Carweek is just about to start, and we will be there, after three years of absence. It’s gonna be a special one for one of our editors, Mickael, as it will be his fifth one and the 10 year anniversary from the first one he attended. But Carweek is also a huge struggle. Text & Photos: Mickael B.
The difference between Carweek and the other events
Why is Carweek such a stress though? When you think about it, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the second biggest and with entrants almost as historically important should stress me as much. There is a crucial difference though. Villa d’Este used to be two events in three days: the Concorso and the RM Auction. Nowadays, there are three events, in three days: the Fuori Concorso, the auction is now led by Broad Arrows, and the Villa d’Este Concorso.
Villa d’Este is thus easy. Focus on one event per day, and you can cover everything, appreciating the variety of cars, taking time to enjoy the atmosphere and focusing on details which trigger your interests. Carweek is a very different beast. 19 events in 5 days. It is factually impossible to cover all events. And since the cars presented are of significant importance at all events (yes, ALL events, even the Concours d’Lemons), it’s always very tough to plan which events to attend, and which ones to cover.
« Carweek is a very different beast from the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este »
I remember my first Carweek, 10 years ago. We got lucky and had tickets to the McCall Motorworks Revival (now the Motorlux), the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca and of course the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and a few auctions (Gooding and RM Sotheby’s). It was already plenty, and since it was my first one, I had no clear planning and no clear self-conscience as well of how bad the traffic can get.
Check out our 2022 report from Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Still it was an amazing one, and a great first experience thanks to the many advices of friends who had attended multiple years already. It allowed me to plan better for my second one, three years later in 2018. One of the mistakes of that year, given the frustration from 2015 where I did not do many events, was to do too many events and not enjoying them enough. Then came 2019, the « perfect » year which allowed me to understand that Carweek is all about balance. A tight equilibrium between the frustration of not covering all the events and still being able to spend enough time to enjoy them.
Why is Carweek 2025 significant to me?
My last one, 2022 was not a huge success, but for personal reasons. I thought it was a good idea to bring my then girlfriend, a princess who was never used to work. Not my smartest decision knowing it is a whole week of car events where I had to work, and where my inner 4 year old child kicks in regularly since this was always a dream of mine. Yes, that involved a lot of weird excited moments where I would scream like a virgin and somehow jump in the ocean with my blue jeans because I felt like it.
Today, she does not even speak to me anymore, nor to what used to be her best friend, which happens to be my best friend too. And luckily for me in 2022, I was not alone to face that as Thomas, one of our other editors was travelling with me and was of huge comfort and support while I was dealing with that difficult period. Lesson learned, but this is why this year will be very special for me for two reasons. It will be a purgatory from my 2022 edition, and will be the first one for my best friend.
« Carweek is all about the careful balance between doing as many events as possible but still spending enough time to enjoy them »
Our planning for Carweek 2025
Now how do you choose which events to attend and which ones to skip? It depends first of your budget. Of course, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday is THE must, but be there very early for the Dawn Patrol to avoid the crowd. It will keep you busy as well on the Thursday morning for the world famous Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance where the cars follow the Pacific Coast Highway until the picturesque Bixby Bridge.
Going backwards, your Saturday should be focused on the exceptional Concorso Italiano, showcasing the best italian cars there is and this year focusing on the Lamborghini Diablo 35th Anniversary and Cisitalia’s 80th Birthday. On Saturday night the Monterey Motorsports festival will serve as the closing Carweek party with Dillon Francis and Mad Mike making the show. This year as well, a new highlight event on Friday evening at the same location than Concorso Italiano will be held in collaboration with Radwood focusing on eighties and nineties youngtimers.
If you can afford it, or have some luck with their lottery system, the Quail, A Motorsport Gathering is an unmissable one from Friday. Be prepared for a great day of car reveals, champagne, great wines and fine foods in the middle of an eclectic concours condition cars from all eras and all manufacturers. I was only able to attend two years (2015 and 2019), and will have to skip this year. So if you’re like me, you can replace it with the free Porsche Werks Reunion, the biggest Porsche gathering I’ve ever attended.
Check out our report of the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2015.
What to do on the Thursday after the tour d’Elegance? You can check the Legends of the Autobahn but my advice: focus on the auctions preview. Have a look at the online catalogs of the ones which have cars which you are interested in. And there are quite a few. RM Sotheby is in downtown Monterey, Bonhams on the Quail Golf, Mecum is in Seaside, Broad Arrows is at the Monterey Jet Center, while Gooding & Co is in Pebble Beach.
Wednesday: Rolex Motorsports Reunion & Motorlux
Thursday: Pebble Tour & Auction previews
Friday: Quail or Werks Reunion
Saturday: Concorso Italiano
Sunday: Pebble Beach
Wednesday being the first day, walking around Laguna Seca Raceway during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is a must to get in the atmosphere, enjoy the sights and the sounds. Be careful, it can get very hot there, but grabbing a beer over the legendary corkscrew view is still one of my highlights and I did it every year since 2015. Bonus for the evening, the Motorlux presented by Hagerty, is the best Carweek kicking off party mixing amazing food, drinks, cars, watches and airplanes.
If you’ve got time to squeeze additional events, there are still plenty so here’s the full list of events, day by day.
Wednesday 13
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Laguna Seca 08:15 – 17:05
08:15 Cunningham, 08:50 Morton, 09:25 Gregg, 10:00 Gurney, 10:35 Rodriguez, 11:10 Jones, 11:45 Ragtime //
12:15 HWA, 13:00 Andretti, 13:35 Haywood, 14:10 Fangio, 14:55 Pruett, 15:30 Family, 16:05 Hall, 16:40 Miles
Bonhams Quail Lodge Preview 09:00 – 18:00
Broad Arrows Monterey Jet Center Preview 10:00 – 17:00
Broad Arrows Monterey Jet Center Auction 18:00
Motorlux Monterey Jet Center 18:00 – 22:30
RM Monterey Conference Center Preview 10:00 – 18:00
Gooding Pebble Beach Preview 10:00 – 18:00
Little Car Show Lighthouse Avenue Pacific Grove 12:00 – 17:00
Thursday 14
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Laguna Seca 08:15 – 17:05
08:15 Cunningham, 08:50 Morton, 09:25 Gregg, 10:00 Gurney, 10:35 Rodriguez, 11:10 Jones, 11:45 Ragtime //
13:00 Andretti, 13:35 Haywood, 14:20 Fangio, 14:55 Pruett, 15:30 Family, 16:05 Hall, 16:40 Miles
Bonhams Quail Lodge Preview 09:00 – 18:00
Broad Arrows Monterey Jet Center Preview 10:00 – 13:00
Broad Arrows Monterey Jet Center Auction 13:00
RM Monterey Conference Center Preview 10:00 – 18:00
Gooding Pebble Beach Preview 09:00 – 18:00
Ferrari Owners Club Concours Ocean Avenue Carmel 06:00 – 17:00
Legends of the Autobahn Pacific Grove Golf Links 09:00 – 15:00
Mecum Monterey Del Monte Golf Course Auction 08:00 – 17:00
Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance 07:00 – 12:00
Prancing Ponies Women’s Car Show Ocean Avenue Carmel 10:00 – 16:00
Friday 15
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Laguna Seca 08:15 – 17:05
08:15 Fangio, 08:50 Miles, 09:25 Family, 10:00 Hall, 10:35 Rodriguez, 11:10 Cunningham, 11:45 Ragtime //
12:15 VIP Laps, 13:00 Andretti, 13:35 F1, 14:10 Morton, 14:35 Pruett, 15:20 Haywood, 15:55 Gregg, 16:30 Jones, 17:05 Gurney
Bonhams Quail Lodge Preview 08:30 – 11:00
Bonhams Quail Lodge Auction 11:00
RM Monterey Conference Center Preview 10:00 – 16:00
RM Monterey Conference Center Auction 17:30
Gooding Pebble Beach Preview 09:00 – 21:00
Gooding Pebble Beach Auction 16:00
Mecum Monterey Del Monte Golf Course Auction 08:00 – 17:00
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 09:00 – 16:00
The Paddock Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course 15:00 – 20:00
Pacific Grove Rotary Concours Lighthouse Avenue 12:00 – 15:00
Porsche Werks Reunion Monterey Pines Golf Course 09:00 – 15:00
Saturday 16
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Laguna Seca 08:15 – 18:35
08:00 Morton, 08:35 Fangio, 09:10 Miles, 09:45 Gurney, 10:20 Rodriguez, 10:55 Family //
12:00 IROC, 12:20 VIP Laps, 13:00 Andretti, 13:35 Haywood, 14:00 Pagani, 14:25 F1, 15:00 Jones, 15:35 Cunningham, 16:25 Gregg, 17:00 Hall, 17:35 Pruett, 18:20 Ragtime
RM Monterey Conference Center Preview 10:00 – 16:00
RM Monterey Conference Center Auction 17:00
Gooding Pebble Beach Preview 09:00 – 17:00
Gooding Pebble Beach Auction 11:00
Mecum Monterey Del Monte Golf Course Auction 08:00 – 17:00
Monterey Fairgrounds Motorsports Festival 17:00 – 23:00
Concorso Italiano Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course 10:00 – 16:00
Exotics on Broadway Seaside 11:00 – 16:00
Ferrari at The Barnyard Carmel 16:00 – 19:00
Ferrari parade at Pebble Beach 17:00
Concours d’Lemons 440 Harcourt Avenue Seaside 08:00 – 13:30
Sunday 17
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 05:00 – 18:00