A Look Back At Monterey Auto Week: Jay Leno, The Quail, The Concours d'Elegane & Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca
http://www.montereypeninsula.org/articles/45/1/A-Look-Back-At-Monterey-Auto-Week-Jay-Leno-The-Quail-The-Concours-d039Elegane-amp-Mazda-Raceway-Laguna-Seca/Page1.html
James Raia
James Raia has been writing about the Monterey Peninsula for more than 20 years. He's also editor and publisher of the web sites:ByJamesRaia.com
GolfTribune.com
MontereyPeninsula.org
TheWeeklyDriver.com
By James Raia
Published on 09/4/2007
About the time Jay Leno and friend arrived in a chocolate-brown vintage Bentley sedan, 78-year-old Mike McNally had likely fixed the persistent oil leak in his 1931 Riley Port Ford.
Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and obsessed automobile motorcycle owner and enthusiast, doesn’t know McNally. But while Leno was meandering through an early morning crowd on a pristine Friday morning at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, McNally, of Sacramento, California was tinkering.
A race car driver for more than 50 years, McNally was finally set to compete on Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway after spending a few days practicing, prepping and fixing the oil leak with a few cranks of an oversized crescent wrench.
Leno, owner of more than 80 cars — Duesenbergs to a Honda Insight hybrid — and McNally, an independent owner/driver/mechanic, couldn't be further apart in the world of automobile ownership. Yet Leno and McNally were solidly connected, just like the thousands of others who attended Monterey Auto Week.
Whether to gawk or bid on a Berlinetta Lusso, the Ferrari 250GT once owned by actor Steve McQueen or to appreciate a restored 1946 Ford Woodie, what began 57 years ago as a centrally located display of rare automotive works of art at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is now something substantially more. It's a weeklong extravaganza of all things automobile.
Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and obsessed automobile motorcycle owner and enthusiast, doesn’t know McNally. But while Leno was meandering through an early morning crowd on a pristine Friday morning at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, McNally, of Sacramento, California was tinkering.
A race car driver for more than 50 years, McNally was finally set to compete on Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway after spending a few days practicing, prepping and fixing the oil leak with a few cranks of an oversized crescent wrench.
Leno, owner of more than 80 cars — Duesenbergs to a Honda Insight hybrid — and McNally, an independent owner/driver/mechanic, couldn't be further apart in the world of automobile ownership. Yet Leno and McNally were solidly connected, just like the thousands of others who attended Monterey Auto Week.
Whether to gawk or bid on a Berlinetta Lusso, the Ferrari 250GT once owned by actor Steve McQueen or to appreciate a restored 1946 Ford Woodie, what began 57 years ago as a centrally located display of rare automotive works of art at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is now something substantially more. It's a weeklong extravaganza of all things automobile.
About the time Jay Leno and friend arrived in a chocolate-brown vintage Bentley sedan, 78-year-old Mike McNally had likely fixed the persistent oil leak in his 1931 Riley Port Ford.
Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and obsessed automobile motorcycle owner and enthusiast, doesn’t know McNally. But while Leno was meandering through an early morning crowd on a pristine Friday morning at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, McNally, of Sacramento, California was tinkering.
A race car driver for more than 50 years, McNally was finally set to compete on Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway after spending a few days practicing, prepping and fixing the oil leak with a few cranks of an oversized crescent wrench.
Leno, owner of more than 80 cars — Duesenbergs to a Honda Insight hybrid — and McNally, an independent owner/driver/mechanic, couldn't be further apart in the world of automobile ownership. Yet Leno and McNally were solidly connected, just like the thousands of others who attended Monterey Auto Week.
Whether to gawk or bid on a Berlinetta Lusso, the Ferrari 250GT once owned by actor Steve McQueen or to appreciate a restored 1946 Ford Woodie, what began 57 years ago as a centrally located display of rare automotive works of art at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is now something substantially more. It's a weeklong extravaganza of all things automobile.
More than a dozen events now comprise the affair — varied concours, to ralleyes and historic car races to city-street, one-day outdoor museums.
"The problem is, there's so much going on, you're not sure where to go, you know," said former Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, who was among a field of 10 who competed in a new eight-lap event, the Race of Legends, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. "But it's a fantastic week and it's a nice problem to have. I just want to see the whole thing, the whole experience."
By its legacy and prestige, the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach still reigns as the premier event of the auto week and it's saved for last day, Sunday.
Each of the week's venues had multiple themes, with the Concours d'Elegance featuring four Aston Martins and 18 cars from Auburn-Duesenberg group. With 2002 vehicles and representation from 12 countries, including Hong Kong businessmen Alain Li and Michael Kadooorie, the Concours also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford and the "10-plus Club," cars with engine displacements of at least 10 liters.
Fittingly, the Best of Show award among the vehicles in 24 classes was awarded to the 1935 Duesenberg SJ Special, owned by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio. The car, which in its debut year set a 24-hour speed record of 135.58 mph, sold for a record $4.45 million at the 2004 Pebble Beach auction. It's also known at the "Mormon Meteor" since it was once driven on city streets the former mayor of Salt Lake City.
"I'm still trying to catch my breath," Yeaggy said just after the announcement.
Such sentiment and enthusiasm was a constant theme. The Concours d'Elegance, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering at Quail Lodge and the Concorso Italiano, all offered their specialties and tributes to various luxury machines. And then there were the rare car auctions throughout the week that generated plenty of buzz. A 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr were on the block at Russo and Steele auction in Monterey. But no car drew more attention than the Ferrari formerly owned by McQueen, the eccentric actor. It headlined the Christie's Exceptional Motor Cars auction and sold for $2.31 million to an unnamed phone bidder.
Word of the Ferrari's sale Thursday spread quickly among the crowd gathered at the The Quail on Friday. The five-year-old concours has come into its own quickly with a novel approach. It's limited to 3,000 attendees who pay $200 for an all-inclusive day of catered cuisine, plentiful drinks, more than a dozen car categories, test-driving booths from Mercedes and Maserati, vintage offerings from Ferarri to Porsche and glimpses into the future of the exclusive Bugati.
Leno arrived before the gates opened and then mingled among the crowd, joked with reporters and encouraged attendees to share his excitement while looking at certain vehicles. He fained being arrested by a California Highway Patrol officer and he mugged into local television station camera, commenting, "The cars are great, but I'm here for the food. It's real food, not a hot dog on a stick."
The highlight of The Quail event was yet another theme — the 100th anniversary of Briggs Cunningham's birth. The legendary driver, builder and America's Cup sailing titlistintroduced European-style road races to the United States. He was revered for his driving prowess and his determined but unfulfilled quest to win the 24 Hours of LeMans as a driver. The Cunningham owned by Robert F. Williams was honored with Best of Show.
"They (Quail organizers) find the unique qualities; The event, the person and the car and they develop themes out of that," said Williams.
While Williams and his wife, both dressed in blue blazers, white oxford-style shirts and ties, celebrated, the husband-wife team of Stephen and Debbie Holmes of Mill Valley, California, had their own party.
Stephen Holmes vintage car is a 1946 Ford Woodie; Debbie Holmes' car is a 1953 MGA TD. Plenty of more rare and exceedingly more expensive vehicles were on display, but none were any cooler than the Holmes' cars, and certainly no two owners were any more passionate about their vehicles. Stephen's Woodie is from the year he was born; Debbie's MGA TD is from her birth year.
Stephen Holmes' Woodie was one of the hits of the inaugural Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours, an inaugural and free event of more than 100 cars from 1946-1971 that opened the auto week Tuesday on Ocean Avenue in Carmel. Organizers of The Quail asked Holmes to showcase his Woodie at the entry the motorsports gathering at the resort golf course.
"People want to talk about the cars because it brings back memories," said Holmes. "Everybody has a story and it's a fun story and it's fun sharing the stories they have. The whole point is that it's fun, and it's a whole bunch more than just transportation."
Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and obsessed automobile motorcycle owner and enthusiast, doesn’t know McNally. But while Leno was meandering through an early morning crowd on a pristine Friday morning at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, McNally, of Sacramento, California was tinkering.
A race car driver for more than 50 years, McNally was finally set to compete on Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway after spending a few days practicing, prepping and fixing the oil leak with a few cranks of an oversized crescent wrench.
Leno, owner of more than 80 cars — Duesenbergs to a Honda Insight hybrid — and McNally, an independent owner/driver/mechanic, couldn't be further apart in the world of automobile ownership. Yet Leno and McNally were solidly connected, just like the thousands of others who attended Monterey Auto Week.
Whether to gawk or bid on a Berlinetta Lusso, the Ferrari 250GT once owned by actor Steve McQueen or to appreciate a restored 1946 Ford Woodie, what began 57 years ago as a centrally located display of rare automotive works of art at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is now something substantially more. It's a weeklong extravaganza of all things automobile.
More than a dozen events now comprise the affair — varied concours, to ralleyes and historic car races to city-street, one-day outdoor museums.
"The problem is, there's so much going on, you're not sure where to go, you know," said former Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, who was among a field of 10 who competed in a new eight-lap event, the Race of Legends, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. "But it's a fantastic week and it's a nice problem to have. I just want to see the whole thing, the whole experience."
By its legacy and prestige, the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach still reigns as the premier event of the auto week and it's saved for last day, Sunday.
Each of the week's venues had multiple themes, with the Concours d'Elegance featuring four Aston Martins and 18 cars from Auburn-Duesenberg group. With 2002 vehicles and representation from 12 countries, including Hong Kong businessmen Alain Li and Michael Kadooorie, the Concours also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford and the "10-plus Club," cars with engine displacements of at least 10 liters.
Fittingly, the Best of Show award among the vehicles in 24 classes was awarded to the 1935 Duesenberg SJ Special, owned by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio. The car, which in its debut year set a 24-hour speed record of 135.58 mph, sold for a record $4.45 million at the 2004 Pebble Beach auction. It's also known at the "Mormon Meteor" since it was once driven on city streets the former mayor of Salt Lake City.
"I'm still trying to catch my breath," Yeaggy said just after the announcement.
Such sentiment and enthusiasm was a constant theme. The Concours d'Elegance, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering at Quail Lodge and the Concorso Italiano, all offered their specialties and tributes to various luxury machines. And then there were the rare car auctions throughout the week that generated plenty of buzz. A 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr were on the block at Russo and Steele auction in Monterey. But no car drew more attention than the Ferrari formerly owned by McQueen, the eccentric actor. It headlined the Christie's Exceptional Motor Cars auction and sold for $2.31 million to an unnamed phone bidder.
Word of the Ferrari's sale Thursday spread quickly among the crowd gathered at the The Quail on Friday. The five-year-old concours has come into its own quickly with a novel approach. It's limited to 3,000 attendees who pay $200 for an all-inclusive day of catered cuisine, plentiful drinks, more than a dozen car categories, test-driving booths from Mercedes and Maserati, vintage offerings from Ferarri to Porsche and glimpses into the future of the exclusive Bugati.
Leno arrived before the gates opened and then mingled among the crowd, joked with reporters and encouraged attendees to share his excitement while looking at certain vehicles. He fained being arrested by a California Highway Patrol officer and he mugged into local television station camera, commenting, "The cars are great, but I'm here for the food. It's real food, not a hot dog on a stick."
The highlight of The Quail event was yet another theme — the 100th anniversary of Briggs Cunningham's birth. The legendary driver, builder and America's Cup sailing titlistintroduced European-style road races to the United States. He was revered for his driving prowess and his determined but unfulfilled quest to win the 24 Hours of LeMans as a driver. The Cunningham owned by Robert F. Williams was honored with Best of Show.
"They (Quail organizers) find the unique qualities; The event, the person and the car and they develop themes out of that," said Williams.
While Williams and his wife, both dressed in blue blazers, white oxford-style shirts and ties, celebrated, the husband-wife team of Stephen and Debbie Holmes of Mill Valley, California, had their own party.
Stephen Holmes vintage car is a 1946 Ford Woodie; Debbie Holmes' car is a 1953 MGA TD. Plenty of more rare and exceedingly more expensive vehicles were on display, but none were any cooler than the Holmes' cars, and certainly no two owners were any more passionate about their vehicles. Stephen's Woodie is from the year he was born; Debbie's MGA TD is from her birth year.
Stephen Holmes' Woodie was one of the hits of the inaugural Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours, an inaugural and free event of more than 100 cars from 1946-1971 that opened the auto week Tuesday on Ocean Avenue in Carmel. Organizers of The Quail asked Holmes to showcase his Woodie at the entry the motorsports gathering at the resort golf course.
"People want to talk about the cars because it brings back memories," said Holmes. "Everybody has a story and it's a fun story and it's fun sharing the stories they have. The whole point is that it's fun, and it's a whole bunch more than just transportation."