A visit to the Monterey Historics should be on the ‘list of things to see before you die’ for any fan of vintage cars.  It is just around the corner, running from 8/15-8/17, see www.montereyhistoric.com for more details.  What the website won’t tell you is just how incredible this experience can be, and that you really need to be there for a full week.  There are many events not to miss, especially the concours events that are not really part of the Rolex event, but always coincide with the weekend.  This is a bit of a snap-shot from my last visit which was two years ago.

Far left is Rug Cunningham (since deceased) of Cunningham BMW.  He was one of the great dealership owners who had an extreme passion for BMW racing and was a staple of the historics as long as BMW was allowed in the gates.  Toward the middle is Boris Said, a successful GT Driver and current NASCAR driver for NoFear.  I first met Boris at a BMW tech conference in St. Louis and see him at different events here and there.  Incredibly edgy driver and a nice guy.

Above is BMW of North America’s 3.5CSL race car driven by Boris Said.  Below is another 3.5CSL owned by Rug Cunningham; a car that we are pretty familiar with.    I somewhat saved this car after the practice runs as the exhaust nuts on all of the headers had backed off without any of the crew catching it.

Aside from BMWs, there are so many cars there to race that you suffer from sensory overload!  What makes this event special is that you pretty much have full access to all of the race pits and are able to get up close and personal with cars that you never even knew existed.

 

Vic Edelbrock and his daughter hanging out behind their fleet of beautiful American Muscle cars.

You’ll also see more Ferraris than you’ll ever see in your lifetime all in one place.  This vintage formula car really caught my attention.

I’ve got hundreds of pictures from when I was there.  I’m not sure when I’ll go again as the shop is super busy and someone needs to keep things running no matter what event is taking place.  But I will go back!  If you’ve debated about going in the past, drop your excuses and just get there.  It’s also a great family trip as the non gear-heads have plenty to keep them busy in Monterey and Carmel, both beautiful small towns on the California Coast.

Chris Keefer

Independent Motorcars

5836 Autoport Mall

San Diego CA 92121

858-455-5836

www.independentmotorcars.com

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