my weekend at the pebble beach concours d'elegance

From 2009 Pebble Beach Concours

For an automobile enthusiast like myself, last weekend was like living in a fantasy world. I took Friday off work to head down to Monterey for the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. I had never been to it before but had always wanted to. So of course I had pretty high expectations and the entire weekend over-delivered.
Rather than give a full play-by-play, I'll recap a few highlights from each day.

Friday

• Met up with my friend Bill and attended the RM auction preview and saw countless amazing cars including a couple of Millers.
  
• Snuck into the auction at Quail Lodge, again saw amazing vehicles...too many to list.
  
• Watched a 1937 Bugatti get bid up to $5.1 million and still not meet it's reserve price.
  
• Got to touch an Auto Union formula car valued at over $8 million.
  
• Saw a McLaren Mercedes SLR for the first time just driving down the street.
  
• Found out I don't mind being stuck in traffic when every 3rd car is a Ferrari or Porsche.
  
• Learned how to tell if a classic Bugatti is a replica.
  
• Nearly collided with Jay Leno.
  
• Talked to some guy about his Lotus Elise, sat in it, and I'm now thinking about buying one.
  
• Went back to the RM auction that evening and had dinner at Britannia Arms. (Amazed by how much money is sitting the room at these auctions!)

Saturday
Saturday was our day at the race track (Laguna Seca).

• Bill secured a Porsche 356 Speedster for us to drive all weekend.
  
• Saw $100,000+ cars (owned by spectators) parked in the dirt parking lot.
  
• Watched VIPs bypass traffic and come to the track by helicopter.
  
• Felt happy to see people actually racing these vintage cars.
  
• Learned lots about old cars from Bill.
  
• Realized that vintage racing is cool and these guys actually drive pretty hard!
  
• Watched a guy crash a classic Ferrari Testa Rossa worth probably $10million.
  
• Fell in love with some vintage Porsches
  
• Attended the IDEO party at Montrio and talked cars with some cool folks (and great designers) thanks to an invite I got on Facebook.
  
• Went back to the RM auction again!

Sunday
On Sunday we spent the entire day at the Pebble Beach Concours.

• Saw beautiful corporate displays from Tesla, Spyker, and Ferrari.
  
• Compared the new Ferrari California to the original (same type of car used in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)
  
• Talked to the Lotus factory rep about the new Evora and the Elise.
  
• Checked out the concept car display on the Pebble Beach putting green.
  
• Saw my first Bugatti Veyron in person (actually I saw 4 of them.)
  
• Found an old Bugatti kid's pedal car for Luca (if it weren't $15,000.)
  
• Realized that Pebble Beach is a nice, scenic place for a car show.
  
• Admired the architecture (and location) of this guy's house.
  
• Saw more vintage Ferraris than I could have imagined!
  
• Saw more vintage Bentleys than I could have imagined!
  
• Saw more vintage Bugattis than I could have imagined!
  
• Continued to learn a lot about the history of these cars from Bill (who is old enough to be very familiar with them.)
  
• Felt like a part of "high society" for the day (people really get decked out for this show, women with hats and fur and gloves and all that.)
  
• Saw some celebrities: Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Hermann, and two dudes that looked like German rock stars (or maybe porn stars.)
  
• Watched Jerry Seinfeld drive one of his racing Porsches and saw the another one in the parking lot (parked illegally of course!)
  
• Decided if I get a vintage car, I need to dress in vintage style like these guys.
  
• Was "wowed" by the attention to detail and interesting engineering on many of these old cars (like how the wheel weights get attached to wire wheels or the finish of the dashboard and gauges.)
  

Click here for my full photo gallery from the weekend.

From 2009 Pebble Beach Concours