Pebble Beach’s 75th year gives Monterey Car Week added historic weight

From concours lawns and historic racing to campsite gatherings beneath Carmel Valley oaks, Monterey Car Week’s 75th-anniversary summer reflects how Pebble Beach evolved from a one-day concours into motor sport’s broadest automotive gathering

Vintage red car on stage with confetti and spectators by the ocean.

Best in show at the 74th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2025 was a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra ‘Tulipwood’ Torpedo – a marvel in mahogany

©ROLEX/TOM O’NEAL

June 2, 2026

Brace yourself – August sees the return of Monterey Car Week. That means 11 (not seven) solid days of automotive immersion, the like of which you won’t find anywhere else. A brief scan of this year’s schedule suggests there are something like 70 separate happenings during the build-up to what is (officially) the main event – the Pebble Beach Concours at which the world’s finest, rarest and most valuable cars will be laid out on the golf and country club’s verdant grass.

While the concours remains the jewel in the crown of a festival that has spread its tentacles the length and breadth of the Monterey Peninsula, it’s also a good excuse for enthusiasts to indulge in all aspects of motoring. From the most glamorous hypercars to the most endearing automotive flops, from all-out racing to picnics surrounded by classics, there really is something for everyone.

What’s set to make Car Week 2026 extra special is the fact that it is the 75th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours, an occasion that’s being marked at Laguna Seca by a recreation of the Del Monte Trophy race featuring many of the cars that competed in the Pebble Beach Road Races held between 1950 and 1956 (and from which the concours evolved).

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New for this year is The Paddock at RADwood, an event run by classic car lifestyle and insurance giant Hagerty that aims to celebrate cars and culture from 1980-99. As usual, however, Car Week kicks off on a Friday afternoon (August 7) when many of the entries taking part in the Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca park up in Monterey’s Alvarado Street to create a remarkable display of competition cars. This year’s theme will be Japanese machinery – the first time the event has focused on cars from a specific country.

But if you’re heading to Car Week for the social aspect, the annual Motorlux party at the Jet Center (August 12) offers opportunities to mingle and network like no other. Usually attended by around 3000 guests, it aims to tempt the super-rich with a heady combination of high-end cars, motorcycles, private jets and gourmet food which, this year, will be inspired by the various classes of cars on show.

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