Monterey the Greatest Car Show in America........Finally

Monterey the Greatest Car Show in America........Finally

Ever planned of an event you so badly wanted to see but you just miss it every time? Year after year you plan it, but every time the day gets closer, something more important pops out of your calendar. An unscheduled activity perhaps, or sometimes just plain life’s necessities that needed to be given priority.

People plan vacations that never happen... a surf in the beaches of Hawaii, a skiing adventure in Switzerland, a safari expedition in Africa, or maybe a cross country drive in Germany's no speed limit Autobahn.........  Well, for me, it's just an event not too far, a 5 hours drive north of where I live. Monterey, California.  It's an event in my calendar that I've been planning every year, unfortunately it just didn't happen everytime.



I love old cars as it always brings out the boy in me.  So if there's one thing I wanted to do every summer,  is to be at the week-long car celebration at Monterey. It’s the biggest car event in this side of the shore where car aficionados from all over America, Europe and even Asia and Australia, gather where they would ship their million dollar race cars to Monterey not just to show it off, but to push the pedals to the metal in the corkscrew of Laguna Seca...a collector car insurance' worst nightmare.

These are not just race cars; these are legitimate historical cars, from different racing series: from Formula1 to Indy, from Grand Nationals to the Trans Am series, from 24 hour of Le Man sports cars to some old GT cars. All the famous race cars names will be there, from Ferraris to Porsches, Mustangs to Mini Coopers, from Alfa Romeos to Datsuns and everything in between.

But the 3 day Monterey Historic race is just 1 event of the week-long celebration. Drive a few miles west and you’ll witness the most prestigious car show in America, the Pebble Beach Concour De Elegance where car guys the caliber of Jay Leno is a regular. Well of course if you are willing to pay at least the $300 spectator's fee.  Then there's the Concorso Italiano, where you’ll see the rarest Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other Italian marques whose badge you probably have never heard and well... you can hardly pronounce, the Monterey Auctions, if your pocket is deep enough to pay for a car whose value cost at least 5 average houses in Los Angeles. Then there are road rallies where you see vintage cars driving along the scenic Monterey roads, and dozens of free street car shows everywhere where you'll see hot rods, muscle cars, classic cars, race cars and rare cars.... And then of course, the show for the ugliest of ugly called the Concour De Lemon, a parody of Pebble Beach's Concour De Elegance, where you got to be sure you are up to date with your tetanus shot before even braving that show. 

Well after years of planning, I finally was able to pack my bag to drive up north and finally get a taste of Monterey.  My "Disneyland" x 1000......I feel like a kid in a candy store! Definitely a bucket list to every car junkie out there