Rods & Classics: Quail Celebrates Daytona and BMW M1
Story and Photos By Nigel Matthews
Next month, I’ll be filling you in on one of the world’s most prestigious automotive events, “The 59th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance,” and also a new event which is poking fun at the other events taking place on the Monterey Peninsula, the inaugural Concours d’Lemons where cars worth more than $5,000 are forbidden, and picnic baskets and champagne are discouraged! This month, I’ll give you my account of the most expensive event of the week by the cost of the admission ticket.
The crown jewel of Monterey week is an event called The Quail Motorsports Gathering, taking place at the legendary Quail Lodge Resort & Golf Club in the Carmel Valley. The Hon. Sir Michael Kadoorie, the Chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel Group and avid car collector, will be your host for the day. The seventh annual Quail will celebrate 50 years of racing at the Daytona International Speedway, home to the Daytona 500, honour the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1, and pay tribute to racing icon Hans Stuck.
The $400-per-person tickets are harder to get your hands on than 2010 Winter Games tickets. Last year, all of the tickets sold out within an hour of going on sale. Since its inception six years ago, only 3,000 lucky ticket holders have had the chance to attend. Closer to the event, you will see ads on Craigslist offering to pay up to $1,000 per ticket.
Jonathan Parker of Vancouver had given up all hope of obtaining tickets for the event, when he decided to send the organizers a picture of his 1960 AC Ace. All of a sudden, he was going to The Quail as an invited exhibitor. How does that old expression go, “If you can beat them, join them”!
I have attended the Monterey venues for a number of years, and I can honestly say “The Quail” is by far the nicest, most relaxing day out you will have all week. The “intimate garden party with cars” as the famous racing driver Derek Bell describes it, is a display of automobiles that one would normally only see in magazines. But wait, it gets better! As well as viewing some of the world’s finest racing, sports racing and GT cars, the price of your admission ticket includes a very civilized sit-down culinary feast of locally grown organic produce prepared by the resort’s team of master chefs.
Some of the finest local wineries are on hand to offer you their products, and if you enjoy something cold with bubbles, champagne from the cellars Bernardus and Louis Roederer is readily available and flowing. Everyone sits down for a very civilized lunch at tables with white linen table cloths at various locations around the perimeter of the lush green fairway nestled in the Carmel Valley. The surrounding Santa Lucia mountain range is a perfect location for the Land Rover Experience Driving School, which is permanently located at Quail Lodge. Quail Motorsport gathering ticket holders can get behind the wheel of a new Range Rover or Land Rover and enjoy a short off-road experience behind the wheel of one of these 4X4’s.
If you have never experienced an auction, Bonhams & Butterfield hold a multifaceted auction offering fine jewelery, watches, automobilia and blue chip collector vehicles. This takes place in an adjoining marquee opposite the Lodge and once again admission to the auction is included for ticket holders.
At the inaugural “Quail” Motorsport gathering in 2003, Bonhams & Butterfield sales figures amounted to $2.1 million, and last year that figure was a record $21.1 million.
Judging at any world-class Concours is taken very seriously by the entrants and judges. The Quail takes a very different approach from the traditional points-scoring judging and appoints the owners of the cars on display as the judges. Their judging criteria is based on the vehicle’s design, performance and its place in automotive history, unlike Pebble Beach where the judges scrutinize every nut, bolt, screw and wire for accuracy and strive for 100-percent authenticity. At The Quail, one car from each class is chosen as the class winner. All of the class winners are assembled in the circle of champions from which one is chosen as the best-of-show winner.
This year, Porsche used The Quail for the first North American public unveiling of the Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo, and Aston Martin showcased its newest model, the DBS Volante convertible.
Don’t forget to pick up next month’s RPM for some exciting news from Pebble Beach and the feature marque photos of Bentley, Bugatti, and 100 years of Morgan and Audi race cars. From the Concours d’Lemons, perhaps some old news concerning the Pinto, Pacer and Gremlin![PSGallery=u3mujlvt4]
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