The big camera is a fabulous late 1940s Graflex Crown 4×5 “Press” camera, in the middle, a like-new 1947 Rolleiflex 6×6 TLR, and lastly, an iconic 35mm Leica IIIf RD ST, vintage 1954. Rounding out the look is a vintage jacket, tie and specs – and for photographic style – a background featuring a creamy 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale.
This 1953 Ferrari 340 MM Vignale Spyder occupied a prestigious perch on the bay edge of the 18th fairway at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. It was entered in the Road Race Production Class at the Concours. The last of ten 340 MM Spyders built, it was originally owned by Sterling Edwards, who founded the Pebble Beach Road Races. Ferrari 340 MMs finished in 1st, 4th and 9th places in the 1953 Mille Miglia, and also won the Tour of Sicily at Silverstone and the Nürburgring. It is currently owned by the Wolf Family of Beverly Hills.
A BIG Deal! This 1957 Fiat Tipo 642RN R2 Transporter, originally constructed by Carrozzeria Bartoletti, is a legendary racecar hauler built on a Fiat bus chassis. It once carried Scuderia Ferrari’s iconic Formula One cars across Europe – two on top, one in the back – plus seven crew members, spare parts and tools. The Transporter, powered by a 6,650-cc inline-six diesel engine, won the “Chairman’s Trophy” at the Concours, awarded to the most deserving car present – as selected by the Chairman. It was shown by Jon & Kim Shirley of Medina, WA.
I ran into “Urban Outlaw” Magnus Walker in the paddock at Laguna Seca on Saturday, August 15. If you don’t recognize this bearded carguy, here’s his snappy sketch: Originally from Sheffield, UK, and now in LA, Magnus made a wardrobe full of money with his fashion line, then gained global fame for collecting, restoring, and modifying classic air-cooled Porsche 911s. This was the third time in three years that we bumped into each other during Monterey Car Week. That pointed finger is not an admonishment for the paddock bump but rather his signature pose that accompanies his catchphrase “Get out and drive; pedal to the metal.”
Story & Photos © Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/
For a list of events during my THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY, please visit https://www.seemonterey.com/monterey-car-week-events-by-day/
To learn more about one of the highlights – the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance – of MY THREE DAYS IN MONTEREY, check out https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/