Pebble Beach and Monterey Car Week

The cluster of car shows and auctions that spring up around Pebble Beach and the wider Monterey Bay area for seven days every August amount to one of the world’s premier destinations for car fans.

Known as Monterey Car Week, the events culminate with the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance in which some of the world’s most exclusive and desirable cars are displayed. 

Being a series of loosely connected events rather than one centrally organised car festival, Pebble Beach and Monterey Car Week is a tricky thing to pin down but visitors can be certain of seeing an incredible selection of cars across the seven-day extravaganza - from priceless vintage cars to the latest production models from the world’s top manufacturers.

• Most expensive cars ever sold at auction

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance can trace its roots back to 1950 and has been held every year since, with the exception of 1960 where scheduling conflicts obstructed to the event.

It takes place around the 18th green of the beautifully manicured Pebble Beach Golf Links championship golf course and typically sees upwards of 150 painstakingly-prepared classic cars being judged in a series of classes.

Other highlights of the Monterey Car Week include The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, with classic racing cars, and the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, which sees classic cars take to the track at Laguna Seca.

The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, in which a cavalcade of vintage cars parade down scenic sections of 7-Mile Drive, Highway One and Ocean Avenue in Carmel, is always popular with spectators while fans of German or Italian cars can get their fix at the Legends of the Autobahn and Concorso Italiano car shows respectively.

And you can blow a fortune on an ultra desirable classic car of your own if you like! There are three main car sales at Monterey car week and records usually tumble at each of them. There’s the Pebble Beach Auction presented by Gooding & Company, the Bonhams sale at The Quail and the Monterey sale held by RM Auctions.

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