The Annual Monterey Issue

tent we were awe-struck. Right at the entrance they
had a Ford GT40 prototype and a Ferrari 857 Sport.
So we quickly got our credentials and went in to see
what else they had in store for the auction weekend.
e very rst car we saw in the preview area was an
absolutely stunning Mercedes 540k. Its glamour
per square inch is simply unmatched even today!
We quickly saw why Gooding & Company at Pebble
is considered one of the top auctions in the world.
ey also had a Maserati Birdcage, Porsche RS60,
Monteverdi HAI 450 SS Prototype, Ferrari Enzo, a
bunch of Bugattis, Auburn Boat-tail Speedster, Ferrari
400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamico, Ferrari 250
GT LWB prototype and a competition model, Toyota
2000GT, Lamborghini Miura SV, and the list goes on
and on. It was a great collection of automobiles.
Our next notable stop was the Mercedes-
Benz display that held a collection of some of the
most important 300SL Gullwings ever made. As soon
as I walked in I just stood there and stared. I couldn’t
believe I was seeing all of these cars in one place. I
quickly started taking as many pictures as I could
before rushing o to meet photographer Richard
ompson, who had invited us to see and shoot a very
cool group of cars. When we arrived there we were
astounded to see a Ferrari Enzo, an F50, 599GTO and
a 458 Italia parked on the street of a very auent
neighborhood. We jumped out of our car and started
shooting as if we were paparazzi. We wanted to get
every detail, every angle. Richard ompson and the
owner of the cars were kind enough to reposition the
cars for us and open doors so we could get interior
shots. e owner is a true car guy, not only does he
own these magnicent machines he actually drives
them. He has over 55,000 miles on the F50, which is 1
of 4 black F50s ever produced.
We headed back to Pebble Beach to the
concept lawn to photograph some of the concept cars
before heading to downtown Monterey. In Monterey
we revisited the RM auction to see if we had missed
anything before having a great dinner at Old Fisherman’s
Grotto. en back to our room it was. But did
we sleep? Hell no! We had to edit our photos from
the day and upload them to our sites so people could
have updates of what we had seen and experienced!
We planned on sleeping a few hours before waking up
super early but that didn’t happen; we just stayed up
all night working.
Sleepless, we got ready in haste and headed
back to the Pebble Beach resort for Dawn Patrol,
which is a Pebble Beach tradition for the hard core car
guys. Everyone arrives around 5:00 a.m. for coee and
donuts and a free hat so you can brag to your car guy
friends about how hard core you are. You then wait in
the frigid cold for all the concours participants to roll
in one by one.
We got lucky and each managed to get a hat before
they ran out and got there in time for plenty of free
coee and donuts. As I stood there waiting for the
cars to roll in, who else but Wayne Carrini came along
and took a spot right next to me with his entourage.
It was cool having the man stand next to me as he was
discussing various facts about the cars and some of
his adventures.
After all the cars were done rolling in and
thanks to Erik’s great relationship with McLaren,
we went to the McLaren tent to check out the new
MP4-12C Spider and Can-Am before anyone else even
got in. By the time we got out of the tent, the Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance was already super active.
ere were people EVERYWHERE. We started taking
pictures as quickly as we could before the crowds got
even bigger. e whole day we would take photos
then take a break at the McLaren booth—drink some
champagne, eat a few snacks, and chat with Hong Yeo,
the designer of the X-1. Inside the McLaren tent we
ran into all sorts of important people in the car world.
We even got to see the president of Lamborghini and
the president of Ferrari North America both checking
out the 12C Spider at the same time. e highlight for
the Star Wars fans was seeing George Lucas come in.
While hanging out on the porch of the McLaren tent I
got to see the 1910 Brooke Swan Car drive by and come
to a stop in front of Jay Leno and Horacio Pagani. e
car then proceeded to barf and then poop in front of
them, much to their amusement. Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
back in 1910 someone had the money to not only
make their car look like a swan but also barf and poop
like a swan. It must have been quite something to see
this car driving around India of all places.
When we got back to the show eld I ran
into Bruce Meyer and got to tell him my story about his
Shelby Cobra. You see Bruce owns the very rst Shelby
Cobra and shows it all over the place. is year he had
it at the Beverly Hills Father’s Day Concours. I was
checking it out at that show when a gentleman, if you
can call him that, proclaimed to his friend that it was
stupid that they would put a replica in such a show. He
laughed at how everyone was taking photos of it as if
it were real when it was really a cheap knock-o. I told
him he was mistaken; it was in fact a real one and I told
him a brief story of the car. e guy absolutely blew up
in my face and pointed out that the badge was wrong,
the hood pins were wrong, and, besides “Real Cobras
don’t have wipers! You don’t need wipers on a race car!”
e guy kept going on and on about being a collector
and how he bought dozens of real Cobras, blah, blah,
blah. I just quietly walked away in bewilderment that
someone would react like that. He could have simply
said all of that in a kind manner. No need to scream
at me and berate me. Bruce laughed and told me that
when he bought the Cobra, he too thought it was a replica.
It wasn’t until they broke it down to restore it that
they found it was the real deal and learned how special
it was.
I took a relaxed approach to Pebble, I didn’t
rush through the show as I usually do. I never really
got frustrated with the huge crowd, in fact I enjoyed it
since it made for great people watching. Seeing some of
the stu the ultra-rich wear is quite amusing, chrome
orange gator shoes anyone? I just took my time, chatted
with some friends, and soaked it all in. After all, it
was my rst Pebble experience. When it came time to
announce the winners I rushed to that area and tried to
guess which car would win. To everyone’s surprise the
winner was a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Saoutchik Torpedo.
We all expected a Duesemberg or Alfa Romeo to
win. is one shocked us because it didn’t seem to possess
the elegance the others did. e reworks went o
and the car disappeared in the smoke. It was quite the
sight. We then went back to the McLaren booth to chill
for a bit and let the crowds dissipate before leaving. We
chatted with Frank Stephenson, the designer of the
MP4-12C, P1, Ferrari FXX, Ferrari 599, BMW X5, Mini
Cooper, and a bunch of other iconic cars. He is a truly
great guy and he even signed a bunch of posters for us.
He wrote mine in Spanish after he noticed my accent.
As soon as I spoke to him, he switched the conversation
to Spanish, which frankly was not very easy for me
since I’m not very uent anymore. Frank Stephenson is
part Spaniard so he recognized my last name and actually
gave me a brief history of my family’s last name,
which was pretty neat since I really don’t know much
about my ancestry.
Now it was time to go but instead of going
home we headed back to the Gooding & Company tent
because we wanted to see the 540k sell as well as the
California Spider prototype. While we were there we
got to see a Toyota 2000GT sell for an extra ordinary
$640,000. e amount of money being thrown around
was just insane. I highly recommend attending one
of these auctions as it’s a surreal experience. It might
sound weird but you become accustomed to hearing
million dollar bids after a while.
We came, we saw, we conquered? I was
exhausted, my feet were pulsating, and my eyes were
burning but it was time to head home and go to work
on Monday. e drive home was pretty sketchy because
of the lack of sleep. When I started seeing things on
the road—unicorns, elephants, dogs, cats, collapsing
bridges (heck, the road even seemed to be moving)—it
was quite scary so we took a break, drank Monster
Energy drinks, and soldiered on. Somewhere along the
way I ran over a skunk which made for a huge stink and
almost made Dilan barf. I couldn’t stop laughing which
helped me stay awake. When I eventually got home,
I threw my stu down and konked out. I had been
awake for 29 hours and nally slept for a good 14 hours
straight.
Would I do it again? Hell yes! Will I plan better
next time? Maybe!