The Queens of Every Era at Monterey Car Week

The queens of every era at Monterey Car Week

With the great motor shows now almost entirely disappeared, events like the Monterey Car Week have found a way to evolve, gathering in just a few days everything that elsewhere now lives apart: great classics, hypercars, restomods, and manufacturers. Not to mention the great collectors and the world of passion that refuses to stay away. For those who have never experienced it, the discovery is that every day – across refined golf courses, hotels, sumptuous villas, racing circuits, and the celebrated 17 Mile Drive Road – there are events of every kind dedicated to the automobile. Among them, beyond a quantity of premieres that no traditional motor show could have imagined, the Concorsi d’Eleganza and the historic racing at Laguna Seca. Roarington went in search of the most interesting cars, both present and awarded.

In Carmel, at the refined The Quail, among the 200 cars entered in the concours, the Best of Show went to the magnificent 1957 Ferrari 625/250 Testa Rossa, one of the jewels in Bruce Meyer’s collection.

GMA, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Rolex Bruce Meyer’s 1957 Ferrari 625/250 Testa Rossa was crowned Best of Show at The Quail, celebrating its Scaglietti coachwork, remarkable racing pedigree and exceptional provenance.

On the occasion of the event, Gordon Murray Special Vehicles presented its new creation, the S1 – 64 examples, all already sold, with a naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 and a six-speed manual gearbox. McLaren did something even more symbolic with the McL 6GT: V8, rear-wheel drive. Three pedals and the return of the manual at Woking after more than thirty years, inspired by the M6GT envisioned by Bruce McLaren in the late 1960s. The RUF EHRA with 650 horsepower and seven manual ratios, and the reborn Spyker C8 Preliator XXV – 800 horsepower and just 25 examples – also seem to suggest a return to genuine driving. In this showcase of wonders, Aston Martin presented the Valen, derived from the Vanquish V12, and Bugatti offered the Destrier, the third one-off in the Programme Solitaire, retaining the W16’s 1,600 horsepower while clothing it in forms more suited to road use. Koenigsegg, meanwhile, reopened an unfinished chapter by presenting the CCGT1, which revisits the GT1 of twenty years ago. 1,600 horsepower and 70 examples, all already allocated.

We will return to the subject of restomods in the coming days – a trend that is becoming unstoppable.

The Gordon Murray Special Vehicles S1 feels like a modern interpretation of the McLaren F1, blending its purist philosophy. Limited to 64 already sold examples, it pairs a naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 with a six-speed manual gearbox.

Concorso Italiano changed its rhythm this year without changing its theme. More than fifty Alfa Romeo Duettos celebrated sixty years of the model, conveying a deeply significant message: it is not the value or importance of the car that counts, but the celebration of iconic models – even those of modest value – that prove themselves to be admired historical benchmarks. And finally, Pebble Beach, the place where the week returns to its own origins. On the 18th fairway, for the 75th edition, 218 cars competed for the most coveted prize, and Best of Show went to Harry Yeaggy’s 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster – one of just two SSJ models built, and once owned by Clark Gable. But to stop at the outright queen would be to tell only half the story, because to read through the class winners is to leaf through an atlas of classic automobiles; several of these names appear in The Key’s Top 100, the ranking that since 2018 has mapped the world’s most important and influential automotive collections.

Harry Yeaggy’s 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster, one of just two built and once owned by Clark Gable, was crowned Best of Show at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The Bob Bahre Collection’s 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve "Car of the Dome" won the class dedicated to the Century of Progress Exhibition. Anne Brockinton Lee secured a double, with the 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Fernandez et Darrin Coupé de Ville among the prewar streamliners and with the 1949 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta in the Chinetti/NART class. Fritz Burkard and the Pearl Collection added another award with the 1938 Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet, first among the European classics over four litres. David and Melissa MacNeil won the Ferrari Competition class with the 1966 275 GTB/C; the Heinecke Family Collection took the Ferrari Grand Touring class with the 1955 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta. Dano Davis prevailed in Prewar Preservation with the 1930 Cord L-29 Murphy Town Car, and William "Chip" Connor in Postwar Sports Touring with a 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV. To discover them all, visit:https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/cars/2026-class-winners-1st-place/

All of this – and much more – makes the Monterey Car Week a kind of laboratory of ideas that, between great classics and bold new arrivals, between nostalgia and the pursuit of technical excellence, between pure sporting purpose and the pleasure of future comfort, builds tomorrow on an enduring passion. A magical and deeply inspiring place that reaffirms itself year after year.

Across the 18th fairway, a remarkable selection of automotive masterpieces was crowned across the many classes, celebrating the extraordinary breadth of design, heritage and engineering that defines Pebble Beach.