Friday is the big day for the Pebble Beach Concours' great rival, the
Quail Lodge Motorsports Gathering, an extravaganza of excess arguably even more exclusive than the event which spawned it. Tickets are limited to 3000 admittees on the day, and had sold out months prior - but could be purchased on Craigslist, for $1200 on the day! Ouch. Once inside, the Quail provides everything you might need, and it's all-inclusive with the $300 fee - champagne, caviar, oysters, catered food from the excellent
Quail Lodge restaurants.
Not such a bad deal if you're a big drinker of bubbles and eater of fine food, and the atmosphere is exceptional, the venue being situated in the center of
Carmel Valley, where the weather is just that bit better than on the coastline proper. Needless to say, I didn't have a ticket, but that didn't stop several of my (nameless, but blog-featured) pals from attending! If you can get past the heavy security, it's a party crasher's paradise.
Bonham's also holds its big auction of cars and memorabilia on Friday at the Quail, and I watched a metallic 'rose' Gullwing Mercedes sell for just over $500,000 - clearly some people are spending money like it's 2007. Plenty of other fine vehicles changed hands, although the featured
1939 Auto Union D-type V-12 racer (in an earlier v-16 chassis) didn't meet it's reserve, nor did the big-bucks
Bugatti Type 57S which had heavy press hype.
All in, a 57% sale rate; a sign of the times? Or, as was rumored, did the Russian provenance of the Auto Union, and it's association with six replicas built at
Crosswaite & Gardner in England, dampen the mood... an interesting question, and I overheard quite a few conversations about 'claims of authenticity', and while no one seemed to take these seriously, the general feeling was that Someone had cast aspersions on the Auto Union, which would prove very difficult to unstick from the car's reputation. I find it fascinating - hot on the heels of a rise to Olympian values of certain cars and motorcycles, was born legal wrangling, court decisions, and lawyering-up of all parties in this high-stakes game of vehicle poker. I know more about libel, copyright, intellectual property, and defamation law than I really ought, simply via discussion around old vehicles.
Speaking of megabucks, I also managed a good look inside the
Gooding's auction tent, which sat 200 yards away from MidAmerica's site at Pebble Beach. Goodings is perhaps the most successful auction venue during Motor Week (
$50m in sales, 79% sale rate), and seems to sell the most high-dollar cars, and certainly has the swankiest display.
Their showroom tent is enormous, decorated with black chandeliers and cars on plinths, with soft music playing (
Sufjan Stevens no less, and other tasteful contemporary fare - no elevator or new age stuff), and very discreet staff in attendance. Entry to view the cars was free, with the purchase of an auction catalog, for $150! That's one way to keep the riffraff at bay - luckily I had a press pass, so this raff managed a riff through the tent. Gorgeous.
On Saturday the
Monterey Historic races circulate noisily at
Laguna Seca Raceway, much to the chagrin of the neighbors who are constantly trying to shut them down. As I was contracted to sell motorcycles, I remained Pebble-bound, but there was plenty of action at the
MidAmerica tent. Jay Leno returned to film a 'road test' segment for his website (which is online now, see it here!), on the new
Brough Superior 'Pendine'... which meant, yes, as long as the bike was gassed, oiled, and warmed up, that I got my Own test ride on the new machine. Stay tuned!
I also managed to snag an extended road test of something Completely Different, a
Confederate Hellcat, riding with Francois-Xavier Theirry (a major investor and Board member of Confederate) along 17-Mile Drive. More on that shortly, as well.
Our evening entertainment was dinner at
Club XIX (I believe that's '19'...) with the Brough Superior and Confederate gang... Jared Zaugg of the
Legend of the Motorcycle rode in on 'my' Hellcat, but with a chic velvet blazer and tie for dinner. A woman nearby shouted 'James Bond!' when he arrived, which says a lot for Jared, the Hellcat, and the evening.
Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. These are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See Linda on her 2003 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider. Also see Rollsroyce77 on his 2002 Honda VTX1800 Retro. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.
ot that I ever thought of myself as one, but here's the text of the article from the September '09 BSH:
an impressive amount, including a 1921 Works-prepared Royal Enfield, a 1926 Norton Model 25, a couple of Sunbeams, a 1929 Rudge Ulster, a '33 Velocette KTT MkIV and a 1960 Velocette Venom Clubman. But he also collects books, magazines, and artwork, and it's not surprising that this should have led to the blog, which is just another form of collecting. Paul is well-known throughout the collecting world on the west coast of America where he lives, and has not only spoken at auctions but judged concours events including the renowned Legend of the Motorcycle at Half Moon Bay. This might make him sound a little precious, but Paul is far from that. His continuing passion and enthusiasm for classic motorcycles - of all eras and sizes - is clear through the Vintagent, and the items happily roam all over the world, including several British events. I want to do the Moto Melee next year. Go and look, and you'll understand why. Paul explains the appeal of the Vintagent like this: [see my 'Story of Motorcycling' statement text on the sidebar!]"
And here is what happens after four days of schmoozing around Pebble Beach during Motor Week; two new Bugattis drove past me during the wee dawn hours; I couldn't be bothered to twist my neck for a gander. Just another pair of megabucks four wheel toys, in an actual sea of new Ferraris, Spykers, Teslas, Lamborghinis, etc, etc. Plus all the older cars driving around, gradually becoming a blur of polished, colorful excess.
Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. These are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See Casey Jo with her 1985 Yamaha 700 Maxum. Also see Louis with his 1920 Harley-Davidson Sport. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.
Friday is the big day for the Pebble Beach Concours' great rival, the Quail Lodge Motorsports Gathering, an extravaganza of excess arguably even more exclusive than the event which spawned it. Tickets are limited to 3000 admittees on the day, and had sold out months prior - but could be purchased on Craigslist, for $1200 on the day! Ouch. Once inside, the Quail provides everything you might need, and it's all-inclusive with the $300 fee - champagne, caviar, oysters, catered food from the excellent Quail Lodge restaurants. 
I hadn't attended the mad extravaganza which is the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 8 years, as frankly, it has become simply too difficult to get at the hallowed golf course on the Sunday, as parking is restricted to miles away in Pacific Grove, with shuttle buses (a good idea) ferrying the 25,000 or so temporary pedestrians, who pay $150 for the privilege of milling around very expensive cars, and being unable to get a clear photograph of any of them in the sea of humanity.
