The annual Monterey Car Week on California’s Monterey Peninsula is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious automotive gatherings, combining concours events, historic racing, marque celebrations, and major collector-car auctions.
- In 2026, Monterey Car Week is from August 7 to 16.
The Monterey Car Week includes a range of independently organized events such as the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, historic car races, gatherings of German and Italian automobiles, and several major collector car auctions. The Pebble Beach (Gooding Christie’s), Monterey (Mecum, RM Sotheby’s), Laguna Seca (Bonhams), and Quail Lodge (Broad Arrow) sales usually see the highest prices paid for classic cars each year. Monterey Car Week auctions regularly achieve some of the highest collector-car prices of the year.
| Year | Monterey / Pebble Beach Car Week Auction Results: |
| 2026 | Previews: Gooding Christie’s: Top Porsches, Top Competition Ferraris RM Sotheby’s: McLaren F1 GTR |
| 2025 | Top 30, Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding Christie’s (California Spider), Mecum, RM Sotheby’s (Ferrari SP3) |
| 2024 | Gooding, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2023 | Top Ten Results, Bonhams (1967 Ferrari 412P), Gooding, Mecum, RM Sotheby’s |
| Older | Links to Results Since 2013 |
Jump to:
Dates · Events · Auctions · Records · Results
Monterey Classic Car Week Events
The Monterey Classic Car Week events are all organized independently. There is no official program and, perhaps surprisingly, no single source of information for all events.
The scheduling of events thus jumps around a bit from year to year as organizers try to avoid clashes with events that would attract the same crowds. The See Monterey tourist information website has a good listing of many of the events.
When is Monterey Car Week and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance?
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance traditionally concludes Monterey Car Week. It will move from the third Sunday to the second Sunday of August beginning in 2028. Scheduled Concours Sundays are:
- 2026: August 16
- 2027: August 15
- 2028: August 13
- 2029: August 12
- 2030: August 11
Top Monterey Car Week Events
Some of the major events in the Monterey Classic Car Week include:
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – generally considered the most prestigious of its kind in the world – is held on (usually) the third Sunday of August at the famous Pebble Beach golf course. Around 200 cars take part in this top event during the Pebble Beach Automotive Week.
Tickets for the presentation on Sunday at the Pebble Beach golf course are pricey (starting at around $550) and sell out fast. Enthusiasts can often see the cars for free during the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance when many entrants participate in an organized 60-mile drive towards Big Sur and back.
Quail Lodge’s Motorsports Gathering
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, is one of the most prestigious events during the classic car week and is held at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel. Tickets (around $500) are limited to 3,000 and are partly sold via a lottery system. Around 200 classic and modern racing and supercars are on display while modern luxury and sports cars are available for test drives.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is one of the cornerstones of the classic car week. Hundreds of historic racing cars compete in races over several days at the WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. Tickets start at around $30.
Legends of the Autobahn
The Legends of the Autobahn event requires no special vehicle other than the requirement that the manufacturer must be Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz. (Porsche usually has its own event, and Volkswagens are not invited no matter how fast.)
Concorso Italiano
The Concorso Italiano welcomes any car of Italian origin. Around a thousand Italian cars are on show at the Black Horse Golf Course in Monterey. Admission is around $260.
Concours d’Lemons
A fun event, with absolutely free admission, is the Concours d’Lemons for the ugliest cars and “worst in show”.
Classic Car Auctions During Monterey Car Week
Several classic car auctions are scheduled each year during the Monterey Classic Car Week. Most charge admission to see the cars and the auctions, but visitors can often see the cars before, during, and after the auction in the relevant hotel parking lots. Admission to some auctions is fairly cheap, rarely free, and many include beautiful cars even if they are not in the million-dollar leagues.
The auctions during Monterey Classic Car Week often achieve the highest prices of the year. Of the 24 cars ever sold for over $20 million at public auction, 13 were bought at Monterey Week sales.
Regular Classic Car Auctions at Monterey
The following auctioneers traditionally have sales during the Monterey Motoring Week:
- The Pebble Beach Auction of Gooding Christie’s is the official partner of the similarly named Concours d’Elegance. The auction is usually held over two days at the Pebble Beach Resort.
- The Monterey sale of RM Sotheby’s is held at the Monterey Conference Center — often the highest-grossing multiday auction.
- The Quail Lodge sale is arranged by Broad Arrow (from 2026, previously Bonhams)
- The Laguna Seca sale is the new venue for Bonhams (from 2026).
- The Mecum sale at the Hyatt Regency Monterey is held over three days and has the largest volume of cars on offer.
Auction Records at Monterey, Pebble Beach, and Quail Lodge
The largest Monterey Week auctions often record more than $100 million in sales, so it is no surprise that numerous auction records have been set in Monterey, Pebble Beach, and at Quail Lodge. A few records and notable sales include:
The Monterey Car Week auction record holder, at the time of sale the most expensive car ever sold at public auction, is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that achieved $48,405,000 at the RM Sotheby’s sale in 2018. It took the record from the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that Bonhams sold for $38,115,000 at Quail Lodge in 2014.
A 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S N.A.R.T. Spider by Scaglietti sold for $27,500,000 at RM Auctions Monterey 2013, and remains the most expensive road-going car ever sold at public auction (July 2026).
Gary Cooper’s 1935 Duesenberg SSJ sold for a record $22,000,000 at Gooding Pebble Beach 2018 as the most expensive American car and most valuable prewar car ever sold at public auction.
A 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 ‘Tailor Made’ sold for $26 million at RM Sotheby’s 2025 as the most expensive charity lot (and new car) ever.
Some of the marque records (July 2026) held by cars sold at Monterey include, amongst others, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Duesenberg, Horch, Jaguar, Mercer, Porsche, Shelby, and Stutz.
Monterey Week Auctions Historical Results (since 2013)
2026 Previews:
- Gooding Christie’s: Top Porsches, Top Competition Ferraris
- RM Sotheby’s: McLaren F1 GTR
| Year | Monterey / Pebble Beach Motor Week Auction Results: |
| 2025 | Top 30, Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding Christie’s (California Spider), Mecum, RM Sotheby’s (Ferrari SP3) |
| 2024 | Gooding, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2023 | Top Ten Results, Bonhams (1967 Ferrari 412P), Gooding, Mecum, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2022 | Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding, Mecum, & RM Sotheby’s. |
| 2021 | 2021 Results Overview, Top 10, List of Million Dollar Cars, Bonhams, Gooding, RM Sotheby’s (Andrews Estate), Mecum |
| 2020 | Bonhams, Gooding, RM Sotheby’s — all online replacement sales |
| 2019 | Bonhams, Gooding, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2018 | Overview, Bonhams, Gooding (SSJ), Mecum, RM Sotheby’s (250 GTO) |
| 2017 | Overview, Bonhams, Gooding, Mecum, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2016 | Bonhams, Gooding, Mecum, RM Sotheby’s |
| 2015 | Bonhams, Gooding, RM Sotheby’s (Pinnacle Portfolio) |
| 2014 | Overview, Bonhams (250 GTO), Mecum, Gooding, RM Auctions |
| 2013 | Gooding, RM Auctions |