Maserati Turns 100 and Stuns at Monterey Car Week

Maserati celebrated its 100^th Anniversary in grand style at Monterey Car Week, and isn’;t a stranger to the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’;Elegance where – in 1968 – a Maserati Mistral Coupé took top honors as Best of Show. Still today, it is the most recent postwar car to capture this recognition.

As Honored Marque at this year’;s 64^th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d’;Elegance, the lawn was packed with significant examples illustrating Maserati’;s rich century of history, including – in the Maserati Centennial Racing Class – a 1954 A6GCS Spyder, 1955 Maserati 250F Monoposto, and 1956 Maserati 300S Fantuzzi Spyer. The ’;54 A6GCS took the trophy for best Granturismo noted for its artistic beauty and highest level of performance in a granturismo. One of the most fascinating cars of all times designed by Pininfarina in 1954, the A6GCS proved a valuable source of inspiration for the designers of the Alfieri concept of today.

Looking forward to the Maserati’;s next century, the highly acclaimed Alfieri concept 2+2 made its North American debut during a special centennial celebration at the Mazda Raceway during the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion, where Maserati was also the Honored Marque. As Lorenzo Ramacioitti, Head of Fiat Chrysler Automobile Global Design, presented the stunning concept, he stated “This car has a racing breed,” but added that it has “a kick of poetry.” The Alfieri also made a star turn on the Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’;Elegance.

At the auctions during Monterey Car Week, classic Maseratis were stars as well. At Bonhams, highlights included a 1969 Ghibli 4.7 Spyder which sold for $ 841,000 USD; and a 1949 Maserati A6 15000/3C Berlinetta which captured $ 891,000. At Gooding & Company, the historic Maserati 250F driven to victory by Sir Stirling Moss at Monza in 1956, sold for $ 4.2 Million USD.

It was a birthday party worthy of turning 100!

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Maserati Turns 100 and Stuns at Monterey Car Week

The Sound and the Fury: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion [Mega-Gallery]

Monterey, California, in mid-August teems with hot vehicles. Pebble Beach weekend creates a gravitational pull that draws out the rarest, most pricey, and most stunning cars in such wonderful quantities that you’ll momentarily overlook just how uncommon, pricey, and uncommonly lovely these automobiles are. They gather en masse at events like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Quail Motorsports Gathering, the Werks Reunion, and even in parking lots exactly where enthusiasts arrive in Lambos, Ferraris, and Porsches, both old and new. But if it’s action you seek, you require to get to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where vintage race cars take to the track in a gloriously loud, smelly, and speedy celebration of what racing was.

Far more than 500 historic race automobiles filled the paddock for this year’s Reunion, also known as the Monterey Historics. Automobiles spanning 81 years of racing lore—from the 1911 National 40 that finished 6th in the inaugural Indy 500 to the 720-hp 1992 Mazda RX-792P—took element in 15 races that covered almost everything from prewar touring to Can-Am racing. Every single event brings a special variation of a deafening straight-piped roar with the intoxicating scent of burnt fuel.

Drivers race with respect for the value and significance of the automobiles, but that does not keep them from toeing the limits of grip in the corners and flattening the loud pedal on the straights. In the 1966–1972 Trans-Am class, we watched a 1971 AMC Javelin jockey for the podium with 2 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302s in a battle that brought a modify in leader practically each and every lap in the second half of the race.

Maserati received specific recognition as this year’s featured marque, an honor that was timed with the 100th anniversary of the Italian brand. Cars like a 1955 300S, a 1960 Tipo 61 Birdcage, and a 1962 Tipo 151 represented the era prior to Maserati took a 37-year-hiatus from racing whilst a mid-engined Maserati MC12, a single of just 50 constructed in 2004 and 2005, played its twelve-cylinder trumpet for the duration of the lunchtime parade laps.

The Historics draw car guys of each ilk. Comedian Adam Carolla, retired racer Bruce Canepa, current driver Marino Franchitti, and Ford executive vice president Jim Farley all took to the track this year. But the ideal component of the Motorsports Reunion is that it isn’t defined by spotlight-looking for celebrities, pretentious billionaires, or energy-wielding organizers. The Monterey Historics are the most down-to-earth occasion on the Pebble Beach calendar. Here, mere mortals can mingle with million-dollar machines and the individuals who personal them. Every spectator has carte-blanche access to the paddock, so you can snap a image, talk history with an owner, and often even snag a opportunity to sit behind the wheel of your favored vehicle.

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Whether or not you made it to this year’s Reunion, you can relive the occasion here in our mega-gallery . . . then figure out how to get your self to the races in 2015.

The Sound and the Fury: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion [Mega-Gallery]

The Sound and the Fury: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Mega-Gallery

Monterey, California, in mid-August teems with hot vehicles. Pebble Beach weekend creates a gravitational pull that draws out the rarest, most expensive, and most lovely vehicles in such wonderful quantities that you will momentarily overlook just how uncommon, costly, and uncommonly stunning these cars are. They collect en masse at events like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Quail Motorsports Gathering, the Werks Reunion, and even in parking lots where enthusiasts arrive in Lambos, Ferraris, and Porsches, each old and new. But if it is action you seek, you want to get to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where vintage race cars take to the track in a gloriously loud, smelly, and speedy celebration of what racing was.

Much more than 500 historic race vehicles filled the paddock for this year’s Reunion, also identified as the Monterey Historics. Cars spanning 81 years of racing lore—from the 1911 National 40 that finished 6th in the inaugural Indy 500 to the 720-hp 1992 Mazda RX-792P—took component in 15 races that covered almost everything from prewar touring to Can-Am racing. Every single occasion brings a distinctive variation of a deafening straight-piped roar with the intoxicating scent of burnt fuel.

Drivers race with respect for the value and significance of the cars, but that doesn’t keep them from toeing the limits of grip in the corners and flattening the loud pedal on the straights. In the 1966–1972 Trans-Am class, we watched a 1971 AMC Javelin jockey for the podium with 2 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302s in a battle that brought a adjust in leader practically each lap in the second half of the race.

Maserati received unique recognition as this year’s featured marque, an honor that was timed with the 100th anniversary of the Italian brand. Automobiles like a 1955 300S, a 1960 Tipo 61 Birdcage, and a 1962 Tipo 151 represented the era prior to Maserati took a 37-year-hiatus from racing even though a mid-engined Maserati MC12, a single of just 50 constructed in 2004 and 2005, played its twelve-cylinder trumpet throughout the lunchtime parade laps.

The Historics draw auto guys of each ilk. Comedian Adam Carolla, retired racer Bruce Canepa, present driver Marino Franchitti, and Ford executive vice president Jim Farley all took to the track this year. But the best component of the Motorsports Reunion is that it isn’t defined by spotlight-in search of celebrities, pretentious billionaires, or energy-wielding organizers. The Monterey Historics are the most down-to-earth occasion on the Pebble Beach calendar. Here, mere mortals can mingle with million-dollar machines and the individuals who personal them. Each spectator has carte-blanche access to the paddock, so you can snap a picture, speak history with an owner, and sometimes even snag a chance to sit behind the wheel of your favourite auto.

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Whether or not or not you made it to this year’s Reunion, you can relive the event right here in our mega-gallery . . . then figure out how to get oneself to the races in 2015.

The Sound and the Fury: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Mega-Gallery

Nobody Invited Lemmy? McCall’s Motorworks Kicks off Monterey Automobile Week

August 14, 2014 at 7:17 pm by Davey G. Johnson | Photography by Davey G. Johnson

Even though the greatest action on the Monterey Peninsula begins Friday with the Quail, Gordon McCall’s Motorworks occasion at the Monterey Jet Center is the conventional kickoff to the cavalcade of automotive hedonism set to consume the south finish of Monterey Bay this week.

A fest for these with fistfuls of dollars and diamonds, McCall’s event occupies 2 hangars packed with luxury goods, snacks, and cars, as well as a sizable slab of adjacent tarmac with automobiles scattered amongst numerous types of aircraft.

A quick meander about the grounds and through the hangars revealed a fresh retro-fab Porsche 964 from Rob Dickinson’s Singer Vehicle Style a low, lean 906—the last of Porsche’s roadgoing sports racers a pair of Paganis and classics ranging from the F40-predecessor Ferrari 288GTO Evoluzione to a Toyota 2000GT.

This year’s event was heavy on the sporting finish of luxury life style automobiles, with nothing at all so raucously outlandish as Fatty Arbuckle’s mad, purple 1919 Pierce-Arrow, a auto that produced a displaying during the 2012 occasion. We had been, nonetheless, treated to the jet whine of the ex–Graham Hill Lotus 56, the machine that led turbines to be legislated off the grid at Indianapolis in 1968.

The dragstrip-focused Ford Thunderbolt, a factory special Fairlane with lightweight body components and a big-block 427 wedged amongst its fiberglass fenders, was a hoot to see among all the rarefied European machinery, as was the Grim Reaper, a P-51D Mustang parked nearby.

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Perhaps the most surprising vehicle at the Jet Center this year was Toyota’s FT-1 notion. Resplendent in subdued gray, rather than the searing red of its Detroit reveal, the most recent iteration of the curvaceous Toyota looked definitely comfortable among seemingly headier new iron. Which signifies 1 of 2 issues: either Toyota is producing up for lost mojo or contemporary supercars are significantly less aesthetically stimulating than their raw-boned forebears. We suspect both are at play. Additional investigation is required. Luckily, the week’s just begun.

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Nobody Invited Lemmy? McCall’s Motorworks Kicks off Monterey Automobile Week