Every year, thousands of classic car hobbyists would flock to the Monterey peninsula to take part in the classic motor show. The event, which lasts almost one week, culminates on August 17 with the highly anticipated "Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance," an annual classic car show billed as the most prestigious in the world.
The event is expected to be filled with a high concentration of wealth. Participating companies would include RM Auctions, Gooding & Co., Bonhams, and Mecum. Each will be hosting one or more auctions within the week.
Hagerty's Insurance, a company that insures and tracks values of classic cars, estimates that at least $450 million sales will be reached from the auctioned classic cars. Last year, at least $312 million worth of auctioned vehicles found their new owner at the auctions.
"Some of the most interesting cars in the world are going to find a new home," said Hagerty Insurance's founder and president McKeel Hagerty. The company is predicting an increase of 44% in sales this year.
This year, the event is expected to have 10 concours, six or more auctions, and a number of various events such as the Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival which is a Wednesday evening social at the Monterey Jet Center. There's an admission cost of $325 and the number of guests is limited to 3,000.
After the Wednesday's admission-based event, the no-cost Pebble Beach Tour d'Élégance begins on Thursday morning. The event usually includes around 150 to 220 cars that were entered in Sunday's headline concours. This year, the tour will cover around 80 miles. Participants will start at 8am in the Del Monte Forest. The lunch stop-over will be at Carmel. Afterwards, they are of course expected to return to the starting area. The "exhibition" drive is such a thrilling experience as it gives the opportunity to see some of the great classic cars in the world. At times, it even becomes dramatic when the Pacific Ocean can be seen on the background.
As always, the largest crowds will show up at the Laguna Seca road circuit. Around 550 entries are expected to participate in Saturday's and Sunday's series of races. While there will be no celebrity or famous racecar drivers among the participants, the place will definitely be filled with a lot of great cars.
The highest anticipated seller this year is a 1962 model of Ferrari GTO Berlinetta which is expected to sell as high as $60 million at the Bonham auction on August 15. It is a special car because aside from its unique engineering and extreme rarity, it is one of the racing cars in the 1962 Tour de France Automobile road race where it won second place.
