The Best of Monterey

It has been a week since I returned from the all the car events on the Monterey Peninsula. While my body has recuperated from what the Sound Classics team lovingly refers to as "the Bataan Death March of car events," my brain is still on overload–dreaming about the cars I’d love to make mine.

To drive home not only the quantity of events, but also the quality of cars throughout the week, here is a list of each event I attended with the car I’d most like to own from it.

Carmel Concours (Tuesday): 1970 Lamborghini Miura S Nothing screams “supercar” quite like a brightly-painted Miura. This particular example was perfectly painted in correct factory orange, which contrasted nicely with the concours-quality black interior. It’s tough for a guy my size to drive one of these, but given the increasing values (I stood next to television personality Adam Carolla as he paid $423,500 for a yellow example at Russo and Steele) and always pleasing sounds from the V12, I’d cherish the chance to own it. Continue reading…

Blackhawk Exposition (Wednesday): 1934 Mercedes-Benz 380K Roadster After the authenticity of the Continental MKII Convertible after which I lusted was called into question, I began looking at this gorgeous 380K. There was a 540K there, but this particular car’s phaeton body isn’t nearly as sexy as the roadster’s. Quite honestly, though, I wouldn’t throw either out of the garage for leaving oil stains.

Infiniti House of Inspiration (Wednesday Night): 2008 Infiniti G37 Sedan No classics here, just Infiniti’s newest cars along with some high-fashion furniture, clothes and art.  The company was also showing the new FX, which actually looks less like a high-top sneaker than it used to. Since I’m not a fan of crossovers, I’d take the impressively good-looking G37 Sedan. I still wish the company would produce a long-wheelbase Q sedan that looked like the G to accommodate us 6-footers with families, though!

Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance (Thursday): 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 CSS Coupe There were plenty of beautiful cars here, but seeing this Figoni et Falaschi teardrop coupe driving down Ocean Ave. in Carmel simply made my knees weak. It sounded great, too!

Russo and Steele Preview Party (Thursday Night): 1958 Chrysler 300D Convertible With Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and some high-horsepower Shelbys, Corvettes and Mustangs, I’ll definitely get some crap for this selection. I’d much rather have the Baby-Hemi powered 300D in the ultra-rare Convertible body style, however, than almost any muscle car. It was fun to eat prime rib and shrimp while drooling all over what I consider to be one of Mopar’s best products ever.

RM Auctions Preview Party (Thursday Night): 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/C6  I ran down the street from Russo and Steele to spend some time at RM. I stopped dead in my tracks at the Competition-spec six-carburetor 275 GTB. There were certainly better restored classics…and even rarer and more valuable cars, but I actually got to talk to the owner, who was being forced to sell the car due to a nasty divorce.  He mentioned that he really wanted to buy it back.  I wished I had the money to buy it, drive (which is to say really enjoy) it, show it, then sell it back to him in the year or so he figured it would take to clear everything up. It actually sold a few days later for $1,012,000 including fees.

Concorso Italiano (Friday): 2008 Bugatti Veyron I’m putting on my flame suit, because at a show dedicated to Italian exotics, I’m picking a German manufacturer-owned car with French heritage and only an Italian name. Honestly, there were so many great Ferraris, Alfas, Lancias, Lamborghinis, De Tomasos, Maseratis that they started to all look…well, normal. The Veyron was so different and screamed "drive me at 225 mph."

Monterey Historics (Friday): Alfa Romeo Grand Prix In a world of over-restored garage queens, this Alfa was perfect in its originality. Still showing the hand-painted flag and names of drivers Fangio and Crespo (plus the original seat leather that held their asses in place), it would be an honor to own and race this important piece of automotive history.  Plus if I ever got bored, its sale could fund any other car I might desire.

Pininfarina Hyperion Unveiling hosted by Gooding (Friday Night): 1934 Triumph Dolomite 8 2400 Forget the Hyperion or any of the featured Bugattis of the Gooding Auction, I’ve lusted after a Dolomite 8 for decades.  Interested in creating sure-winners for international rallying, Donald Healey created the Dolomite for Triumph by reverse-engineering an Alfa 8C. The supercharged overhead cam straight eight engine is a dead-ringer for the Alfa’s. Only three were reportedly made by the factory (one being crashed into a train at the hands of Healey in the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally.) Three spare engines and parts were later assembled by High Speed Motors and bodied by Corsica. With its unabashedly British roadster body, Italian-inspired engine and Wilson pre-selector gearbox, it is a most interesting and impressive car.

Concept Cars on Pebble Beach Green (Saturday): Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport The production and concept cars rolled onto the putting green at the Pebble Beach Lodge on Saturday. While the Lexus LF-A was quite impressive, (you need to hear the F1-sound of the engine!) the removable top of the Bugatti Veyron made me wonder why I was ever dreaming of owning the standard Veyron coupe from Concorso Italiano.

RM Auction (Saturday Night): Ferrari 250GT TdF I was stunned when the cover car – a competition-proven 250GT Tour de France failed to meet its reserve after stalling at $3.8M. Minutes later, a steel-bodied 250GT SWB with no competition history hit $4.1M. Personally, I’d rather have the rarer TdF.

Russo and Steele Auction (Saturday Night): 1957 Mercedes 300SL Roadster I’m a sucker for the 300SLs, especially when finished in red, like this roadster. The roadsters are significantly better driving cars than the coupes, which means that I’d feel great doing a tour or rally in this one.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (Sunday): Buick Y-Job You simply cannot fathom the number of to-die-for cars until you attend this event.  Each class has at least two or three cars for which I would give body parts to own.  I’d have to regrettably pass on the gorgeous Duesenbergs, Lancias, Cadillacs, Packards, Ferraris, Nationals, Rolls-Royces, Scarabs, Lagondas, Mercedes-Benz examples, and even Jay Leno’s Tank Car to take the world’s first true “concept car”, the Buick Y-Job.  The Y-Job was one of the crown jewels in GM’s exhibit at Pebble of famous Motorama show cars. Many people don’t realize that Harley Earl drove the Buick Y-Job to work every day during and after show duty — and Pebble Beach entrant Sam Mann told me he once got to drive it. One would be hard-pressed to find a more significant car…and it still looks beautiful all these years later.

Seen on the street just driving around: Ferrari 250GT Spider California  Some of the best cars one sees during the week are simply driving around.  In my time spent on the Peninsula, I saw a Porsche 959, Ferrari F40 and F50 (and plenty of other lesser modern Ferraris), no less than six Porsche Carrera RS examples and four Speedsters, a JAP-engined Morgan three-wheeler, a gaggle of Cobras (real and replicas), and a few seriously modified Panteras. What struck me the most, however, was on separate occasions I saw different Ferrari 250GT Spider California examples. The first was red and tan (like the replica in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”,) and the other was black on black. I won’t bepicky – I’d take either.