Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery.

By the time Sunday rolls around during Monterey Week, we're pretty exhausted. Too many cars and so little time. Still, that doesn't stop us from getting to the 18th fairway before the sun comes up to see the cars drive onto the grass. Duesenbergs, Bentleys, Cadillacs, Ferraris, Bugattis, and more come rolling into the show, causing us to scurry back and forth to photograph as many of them as possible. There was so much to look at this year -- the Lamborghinis, Lancias, V16 Cadillacs, 250 GT California Spyders, GM's Motorama, and Leno's tank car -- before we knew it, the Best of Show had been crowned and the day was over. We can't go through all of the class winners and special awards, but if you are interested, you can view them on the Pebble Beach Concours web site. We've put together a comprehensive gallery of high resolution photos for you, many with captions in case you aren't familiar with the cars. Enjoy!

Gallery: 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

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An American supercar with lightweight components, sport suspension, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, aerodynamic body kit, and menacing black wheels. No, we're not talking about the Dodge Viper ACR. It's Katech's new ClubSport package for the Corvette Z06. The Detroit-based company has the credentials to build a 'Vette for the track. After all, it's responsible for building the race engines that go into the Le Mans-winning Corvette C6R race cars and the SCCA SPEED World Challenge cars. For the ClubSport, Katech adds a 14-inch, six-piston Brembo brake system, Moton ClubSport suspension, 15-spoke wheels, sticky Michelin tires, Katech appearance package, carbon fiber air intake, lightweight exhaust system and more. Also on the options list are leather race seats, A/C and radio delete, roll bar, and six-point harnesses. Add one of Katech's fully built motors, and the ClubSport will surely put down some pretty impressive numbers at the track. Full details on the ClubSport can be found in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Katech via CorvetteForum.com]

Click image above for a high-res gallery of concepts from Pebble Beach

The Pebble Beach Concours has something for every car enthusiast, even if classic cars aren't your thing. Every year we take the time to tear ourselves away from the fairway and head up to the front of the lodge where the concept car lawn showcases some of the latest show cars. Many of the cars made their debut at the Detroit Auto Show this year including Chrysler's green concepts, the Jeep Renegade, Dodge ZEO, and Chrysler ecoVoyager. GM brought out the Cadillac CTS Coupe and the Buick Invicta, Lexus showed off the LF-A Roadster, and Mercedes-Benz displayed the F700 that debuted in Frankfurt. Other featured cars included the Pininfarina Hyperion, Lamborghini Reventon and Gallardo LP560-4, Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport and Spyker C8 Aileron. Enjoy the high resolution gallery below.

Gallery: 2008 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn

Click above for high-res gallery of Bugatti Grand Sport in Monterey

Just a day after the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was unveiled on the Pebble Beach lawn, the Gooding & Company auctioned off the rights to chassis #1 and the opportunity to work with the Bugatti factory to build the car to their exact specifications. With the Grand Sport prototype up on the auction block, bidding started at $1.7 million and finally rested with a final offer of $2.9 million. The auction premium of 10 percent then brought the total to $3.19 million. In case you were wondering what it's like to witness the sale of a multi-million dollar car, you can watch a video of the auction after the jump as well as read more about the Gooding & Company auction highlights in the press release.

Gallery: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Live Debut

Gallery: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Click above for high-res gallery of group of Veyrons

Starting with McCall's Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Jet Center on Wednesday night and ending with the announcement of the winner of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, we are pretty much on automotive overload after our weekend trip to Monterey. There are so many amazing automobiles in the same location at the same time that it would be nearly impossible to show you all the incredible cars we come across. Ferraris and Lamborghinis become regular cars in the Monterey Bay, seen at every stop light and Starbucks drive through. We were even starting to get used to seeing Bugatti Veyrons around town. There was one at the Jet Center party, two at Concorso Italiano including the Pur Sang, an Fbg Veyron by Hermes was at the Quail Lodge, and we witnessed the unveiling of the new Grand Sport version on Saturday night. All of that was topped on Sunday when Bugatti parked four Veyrons in front of the Pebble Beach Lodge. What's amazing is that we hadn't seen two of these four yet, bringing our total count for the weekend to seven. While it was hard to get them all in one photo because of the crowds, we managed to snap a few images of them all together that can be seen in the gallery below.

Gallery: Quad Bugattis

Click image above for high-res gallery of pics of the Ferrari California Spyders

The 250 GT California Spyder is one of Ferrari's most celebrated (and valuable) models, most often remembered by the general public for its starring role in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This year marked the Spyder's 50th anniversary, and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance celebrated the occasion by giving the car its very own class. Six variations of the car were produced, all of which were displayed on the 18th fairway including the original prototype and a competition version that raced at both Sebring and Le Mans. Follow the jump for more information on these amazing cars and enjoy the high resolution gallery below.

Gallery: Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder 50th Anniversary

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The RM sports and classic car auction is one of our favorite events during the Monterey weekend. The laid back atmosphere and incredible selection of cars makes the event a perennial occurrence on our schedule. This year's event was particularly impressive, especially the selection of classic Ferraris. No less than eight surpassed the million dollar mark (seven actually sold), capped by the $4.51 million dollar sale of a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB. Others breaking $1 million were a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 ($1,925,000), 1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamica, and a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder ($1,485,000). A beautiful 1956 Ferrari 250 GT TDF Berlinetta had a top bid of $3.9 million but didn't meet the reserve. Follow the jump for a press release from RM and enjoy the gallery below.

Gallery: Million Dollar Ferraris at the 2008 RM Monterey Auction

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One of our favorite events during the Monterey weekend is the incredible gathering of cars at the Quail Lodge in Carmel. It's by far the most exclusive event, with only a few thousand tickets available, but the benefit is that the limited number of spectators makes viewing the cars much easier and creates a more relaxed atmosphere. The selection of cars is just as exclusive, which makes walking through the assembly of cars an incredible experience. One of our favorite groups was the 12 Hours of Sebring race cars, which included anything from a 1-of-5 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport to a 2003 Ferrari 575 GTC. We also enjoyed the Porsche 959 group that had around a dozen examples on display including one of the three factory cars that raced in the Paris-Dakar rally in 1985. Another favorite was the collection of Lamborghinis shown as a tribute to Valentino Balboni, the factory test driver since the company's inception. We loved the stunning Miuras as well as the rare LM002 SUV. And the list goes on...there were groups for The Great Ferraris, Supercars, Gurney Eagle Race Cars, and more. Check out the huge gallery of high resolution images below to pick out your favorites.

Gallery: Monterey 2008: The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering

Update: Additional live shots of the Hyperion added from the Concept Lawn at Pebble

Click above for high-res gallery of the Pininfarina Hyperion

The one-off Pininfarina Hyperion made its debut tonight at the Gooding & Company auction tent, and we were on hand to see the cover come off this highly anticipated coach-built convertible. Their was a somewhat somber mood among the Pininfarina team, who dedicated the car to the car to the late Andrea Pininfarina, but their spirits were lifted as the Hyperion received an excellent reaction from the crowd as it was unveiled. The car looks truly stunning in person, and we prefer the styling of the Hyperion over the standard Drophead Coupe. The hood is incredibly long, due in part to the extra 400mm created by moving the windscreen back, and we especially loved the unique headlights. We will have additional photos for you on Sunday when the car is displayed during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Until then, enjoy the gallery below of the unveiling.

Gallery: Pininfarina Hyperion Live Unveiling

Gallery: Pininfarina Hyperion live shots

Photos Copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips, Frank Filipponio / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for a high resolution image of the SL65 AMG Black Series

We haven't seen any photos of the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series except for the press photos and a few wallpapers we scrounged up. As far was we know, no one has actually seen the car in person outside of Mercedes-Benz, let alone photographed it. So imagine our surprise when we spotted one headed our direction while trying to crash the Ferrari-owners-invited-only North American debut of the Ferrari California in Monterey. We instantly forgot about trying to catch a glimpse of the Ferrari and turned our lenses towards the Black Series. Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz had no problem with us taking photographs of the car, and we were able to get plenty of detailed pictures. Enjoy the high resolution gallery below and we'll be back later with more from Monterey!

Gallery: 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series Live Shots