Wowing the crowd in Pebble Beach can be a tall order – we’re talking about the most jaded crowd of auto enthusiasts on the planet – but BMW managed it with aplomb at this year’s event, and luckily we got to go along for the ride.
Pebble Beach is the name applied by insiders to the tail end of Monterey Car Week, essentially three events, one on each day of a long weekend: The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering; the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion aka Laguna Seca; and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance itself.
The only way to really experience it all at the invitation of one of the major luxury carmakers, who roll out high-end hospitality for important clients and members of the media. And nobody does it better than BMW.
Just as important as any of the glamorous gatherings are the new models and concept cars the manufacturers debut over the weekend in advance of putting them on display, at events held at private villas in Pebble Beach rented for the occasion. BMW had already stolen the show this year with its drop-dead gorgeous 3.0 CSL Hommage R concept, further testament to the talents of the Bavarian marque’s head of design, Karim Habib.
Having stunned the crown with the incredible i8 last year, Habib had himself set a hard act to follow. The 3.0 CSL Hommage R was designed in tribute to the legendary 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL that debuted the year BMW of North America was founded.
And in its coinciding debut in U.S. motor racing the 3.0 CSL scored a historic victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring race, followed quickly by other wins including one at Laguna Seca. In Pebble Beach we got a first glimpse of the 3.0 CSL Hommage R at BMW’s private villa, where it was unveiled in company with the original 3.0 CSL and the Z4 GTLM race car, also decked out in the marque’s iconic red, white and blue livery.
Also unveiled at Pebble, just to put the icing on the cake, so to speak, was the BMW Concept M4 GTS, which will be the first M3/M4 special production vehicle to be sold in the U.S. Building on the success of the BMW M4 Coupe, the GTS brings track-worthy performance and design to a street-legal vehicle that can outrun anything in its class.
Landing in San Francisco we had picked up some pretty great transport ourselves – the brand new 2016 BMW 650i Gran Coupe. The 6-Series Gran Coupe is in many ways the ultimate BMW – as sporty and exciting as any of its brethren but with the rarified refinement and comfort of the brand’s larger models.
In terms of grand touring elegance mated to impressive performance the 6-Series Gran Coupe is unparalleled. Equipped with a muscular 445-hp 4.4-liter V-8 engine our weekend loaner was also fitted with the M Sport package providing an even more upscale interior and some more assertive design accents.
Compared to the i8 we drove last year, the 650i GC is quite subtle, yet packs just as much power as the hyrbrid supercar. We turned more heads in the i8 but the new 650i GC drew the attention of a very discerning crowd in Pebble Beach, fellows who will be making room for one in their garage very soon judging by the appreciate glances cast our way.
BMW had set the tone with its opening night festivities and double-whammy presentation of the 3.0 CSL Hommage R and M4 GTS. To be “with BMW” at Pebble Beach confers a certain status and we basked in the glow of it all weekend. Our home base was the stylish InterContinental The Clement Monterey on historic Cannery Row, whose front courtyard resembled an exotic auto dealership.
The next day we were up bright and early for The Quail, an adjunct event to the Concours that has steadily grown in popularity. Smaller, more exclusive and more social than the Concours, with BMW as a key sponsor, it combines displays of classic and modern luxury and sports cars with offerings of fine cuisine, wine and spirits.
An atmosphere of elegance pervades the golf course setting with the Santa Lucia mountain range in the background, and strolling around with a glass of champagne while admiring various vintage Ferraris and such is the most pleasant a way to pass an afternoon we’ve found yet. With classes such as The Great Ferraris and Iconic Pre-1965 Porsches on display we spent a lot of time ogling.
After a quick trip back to the Clement in the 650i GC to freshen up we went on to Rolls-Royce’s private villa on the water for yet another exclusive preview. BMW’s sibling was set to unveil its wicked new Dawn drophead, which just made its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
We also were treated to a ride in one of the original Silver Dawn convertibles from the 1950s from which the new model takes its name and inspiration. Let us just say that even Jay Leno looked on in envy as we cruised out the villa gates and along Pebble Beach’s famed 17-Mile Drive in the exceptionally elegant conveyance.
On Saturday the action shifted to the track at Laguna Seca and the historic racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. There BMW entered not only one of the original 3.0 CSLs but also a BMW M1 IMSA Group 4 endurance racer, one of our favorite cars of all time, and the BMW M5 IMSA Bridgestone Supercar Championship 1994-95 winner.
Dapper BMW of North America President and CEO, Ludwig Willisch, who is not one to spend all his time behind a desk, drove the BMW 3.0 CSL No. 25 on the track in full racing gear. He regaled us with tales of his derring-do that night at BMW’s signature dinner at the top-drawer L’Auberge Carmel, a Relais & Chateaux property that serves the finest food and wine on the Monterey Peninsula.
Earlier that afternoon we’d had a bit of a wild ride ourselves, borrowing a blisteringly fast McLaren 650S Spider for a high speed spin down the PCH to Big Sur, passing a flotilla of Ferraris along the way. Capable of 60mph in under three seconds, with a top speed of 204 mph, the 650S Spider is a barely-legal race-bred beast with impeccable British lineage and dazzling looks.
It’s an understatement to say the 650S was a magnet for admiration from everyone regardless of age, sex or style. The visceral appeal of something so obviously designed to exceed expectations and reject everything related to earthly cares never ceased to set cell phones and cameras clicking.
On Sunday we dressed up for the main event, the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach, also sponsored by BMW among others. Wading through a sea of Panama hats we ogled the cars being displayed in categories including Rolls-Royce and Bentley Postwar, Ferrari Grand Touring, and British Pre-War Sports Cars.
The Quail always lulls you into thinking you’ve seen it all, and then every year the Concours manages to astonish everyone all over again. There is simply nothing to equal it in the classic car universe anywhere in the world, and its legendary status has been well earned over its 65-year history.
Selecting highlights is pretty tricky, but we’d be remiss not to mention the unrestored 1956 Jaguar D-type Roadster, the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Scaglietti Berlinetta Competizione, the 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Touring Spider, the 1955 Maserati A6G 2000 Zagato Coupé, and the 1954 Fiat 8V Supersonic Ghia Coupe. Some of the most beautiful automobiles ever designed improbably gathered together on one end of a golf course.
Seeing just one of these cars could make your day on any ordinary occasion, but the Concours is far from ordinary, and suitably inspires awe in anyone remotely interested in classic cars. The fact that few of them will ever get to experience it in person only adds to the luster of actually attending.
And any one of those could have qualified for Best of Show in our book, but the top prize was finally awarded to an Italian-built 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A F. Even more champagne corks popped, confetti flew, and Panama hats went sailing through the air as the winner made his triumphant way to the podium.
Ah, Pebble Beach….
