Even after three years of attending Monterey Car Week, I can never truly predict what my favorite week in August will have in store for me. Each time, I’m reminded that Car Week is about more than just ogling cars that you would likely never see in person again; it’s more about the community surrounding those cars and the teamwork that goes into bringing everything that makes this week surreal to one place.

Gooding & Co., R.M. Sotheby’s, Pebble Beach, and The Quail (who didn’t let me in this year dammit) are the prime events that I would argue you should try to attend at least once to appreciate the finest things Car Week offers. The Gooding lot this year was as exciting as ever, with enough rusty and patinaed marvels among the shiny Dinos and Miuras to please the preservationist inside me. I refuse to pick a single favorite car, so I will narrow my choices down to two: an incredible 1936 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux barn find and a 1953 Studebaker Land Speed Coupe. When was the last time you saw a rusty Type 57 and the car that was hailed the “World’s Fastest Coupe” in 1966? Well done Gooding, you’ve rounded up some of the best cars I’ve seen on offer.

That said, things did not get worse on the R.M. side. Spread around the grounds of the Monterey Conference Center were shiny eye candy of all price points and nationalities. All great yes, but the highlight of this year’s R.M. lot was the “Lost and Found” Ferrari Collection; a handful of barn-find Ferraris that were the subjects of an unfortunate hurricane. Looking to get a relatively “cheap” project Ferrari with more potential than a star kindergartener? This was the place for it.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance surely needs no introduction by now. Hailed as one of the world’s finest Concours showings that is “graced with the planet’s most spectacular cars” it was no surprise that they continued their streak of wowing me down the massive expanse of their greens. A class that I hope becomes a mainstay on their lawn is the “American Dream Cars of the 1950s.” I’m a sucker for dreams and people who will let nothing short of death stop them from bringing what they consider to be the world’s next big thing into existence. Focused on America’s imagination in the mid-century, this class showed off some of the most unique automotive creations the world has ever seen. My personal favorite? The 1951 Manta Ray Roadster that puts any Studebaker bullet nose front end to shame. 

Away from the exotic hustle and bustle of MCW, I made my regular stop at Concours d’Lemons. Hosted by my buddy and Headgasket of Lemons Alan Galbraith, this oil stain of a car show invites the worst polluters of California to ruin the nice lawn outside of Seaside City Hall. Those looking for a rusty palette cleanser and to hang out with some of the nicest and most honest enthusiasts in the scene MUST attend Lemons. Everyone knows their cars are one bolt away from catastrophic implosion, nobody takes themselves too seriously, and it’s an incredibly good time provided that you’re up to date on your tetanus shots!

On top of the Car Week regulars, this year held three particularly unique offerings for me: the Monterey Motorsports Festival, an invite to the House of Maserati, and working alongside MotorTrend at their Japanese Automotive Invitational.

I was fortunate enough to help manage Monterey’s newest event this year, dubbed the Monterey Motorsports Festival. Spread across 22 acres at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, this “home base destination” for Car Week satisfied all automotive tastes from classics to customs, JDM, exotics, motorcycles, and everything in between. I absolutely adore being part of the magic that happens behind the scenes and to be able to do that at Monterey Car Week was just a dream come true. Huge thanks to Paolo and the team and I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Paolo also brought me to MotorLux, Hagerty’s premier event that pairs some of the finest automobiles around with jets at the Monterey Jet Center! Between the hypercars, the planes, the helicopters, and the VIP section, I would say with utmost certainty that MotorLux could rival The Quail in exclusivity. They had a Veyron, an F40, an F50, and a selection of cars on offer from Broad Arrow Auctions that somehow included a Toyota 2000GT and a 1-of-20 Reventon next to each other. Yeah, really. It also gave me my first opportunity to observe a private jet up close, elevating my feelings of “I could get used to this” to newfound heights. 

The other surprise came from Maserati in the form of an invite to their press events! We were shown the new MCXtrema ahead of the official unveiling at The Quail and invited back that same night for a press mixer with some of the best-tasting food and drinks I’ve had at an event like this. Between the vibe, the bites, the cars, and the test drives, I swear allegiance to the green, white, and red, and to Maserati. They seem to be heading in the right direction with both their road cars and their race cars, as I witnessed firsthand after experiencing a GranTurismo Trofeo from both the driver’s and the passenger’s seat. I wouldn’t sleep on Maserati after that night.

In between events, I was also fortunate enough to help MotorTrend with their Japanese Automotive Invitational! Now back in full force at Concours Village, this was Car Week’s prime destination for the JDM fans looking for a slice of Japanese automotive history. My buddy Kevin and I were tasked with arranging and rearranging the cars on display and as a result, we crossed more “cars to drive” off of our bucket list than we have in 24 years of living. We drove an RX-7 FD, an AE86, a Celica GT-Four, a Skyline R34, an Integra and Civic Type R, a 22B STI, a 280Z, an Autozam AZ-1, a Hakosuka Skyline (omg), an S2000R, and even a tiny Toyota Sports 800. That latter one was assigned to me, given my stature and overall lack of weight. It was truly the cherry on top of our Car Week sundae and we’re forever grateful to MT Matt for the chance to do it! Hire us again next year pls?

And, well, that’s it! Five days of nothing but car event after car event, of waking up at 8 a.m. and coming back to the hotel somewhere close to midnight. It was beyond exhausting and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Monterey Car Week is a reminder of what makes us car enthusiasts, from the incredible legends on four wheels to the tight-knit community behind them and the events they put on to celebrate them. Every year that I’ve attended has only gotten better and I cannot wait to see what adventures Car Week has in store for me next year. Until then!