The auto shows are dead – the Monterey Car Week has long since taken their place as the world’s most magnificent auto event. Nowhere is this clearer than at the most exclusive event of the event week, The Quail – a Motorsports Gathering – is a colorful parallel world. More and more manufacturers are presenting their innovations here.
The cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show in spring 2023 came as no surprise this week – and yet it was an issue at one or the other brand stand in Pebble Beach. The final cancellation came as no surprise to anyone and hardly anyone is seriously bothered by it, because the Geneva Salon had been dead internationally for a few years. The automotive industry has long since found alternatives to spread its own good news to the automotive world – some are virtual – others very personal. Those who are self-respecting in the automotive industry are not only present at the Monterey Car Week, but also set up their tents at “The Quail – a Motorsports Gathering”. Those car brands that can afford to crown the Monterey Car Week meet in the most relaxed atmosphere on a converted fairway of the Quail Golf Club. Admission is $1,500 euros, the waiting list is long and access is strictly limited. It is said that only 3,500 visitors are allowed to set foot on the exclusive greens in one of the most affluent areas of the USA.
If you want to count for something, you have to be here, is the premise. The car manufacturers are accordingly powerful: Porsche is showing its new GT3 RS here, Audi is giving a glimpse of its own electric future with its three Sphere studies, McLaren is pulling the cloth from its Solus GT, a vehicle that is making its debut as a Vision Gran Turismo in the world-renowned video game of the same name and is now hitting the streets. Lucid lets its customers dream of the Sapphire and a spectacular 777 kW / 1,111 hp, while Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann presents the new Urus Performante to the public. The Italian power SUV comes to California with the recommendation of a Pikes Peak record. The 666 hp crossover rushed through the 156 curves in 10:32.064 minutes and snatched the crown from the Bentley Bentayga. The new Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster would probably do it even faster; 700 HP strong and 322 km/h fast. Also open: the electric Polestar 6.
But it’s not just the big manufacturers who present themselves and their latest products to an illustrious circle of customers at the exclusive Quail event. Of course, the interest in a Rimac Nevera, Maserati MC20 Cielo, the Bentley Bentayga EWB or a Lincoln Model L100 Concept is particularly great. But it is also the small brands from the third and fourth row that make their big appearance here. Manx resurrects a cool 2.0 Electric Buggy, Ruf shows its open mountain master, Gordon Murray enchants fans with the GMA 33 Supercar and Gunther Werks follows in the footsteps of the Porsche convertor Singer with 993 conversions. They countered this request with a Turbo Study, a bolide with 375 kW / 510 hp. Not to be confused with the hybrid super athletes from Czinger 21C V Max and Hyper GT, which look almost as crazy as the new edition of Hispano Suiza – 1,114 hp strong and of course electric, like more and more vehicles on the green lawn, which are priced at best by companies be outbid that offer luxury yachts or helicopters.
If Pebble Beach’s Monterey Car Week events are the auto show of the future, then The Quail is the bright red cherry on the dazzling crown. The future of the automobile will be decided here, at least in the high-yield premium and luxury segment, and not at a tired auto show in a gray hall with gleaming LED lights and artificial carpets. Strolling past new vehicles with a glass of champagne in hand while wearing a hat and sunglasses to keep the sun out. No wonder manufacturers, visitors and even those fans who didn’t get a ticket love the events. Not only children but also adults stand at driveways and parking lots and photograph the guests, whose own cars are hardly less spectacular than those on display in Pebble Beach. Envy and resentment are nowhere to be found around Pebble Beach, as are artificially fueled discussions about emissions and the right type of drive. Electric, plug-in hybrid, roaring V8, thundering V12 turbo or high-revving six-cylinder boxer – every type of drive has its right to exist here. Such a car mass would also be needed in Europe – the manufacturers would come in droves – like in Pebble Beach and the Monterey Car Week.
Source: Stern
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
