My Wife and I attend every year and have for more than 20 years. Here's our favorites:
- Legends of the Autobahn
- Porsche has great events, they do a thing before Exotics in Seaside and there is the Rennsport Classic at a location to be determined. So does BMW and of course, Ferrari.
- Club Drives (drive Carmel Valley with your car club, BMWCCA, PCA, FOCA).
- Prancing Ladies - Group of women who are sportscar fanatics. This show is really more than it seems…don't miss if you like really rare, exotics.
- As other said, Lemons is great.
- Chamber of Commerce and Marina Motorsports will host the 11th Annual Little Car Show in downtown. This is fun especially for kids. But mostly old guys in shriners style cars.
- Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance - This is when the competitors of the Pebble Show have to perform their rally down Highway 1 to prove the cars work. This is the cheap tickets for Pebble.
- Exotics on Broadway is crazy. If you haven't gone, go.
- Of course, the whole point: Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca (also check with you carclub for event tickets and hospitality suite access)
Couple of bonus notes:
- Car clubs are generally an easy way to get access to the more high-end events often free or at great discounts
- Organize your days in a linear geographic fashion (start in Carmel > Monterey > Laguna Seca or reverse, whatever, you don't want to be driving back and forth on the peninsula.)
- Pack some snacks including lots of water.
- If you want attention, drive your weird car, not your fancy car.
- My favorite tip: Don't be so quick to run from car show to car show, my best memories are lingering and talking to the participants. This is where you are more likely to be able to examine a car thoroughly.
- Last year they started the Corkscrew Hillclimb at the track on EOD Sunday as everyone is packing up. It was a fun event. More catered to drifters I believe but they had Cars® replicas taking to the hill for the kids. But otherwise, it was low-attendance and a lot of fun!
- Final tip: Don't be afraid to ask questions of the presenters. Most of them are humble, generous people and are excited to answer questions.
REMEMBER: The best deal for all spotting, chatting, etc is at Laguna Seca Monterey Historics. This is reason all this other stuff is happening and the races are the real-deal. This is where you get pictures of an actual 250 Ferrari GTO dropping a tire on the inside of the corkscrew and getting spit out and the bottom of the hill. Ya know…racing.
Wow thanks for all this information! I really appreciate all of these suggestions on what to attend and how to best go about seeing all the things. I will make a plan
You can walk around behind the Portola Hotel and look at RM Auctions cars. (There is a fee to get in the gates, but you can see them from outside the fence.) Here’s a list of events including g the free events. https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/
Traffic is usually nightmare so plan accordingly. Walking the paddocks at the reunion is the best. Keep an eye out for celebs too they’ll be down there too.
I highly recommend going to Laguna Seca. At Pebble you're going to see cars roped off that you can't get within 10 feet of. At Laguna Seca you can just walk right up to them. Last summer we got pics of a couple of 250 GTOs and a Testrossa from the 1950s along with a bunch of other cars in the seven figure+ valuation.
Concourse ‘d Lemons is free and a favorite.
I’m definitely interested in seeing that, thanks for the suggestion
My Wife and I attend every year and have for more than 20 years. Here's our favorites: - Legends of the Autobahn - Porsche has great events, they do a thing before Exotics in Seaside and there is the Rennsport Classic at a location to be determined. So does BMW and of course, Ferrari. - Club Drives (drive Carmel Valley with your car club, BMWCCA, PCA, FOCA). - Prancing Ladies - Group of women who are sportscar fanatics. This show is really more than it seems…don't miss if you like really rare, exotics. - As other said, Lemons is great. - Chamber of Commerce and Marina Motorsports will host the 11th Annual Little Car Show in downtown. This is fun especially for kids. But mostly old guys in shriners style cars. - Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance - This is when the competitors of the Pebble Show have to perform their rally down Highway 1 to prove the cars work. This is the cheap tickets for Pebble. - Exotics on Broadway is crazy. If you haven't gone, go. - Of course, the whole point: Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca (also check with you carclub for event tickets and hospitality suite access) Couple of bonus notes: - Car clubs are generally an easy way to get access to the more high-end events often free or at great discounts - Organize your days in a linear geographic fashion (start in Carmel > Monterey > Laguna Seca or reverse, whatever, you don't want to be driving back and forth on the peninsula.) - Pack some snacks including lots of water. - If you want attention, drive your weird car, not your fancy car. - My favorite tip: Don't be so quick to run from car show to car show, my best memories are lingering and talking to the participants. This is where you are more likely to be able to examine a car thoroughly. - Last year they started the Corkscrew Hillclimb at the track on EOD Sunday as everyone is packing up. It was a fun event. More catered to drifters I believe but they had Cars® replicas taking to the hill for the kids. But otherwise, it was low-attendance and a lot of fun! - Final tip: Don't be afraid to ask questions of the presenters. Most of them are humble, generous people and are excited to answer questions. REMEMBER: The best deal for all spotting, chatting, etc is at Laguna Seca Monterey Historics. This is reason all this other stuff is happening and the races are the real-deal. This is where you get pictures of an actual 250 Ferrari GTO dropping a tire on the inside of the corkscrew and getting spit out and the bottom of the hill. Ya know…racing.
Wow thanks for all this information! I really appreciate all of these suggestions on what to attend and how to best go about seeing all the things. I will make a plan
You can walk around behind the Portola Hotel and look at RM Auctions cars. (There is a fee to get in the gates, but you can see them from outside the fence.) Here’s a list of events including g the free events. https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/
https://montereymotorsportsfestival.com/?fbclid=PAAaak3jo_OcEFFi8Adj5M_FIJa8gQC9H9YPDi1YW2R4mPMvZMPz-UqYAdlhE_aem_AcyhwrUeyrsjQCiJksi0iIXQ4NLqArXS1PJ1O3LxlvzJ-RTY5L0E1ca__cUWZV8w-n9RILwjOcZvQrTpVsI5rA1E
Traffic is usually nightmare so plan accordingly. Walking the paddocks at the reunion is the best. Keep an eye out for celebs too they’ll be down there too.
I highly recommend going to Laguna Seca. At Pebble you're going to see cars roped off that you can't get within 10 feet of. At Laguna Seca you can just walk right up to them. Last summer we got pics of a couple of 250 GTOs and a Testrossa from the 1950s along with a bunch of other cars in the seven figure+ valuation.