Pebble Beach Concours D'elegance: Exotics and Events Outside the Shows

My favorite part of the Monterey Weekend Of Automobiles (MWOA!) is actually the cars outside of the Concours D'elegance that are primarily featured on the day of the show. Sometimes you get a peak a day or two before. Others are seen at the various auctions.

The ones I've wanted to see for a long time in the past year or so were present: Ferrari 458 Italia, 599 GTO and the one and only P540 Superfast Aperta based on the 599 GTB. Also a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, McLaren MP4-12C, Porsche 918 Spyder, 911 Turbo S, Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, and others. Some surprises were there as well such as the gorgeous Morgan EvaGT and the Lotus Evora Cup GT4 which has the horsepower output the production Evora desperately needs.

The Ferrari display just outside the Concours is up the ramp from the shops near the main entrance. The display was wonderful and deserved a higher traffic location. Some even missed it. The Italia was a very nice dark blue and of course the GTO was red. The only P540 in existence, part of the Ferrari customization program is gold colored.

The Bugatti, an even darker blue-black was especially understated. Even the McLaren was the wrong color, silver, and looks like a small car, not a wide sports car. An interesting perception, I'll be curious to see other colors on the road, hopefully.

The CTS-V is "V-rated" just like the sedan version. Wheels, brakes, hood and grill distinguish it from the standard coupe just like the sedan. The rear end just looks too disproportionately large. A comment overheard was it looks just like some simple trapezoidal shape. There is a very strange cut line near the door touch pad opening that looks like a little square filler instead of being part of the body work.

The Porsche Spyder is simply outrageous. A shorter, more curvy looking ancestor of the Carrera GT, it was also the absolutely wrong color, somewhat of a muted beige silver that didn't do it justice.

The Morgan EvaGT was a stunner. Elements of the 3rd generation Corvette could be seen but with European supercar lines. It's curves were R-rated, not suitable for those with delicate sensitivities. Really, this car is like a Frederick's of Hollywood model lounging in her lingerie on the putting green.

Jaguar's weekend kick-off event featured the remaining 12 of the 16 XK-SS Roadsters at the entrance to the party. An impressive historical sight while all their stunningly elegant models were on display. Race car driver Roberto Guerrero was even one of the very friendly product specialists. The food and large room dedicated for desserts was far more memorable than the fun dance floor.

The auctions offered some other stunners as well such as some gorgeous Ferrari's at the RM Auction held at the Portola Hotel & Spa and Monterey Conference Center. In fact, the top seller was a Ferrari that sold for $4,620,000. Now the auction charges $40 per person just to view the cars and even more to attend. Considering the crowds at night, this is a necessary but unfortunate fee.

MWOA is a spectacular time of year. Be sure to mark your calendar for the third weekend in August and be prepared to check off all the "greats" you read and see in the magazines, on Top Gear and You Tube all year.