My trip to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance car show in 2016 was so much fun that I decided to return again the following year.
However, this trip would be different in two ways. First, this would be a solo trip, whereas I had my friend Mike along with me in 2016. Second, I wanted to cram in as many car events as possible.
DAY ONE
The trip began early in the morning on Friday, August 18th. I left my house at 5:10 AM for the airport. By 7:45 AM I was in the air heading towards San Jose.
After landing and collecting my suitcase, I used the shuttle bus to go from the airport terminal to the rental car center. I reserved a Ford Fusion Hybrid for my rental car this year, which was a huge improvement over last year’s painfully slow Toyota Prius hybrid. The Ford actually drove like a normal car, and still got great mileage.
Driving the Ford, I headed over to Oakland to have lunch with my friend at around 12:45 PM. We visited for a while and I left around 2:45 PM.
Exotics on Cannery Row
I drove from Oakland all the way down to Cannery Row in Monterey, which was the location for the “Exotics on Cannery Row” car show. Arriving at 6:30 PM, the show was already well underway.
This car show was unbelievable! There was an incredible lineup of rare supercars and hypercars. I saw three Ferrari F50s, a LaFerrari Aperta, a half dozen Paganis, and what was at that time the largest gathering of Koenigsegg automobiles in the U.S. I saw the Regera, Agera RS, and several special edition models.
Also in attendance was a McLaren P1 GTR, Bugatti Chiron, Lamborghini Centenario, just to name a few! Whereas most of the shows and events during car week have high ticket prices and limited availability, Exotics on Cannery Row was completely free and open to the public!
I stayed for about two hours, walking around and photographing the various cars. As vehicles began to leave the show, I lined up with the other spectators along Cannery Row to watch the cars roll out. There was a lot of engine revving and excitement from the crowd as the sun went down.
Around 8:30 PM, I left the car show and popped into the Ghirardelli Store and Cafe for a hot chocolate. Shortly after I was back in the rental car, heading to the hotel.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do any better this year when it came to hotels. Nightly rates in Monterey and Salinas were sky high due to Car Week. I ended up booking a hotel in Milpitas, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from Monterey. With this trip, I would be doing a lot of driving, just as I had done in 2016.
DAY TWO
The next morning was Saturday, August 19th. I showered, got dressed, and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel.
Badge Pickup
As with the previous year, I had to pick up my media badge before Concours Sunday.
I left the hotel around 9:00 AM and drove the 80 miles from Milpitas down to Monterey. The route follows CA-101 through the agricultural towns of Gilroy and Salinas before heading towards the coast.
Arriving in Monterey a little after 11:00 AM, I cleared the guard gate and snaked my way down 17 Mile Drive towards the event. The Media Center was in a large tent building, and I had to park in the forest and walk to get there.
With my badge in hand, I looked at a few of the manufacturer booths that were already set up for the following day’s event. However, I didn’t stay too long as I had other car shows to attend.
Concours d’Lemons
Leaving the Del Monte Forest at noon, I drove to Seaside which was the location of the Concours d’Lemons car show. This is a free car show that features the mundane and oddball cars of the automotive world. Whereas other Concours shows are serious and stern, this one is very fun and tongue-in-cheek.
I spent an hour walking the show field, which was on a grassy lawn in front of Seaside City Hall. There were some truly great (and by great, I mean awful) cars to admire! The Cosworth Vega club had turned out in good spirits, along with many other rare and obscure cars.
Visiting Oakland and Alameda
Around 1:30 PM, I left the Concours d’Lemons and drove north to Oakland to visit some friends of mine who live there. We met up at 4:00 PM and they volunteered to take over driving, for which I was grateful.
The group of us went to Alameda, an island which is right next to Oakland. We parked and walked around the historic downtown, and I was delighted with the charm and architecture of the place. We stopped at Tucker’s Ice Cream and had some delicious cones.
After that, we drove around Alameda where my friends showed me the old Naval Air Station. Heading back to Oakland, we drove through the historic Posey Tube underwater tunnel, which was completed in 1928.
Late Night Eats
After visiting with my friends for a while, I left at 8:00 PM to head back to the hotel. I felt a slight headache coming on as I realized I hadn’t drank enough water during the day. I stopped at a Walmart store in San Leandro on the way home and bought a couple of bottles of water.
Back at the hotel, it was late but I was quite hungry, having only eaten ice cream for dinner. I used my phone to locate a restaurant that was open, and drove over to Colosseum New York Pizza in Milpitas which was only 3 miles from the hotel. Although it was after midnight, the restaurant was hopping busy with guests both dining in and getting food to go. I enjoyed a slice of thin, crispy, New York style pizza that really hit the spot!
I headed back to the room and fell asleep, tired but happy.
DAY THREE
At last, it was time for the big event. I woke up on Sunday, August 20th and got dressed. After breakfast, I hit the road around 9:00 AM. It took about 3 hours to get to Monterey, get into 17 Mile Drive, and find a parking space. By the time I had caught the shuttle bus and arrived at the show, it was close to 1:00 PM in the afternoon.
70th Anniversary of Ferrari
There was a special “Concorso Ferrari” display set up on Hole 1 to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Ferrari. The Italian car maker had brought out a vehicle from every year of production, which was a special treat!
On a display stand was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in blue and yellow livery with number 112 on it. The car is one of only 36 built and is incredibly rare and valuable.
Ferrari made a limited run of 70th Anniversary edition badges for its vehicles in 2017, and a few models were on display.
Main Show Field
After looking at the Ferrari display, I made my way down the hill towards the main show field, arriving at 2:00 PM. I didn’t have any sort of plan, and just wandered around for a bit, zig zagging between cars that looked interesting.
For 2017, the Special Classes included:
- Isotta Fraschini
- Carrozzeria Castagna
- Ferrari One-off Spéciales
- Ferrari Major Race Winners
- American Dream Cars of the 1960s
- Jaguars with Custom Coachwork
Concept Car Lawn
I worked my way around the main show field until about 4:00 PM, then went to go check out the Concept Car lawn. Although it was late in the day, the crowd was still busy, which made it difficult to get good shots of the cars.
Here is a partial list of concept cars I saw:
- ItalDesign ZeroUno
- Lamborghini Huracan Performante
- Volkswagen I.D. Buzz
- Infiniti Coupe
- McLaren 720S in “Fux Fuschia” for Michael Fux
- Genesis GV80 SUV
- Spyker C8 Preliator Spyder
- Bentley EXP 12
- Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6 Cabriolet
- Pagani Huayra Roadster BC
- Pagani Zonda Barchetta HP
- LeMans Winning Ford GT
- BMW Concept Z4
- Acura LeMans car?
- Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster
Best of Show
The Best of Show award for the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance went to the 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer shown by Bruce R. McCaw.
After the Best of Show award was given, the event is officially over. However, I chose to stick around this year to watch some of the cars as they left the show field. It was exciting to see the cars running and driving as they went by.
Lone Cypress Tree
I left the event around 6:00 PM. I took the shuttle bus back to the drop-off point where I had parked along 17 Mile Drive. Since I was inside the gates of the scenic drive, I figured I would check out the famous Lone Cypress tree.
It wasn’t too busy on Sunday evening, which is good because there are only about a dozen parking spaces at Cypress Point Lookout. The Lone Cypress tree grows out of a rock formation that juts out into the ocean. The Monterey Cypress tree (Cupressus macrocarpa) is only found naturally along California’s central coast. These trees, particularly the Lone Cypress, are an icon of the Monterey region.
I took some photos of the tree during the “golden hour” just before sunset. The photos came out magnificent!
Around 7:00 PM, I jumped back in the car for the long drive from Monterey to my hotel in Milpitas. Back at the hotel room, it felt good to get off my feet after walking all day at the car show.
Late Night Eats
After a while, I began to get hungry. It took some searching to find a restaurant that was open on a Sunday night, but I eventually found one that sounded good.
I drove about 8 miles to San Pedro Square in San Jose’s downtown business district. I parked and walked to La Victoria Taqueria, which was very busy with people at 10:15 PM. I ordered a burrito to go and it was excellent! That made two nights in a row where I had found some good late-night eats.
DAY FOUR
Monday, August 21st was a travel day. It was time to return home. I enjoyed the free breakfast at the hotel before checking out.
I returned the rental car at 8:00 AM. It was time to say goodbye to the Ford Fusion Hybrid. I had driven 680 miles since picking the car up, and it had performed well with an average of 45.2 MPG according to the car’s display.
Southwest Airlines began boarding at 8:45 AM for our 9:15 AM departure.
It was a smooth flight home, and we touched down shortly after 11:00 AM at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.
Final Thoughts
This was a really memorable year to visit Monterey Car Week. I got to check out Exotics on Broadway and Concours d’Lemons in addition to the Pebble Beach Concours, and I really enjoyed the variety of cars as well as the free admission to those first two events.
It was great visiting with my friends and getting to explore historic downtown Alameda. I found some great late-night food in the San Jose area that was delicious.
The only thing that could have improved the trip would be staying closer to Monterey so there would be less driving, but that was very expensive due to the cost of hotel rooms.
