Its been almost two weeks since the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K was crowned the King of All Cars. We have taken the last two weeks to reflect and digest all things Monterey. It was a hectic but productive five days on the Peninsula. Turtle Garage fit one hundred pounds into a five pound bag. On the auction front, we attended RM, Gooding, Bonhams, and Mecum. Through some good connections and friends, we were able to secure tickets to most key events including the Quail. From a meal perspective we did it all! We had breakfast with Wayne Carini prior to picking up his Concours d’ Lemons ride from Dodi’s auto sales in Monterey.We had lunch in Carmel at Le Bicyclette. We had dinner at Stillwater at the Lodge. We watched the tour depart. We attended the seminars. We went to Concours d’ Lemons. We even made it to Dawn Patrol. Of course we also attended the grand finale at Pebble on Sunday. It was a full week!
What follows is a photographic journal of a hectic but fulfilling five days in Monterey. Each photo tells a story and we have added captions.
Arrival on Thursday night at Eric Keller’s EAG’s dinner party with Regan Clark (left) and Alec Cartio (center)
The Tour departure
Some of the most rare and spectacular 300SL’s were on display and were driven on the tour
This rare Pierce Arrow was a head turner
A prior Pebble Beach winning Packard
Its a Duesy
Vintage electric cars were a big hit at Monterey this year.
The winged lady was a popular ornament
The tour departs
Dinner at Stillwater—the best view at Pebble Beach
The Mecum auction was lively and full of bidders
The Bonham’s auction was very well attended and results were spectacular
Luckily my connections with SCM and others helped gain access to all the venues
The Quail was loaded with gorgeous pre-war cars
More from the Quail
The Singer booth was popular
Mercedes-Benz through the years
Arriving at Dodi’s used car sales
Wayne and Julie with her “Lemon Dress”
Dodi welcomed Wayne with open arms…and cheese
The main office of Dodi’s car sales
Concours d’ Lemons made it easy to find what you were looking for!
The energy at Lemons was palpable
More great signs
and more….
A mint condition Pinto with period correct plates
Miles Collier and Rupert Banner gave a great lecture on collecting with Donald Osbourne moderating
The Gooding McLaren F1 was the star of the auction block
RM sold a lot of pre-war cars at huge prices—that market appears strong!
Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol is a great way to see cars before they get on the field
A Bugatti at Dawn Patrol
The totally original Mozart Packard—the star of the preservation class
The new Countach on display at Pebble
An incredible Packard Twin Six from Audrain
The big yellow Duesy
Mark Hyman in the Figoni et Falaschi Delahaye
Ferrari with dip door
The Collier Porsche 917 race car
Gulf livery
The Simeone Porsche race car
The Mozart Packard Twelve
The Cadillac Eldorado
Spectacular Ferrari race car
A totally original unrestored 300SL Gullwing
The show winner! 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K was best of show
The crowd at Pebble
Wow! Philip, these gorgeous photos made me salivate! Good work – almost (but not quite) like being there. Thank you, my friend.