Monterey, 12th of August, 2015
Now with the Monterey car week past for a little bit more than two
weeks it is time to look back at some of the smaller events during
these action packed days at the Monterey Peninsula. Certainly
the big Concours of Pebble Beach, the Concorso Italiano and the
Quail Motorsport Gathering are well in the media but there are a
few more events to visit in between. Since the booming market of
classic cars drew more and more cars on auction to Monterey
there is a sale almost every evening starting up on Thursday with
RM but for those not interested in buying there are several public
and private parties to spend the evening instead. Many
manufacturers have dinner receptions for their clients, some
auction houses have pre-sale parties and countless of smaller
parties are going on in the rented of private houses in the area. As
most of them are purely on invitation this leaves room for a big
party at the nearby Monterey Airport and for more than 2 decades
the McCall Motorworks Revival on Wednesday evening takes this
role perfectly.
Just like the many other events ticket prices are not for the
faint-hearted with pre-sales prices of about 350 Dollars for a
cocktail reception but the amount of visitors every year shows
that there are enough reasons to come back every year. Just like
other Jet Center Parties during car shows this is the perfect
opportunity to bring together all the small and big toys for the
wealthy visitors attract desires in a very relaxed atmosphere over
a few glasses of champagne and oysters tasting. Obviously this
is very much the market for the smaller and exclusive brands as
over the last years the amount of large manufacturers is getting
less with this year neither Maserati, Ferrari nor Mercedes-Benz
had one of their usual spacious booths leaving the car market to
Pagani, Shelby American and Singer. Apart from the booths
several cars old and new were spread out in between the modern
Jets, nice biplanes and WWII war birds leaving enough
impressions for all those interested. But being a social event
certainly the main focus is not on the cars but the whole
experience with elegant dressed people having a chat with a nice
glass of wine over the adventures since last year’s Revival, new
toys in the garage or jewelry box as also watch manufacturers
like Baume & Mercier or jewelers present their goods to the
wealthy clientele, often with a link to classic cars.
After opening the gates at 5 pm the two hangars and the space in
front starts to fill up after all the attending guest managed the
annual parking mess and those used to that happily took the
parking lots further away arriving with the provided shuttle busses.
After the first welcome drink at the gate people start to explore
the area before Gordon McCall officially opens the party followed
by the obligatory singing of the National Anthem. Over the next
hours there is a permanent come&go, many of the European
visitors arrive a little bit later not being used to the early hours of
American receptions whereas the first American visitors leave by
time to go to dinner. But well until the dusk the place is very busy
and one could meet lot of interesting people talking to old friends
and making new ones. Much talk is about the upcoming shows
and especially the auctions as not few wonder where the journey
will lead over this weekend. With record consignments in access
of half a billion dollars a lot of money is expected to change
hands and the development of the market is well observed by
many. Now with the knowledge of today one can say that both
the fear of a stagnation was as unfounded as the hopes of
countless new records. Although apparently this was the first
year without increase to the previous in terms of total sales the
good cars still draw a lot of money but the mid class range settle
a little bit after the rush of the previous years.
Apart from the “permanent” exhibits like the annual display of the
Petersen Museum of Los Angeles introducing the new Ford GT40
planned for 2016 alongside one of the 1966 Le Mans entered
GT40 MKII and the road going MKIII to illustrate the string
between road and track the arrival of the Quail Rally gave some
extra entertainment. Sir Michael Kadoorie’s private rally starting
the day before at the Quail Lodge arrived at its final destination at
the Jet Aviation Center and even those watching them taking off
on Tuesday were surprised about the cars arriving as apparently
some have changed their transport during these days. Kadoorie
himself arrived in style with the 166 MM Touring Barchetta as one
of the oldest Ferrari standing next to the latest Supercar, the
LaFerrari in elegant grey metallic. Bentley Motors brought their
Blower Bentley, the 1930 Works Demonstrator (SM3917).
Another highlight of the evening was the GM Futureliner, a
futuristic parade vehicle built just before the war and used to the
year 1956 to demonstrate the new technology all around the
country. Just built at about one dozen examples the last one for
sale was at this year’s Barrett & Jackson auction in Arizona
achieving more than 4 mio $ from the Pratt Collection. Several of
the other cars on show should be seen the following days on the
various other events around.
If one has to make a conclusion about the Motorworks Revival
one has to mention the lack of the major manufacturers as it
seems that the public relation departments do not see enough
potential buyers to justify another booth at another location.
Ferrari for example seemed to support less events this year and
set up their own Casa Ferrari to welcome customers at south of
Carmel-by-the-Sea during the days, Mercedes-Benz again was
big at Pebble Beach as one of the sponsors.
But there is still a lot to see and the atmosphere is great so if you
consider joining the fun next year make sure you order your
tickets well in advance.
For further information visit www.McCallevents.com
Text & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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