Concours d'Elegance

The Secret Experiences of Monterey Car Week 2025

While Monterey Car Week’s public events capture global attention, the automotive world’s most coveted experiences unfold behind gated driveways and within private estates scattered across the Peninsula. These invitation-only gatherings, whispered about on social media and accessible only to industry insiders and loyal customers of luxury car manufacturers represent the true pinnacle of automotive exclusivity. Beyond the manicured lawns of Pebble Beach lies a parallel universe of secret events that automotive journalists and social media accounts only hint at in cryptic posts. These gatherings operate on an unspoken hierarchy where access depends less on wealth and more on relationships within the collector community. From Range Rover’s hillside mansion transformations to Ferrari’s private villa celebrations, dubbed Casa Ferrari, the Peninsula becomes

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Monterey Car Week 2025: Events Schedule

Monterey Car Week returns August 8-17, 2025, with ten days of world class automotive events spanning the Monterey Peninsula. This events schedule and guide provides event listings with addresses, times, and pricing to help you navigate this legendary celebration of automotive excellence. Events by Date Friday, August 8 Saturday, August 9 Sunday, August 10 Monday, August 11 Tuesday, August 12 Wednesday, August 13 Thursday, August 14 Friday, August 15 Saturday, August 16 Sunday, August 17 Events by City Carmel Carmel Valley Monterey Pacific Grove Pebble Beach Salinas Seaside Free Events Only 14 Completely Free Events Paid Events by Price $89 – $400 Range $650 – $750 Range $800+ Premium Events Variable Pricing (TBD) Most auctions and specialty events have pricing

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Monterey Auto Week returned to glory with cars galore

Monterey Auto Week has a problem, and it’s about as good as it gets. After a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19, the return edition ended Sunday, August 15 with the 70th anniversary of the Concours d’Elegance. It was the grand finale to a now 10-day occasion of about 30 events. And therein the issue for automotive enthusiasts gathering on the Monterey Peninsula: Where do we go and what do we all do first? How do we prioritize? Isn’t it great to have choices? Bruce Aldrich and I have represented The Weekly Driver website and podcast at Monterey Auto Week for several years. I’ve attended various auto shows, racing, auctions and related events on the peninsula since 1987 while contributing content

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Aston Martin world debut: Hypercar Valkyrie Spider

The Valkyrie Spider, marketed as one of the world’s most extreme hypercars, was unveiled August 11 by Aston Martin at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance during Monterey Auto Week. With off-roof driving and described by the manufacturer as “the most comparable experience to that of an F-1 car not limited to the track,” the Valkyrie Spider will feature a 6.5-liter V12 with revving to more than 11,000 RPM. While the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s unique 1155PS hybrid V12 powertrain remains unchanged, the Valkyrie Spider has received revisions to its carbon-fiber structure. Plus, Aston Martin has announced a “precise recalibration of both the active aerodynamic and active chassis systems.” Aston Martin Hypercar Debuts With its ultra-lightweight construction and high downforce aerodynamics package,

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Kaiser Darrin, 1954: Best Of Show At Concours On The Avenue

It was one of the first cars I noticed, and after looking at an estimated 200 other vehicles, the 1954 Kaiser Darrin was still my favorite at the recently concluded Monterey Auto Week. The Concours on the Avenue in Carmel was only presented for the second year in 2008. But it has come into its own, particularly with cars like the Darrin Owner John Nirenstein of Tiburon, California, showcased it on Tuesday, Aug. 12, the second day of the event. Kaiser Darrin: Art Decco on wheels Nirenstein, participating in the event for the first time. He bought the car 10 years ago and took 22 months to restore it. While soft jazz played in the background, the car got plenty

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#189, Sandra Button: Queen of the Pebble Beach Concours

Sandra Button has judged thousands of cars, Bentley to Bugatti, Maserati to Mercedes-Benz. But a masterpiece from yesteryear can still give the chairwoman of the Pebble Beach Concours a jolt. It happens early Sunday mornings when 200 cars emerge at Pebble Beach Golf Links for the annual homage to automotive beauty and tradition. “I have seen cars drive onto the field from the mist and thought, ‘that’s the one; that’s got a run for the roses,’ “said Button. Sometimes, I’m right and sometimes I’m not. Sometimes, they don’t even make it out of their class. “But I’ve been surprised many, many times seeing a car come around the corner onto the field and saying, ‘wow, what is that?’ It didn’t

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Coronavirus hasn’t halted 2020 Classic Car Week

Monterey Auto Week, the varied collection of pricey rarities, vintage race cars and coveted relics, is scheduled as planned on the Monterey Peninsula in August. But the uncertainty of the coronavirus virus restrictions could still halt the annual celebration of automobiles. Beginning with the Monterey Kick-Off Cruise-In on Alvarado Street in Monterey and continuing through the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 16, the international gathering including more than 30 attractions. “We care deeply about the entrants, judges and guests of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and we want to act wisely in regard to this new challenge that we are all now facing,” organizers posted on the event’s website. “Our event is several months into the future, and we

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Citroën debuts as Beach Pebble Concours d’Elegance marque

Build a vehicle with the combined talents of an Italian sculptor and industrial designer and a French aeronautical engineer, and the result is a Citroën DS. The plan was a secret for years. But when the car debuted at the 1955 Paris Auto Show, the automotive industry was forever changed. The French carmaker will be a featured marque for the first time at the Concours d’Elegance. The annual finale to Classic Car Week will be held Sunday at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Named after André-Gustave Citroën, who founded the company in 1919, the wild creation was the replacement to the Citroën Traction Avant. As the first mass-produced car with modern disc brakes, the Citroën DS arrived as the collaboration of

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Sandra Button: Queen of the Concours d’Elegance

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was doing fine 30 years ago. It had honored the 100th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz and celebrated milestones of many others carmakers along the way — Bugatti to Ferrari to Maserati. Sandra Pruin (now Button) had also been hired as special events coordinator for Pebble Beach Company to help organize dog shows and golf tournaments — and the Concours d’Elegance part-time. The Conours was already internationally prominent and it remains the apex of Monterey Auto Week. But Button has now orchestrated the event for three decades. And she’s been a keen observer as the peninsula’s importance as an automotive-themed destination for events ranging price-gasping auctions to memorabilia shows has expanded. Niche events have come and gone

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Car art thriving at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The artistry of automobiles is among the focal points of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Books to movies to songs, the style, history and craftsmanship of cars is celebrated in different ways. The Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) will observe the 30th anniversary of its members’ preferred method — automotive-themed fine art — during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. An estimated 250 works of art by about two-dozen artists will be showcased with the more than 200 cars on display. The work of three guest artists and two visiting artists from Japan will also be exhibited. An invitational-only preview is scheduled at 4 p.m. Saturday night followed by a full-day’s display with the presentation of automobiles from 9 a.m. to

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Hyundai among 14 concept cars at Concours d’Elegance

Concept cars, sometimes called prototypes or dream cars, are made for many reasons. At car shows, they can attract vast attention as one-of-a-kind, far-fetched machines never to be driven by the public or even seen again. But concept vehicles can also allows manufacturers’ to gain public reaction to vehicles just before they’re launched. The vehicles offered, like some of the current 14 concepts scheduled to be showcased at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, could only a few minor differences from the vehicles that will soon be public.Either way, car enthusiasts thrive on concepts, often the more outrageous the better. According to Sandra Button, chairman of the Concours d’Elegance, concept vehicles returned and were featured with new manufacturers’ models in the

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Concours d’Elegance: Derek Hill is the new voice of iconic show

As a spectator, participant, judge and son of the most distinguished individual in the event’s history, Derek Hill has attended the Concours d’Elegance for as long as he can remember. This year, seven years after his father’s death, Hill will have a new role — master of ceremonies. Hill, 40, a prominent professional driver in numerous disciplines, will assume the responsibilities of Edward Herrmann, the former actor, director and automotive enthusiast who died last December. Hill’s father Phil, the 1961 Formula One world champion and three-time 24 Hours of LeMans titlist, died in 2008 in Salinas at age 81. He was a judge at the Concours d’Elegance for 40 years and won Best of Show in 1955 with his restored

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Concours d’Elegance embraces rare, expensive cars

After a week of event overdrive, Pebble Beach Automotive Week will conclude, as per tradition, with the 64th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s the Sunday finale to the yearly homage to automobile and motorcycle history. The full-day affair will begin at dawn when an estimated 225 vehicles, including eight featured car and motorcycle marques, begin to assemble on the 18th hole fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Judging begins at 9 a.m. and the Concours is open to spectators beginning at 10:30 a.m. The award presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Each year, Concours d’Elegance organizers offer a varied mix of historically significant vehicles. This year’s selection is among the most diverse in recent history.

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Rare Ruxton gets spotlight at Concours d’Elegance

Like other early automotive experiments, the Ruxton emerged via innovators and investors with big ideas and bigger egos. The marriages were creative, the cars extraordinary and failure quick. The short life of the exotic Ruxton, however, had more than its share of intrigue, resentment, failed financing and multiple layers of lawsuits. The result: the vehicle was named after New York stockbroker William Ruxton who was a friend of Archie Andrews, who owned the prototype. But the duo’s friendship ended when Ruxton, the project’s pending financier, scrapped the funding. He also sued Andrews to accentuate his lack of support for his former friend and his automotive namesake. Andrews failed with several other manufacturers but landed a deal with the Moon Motor

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Concept cars have long history at Pebble Beach

Concept vehicles, sometimes with variant names like show cars, prototypes and dream cars, are made by manufacturers for two related reasons. Car enthusiasts thrive on viewing new cars, the more outrageous the better. Carmakers also rely on concept cars to gauge the public interest in a new vehicle. Can it potentially advance from the bright lights of auto shows to dealership showrooms to public driveways? General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the first concept, the Buick Y-Job, in the late 1930s. Earl took his increasingly popular concept on the road in the 1950s in Motorama shows across the country. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was part of the early concept scene, too. When the event debuted

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