The center of the collector car universe
For one week every August, the entire collector car world flies to a 17-mile stretch of California coast between Monterey, Pebble Beach, and Carmel. Auctions transact hundreds of millions of dollars. Concours fields stretch the length of fairways. Historic Formula 1 cars run flat out at Laguna Seca. Hotels are booked a year out. And every important conversation in this hobby happens, eventually, at some lawn party off 17 Mile Drive.
It's not a single event. It's the most concentrated collection of separate, world-class events anywhere in the car world, all running in parallel for nine days.
The Sunday — Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
The week culminates Sunday, August 16, 2026 with the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links. It is the most important concours in the world. Best of Show at Pebble is the most coveted prize a collector car can win. The field is invitation-only, every car is meticulously researched, and the judging is brutal. Sunday morning the cars roll up onto the lawn at dawn while the fog burns off the bay.
The auctions
Four major houses run sales across the week, and together they typically transact between $400M and $500M:
- RM Sotheby's Monterey — Thursday/Friday at the Monterey Conference Center - Gooding & Company — Friday/Saturday at the Pebble Beach equestrian center - Bonhams Quail Lodge — Friday at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley - Mecum Monterey — Wednesday through Saturday at the Hyatt Regency
Whether you're buying or just watching, the auctions are the financial heartbeat of the week. Get a paddle even if you're not bidding — the floor energy is the point.
Friday — The Quail
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on Friday, August 14 at Quail Lodge & Golf Club is the most exclusive ticket of the week. Capped attendance, lavish hospitality, manufacturer concept reveals, and a curated field that punches well above its size. Tickets sell out in hours when they go on sale.
Concorso Italiano
Concorso Italiano on Saturday, August 15 at Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside is the all-Italian celebration — Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat. Less precious than Pebble, more festival, just as serious about the cars.
Historic racing — Monterey Motorsports Reunion
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca hosts the Monterey Motorsports Reunion the weekend of August 14–16, with the Pre-Reunion the prior weekend. Pre-war GP cars, '50s sports racers, '60s F1, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Group C — the cars run hard. Pre-Reunion is the local secret: same paddock, half the crowd.
Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance
Thursday, August 13, the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance puts the Concours field on the road for a 70-mile drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur and back. If you can't get into Sunday, stand on Ocean Avenue in Carmel around lunchtime and watch the field roll through town. Free, public, unforgettable.
What I'd do if you've never been
Don't try to do everything. You can't. Pick three things and do them well. My recommendation for first-timers: Tour d'Elegance Thursday morning in Carmel (free), one auction preview (RM or Gooding), and Sunday at Pebble. That's plenty for a first year.
If you're going deeper: add Pre-Reunion at Laguna Seca the weekend before, The Quail Friday, and Concorso Italiano Saturday.
Book your hotel in January. Seriously. By April everything within an hour is gone.