Event Coverage 2016 Pebble Beach Been there done that Info NEEDED

LA Roadster Show check, Grand National Roadster Show check, next "Bucket List" event to check off is Pebble Beach. Fathers Day gift came early I'm off to Pebble Beach in August. There has been great coverage here on the HAMB in past years, so what tips can you give me to make this as much fun as I can afford with my daughter. Please don't bother knocking the cars or owners, the restorations are the best in the world and the funds spent feed a lot of people and allow us to see the fruits of their labor. Close to affordable rooms, times to get to events, things you did that worked out well, things you wished you did, things like that. Thanks! Bob

 

No reasonably priced lodging to be found unless you drive 50 or so miles away. Try to be in town several days in advance to attend some of the peripheral events.

I try to get out to the grounds for the Sunday Concours by 6 am when they start driving the cars in...not many spectators around if you are photographing; also great light at that time. It's fun to watch the awards presentation
in the afternoon.

Some of the auctions can be a pricey admission, but the one at the Monterrey Hyatt seems to be free to spectators.

The "Concourse de Le-mon" is a fun free event on Saturday morning for odd cars. It simultaneously makes fun of the real Concours, and makes fun of, while celebrating weird makes of cars. There were several cars in both the "Lemon" and the real Pebble Beach Concours the next day.

Also free admission is at the starting point of the Tour d' Elegance, open to all the cars showing in the Sunday Concours. You do have to buy a ten dollar ticket at the Seventeen Mile Drive gate to be able to get to where the cars start the tour. They drive around Monterrey and then down the 101 to Big Sur and back. I shot around the starting line for about half an hour, then find a good place along the tour route to Photograph them as they drive by. At least a hundred of the multi-million dollar machines take part and it is cool see them driving alongside of ordinary car traffic. You can also locate on Beach Avenue in Carmel to await the arrival as they finish the tour. They park the cars all along the closed street.

Live it up and treat your daughter to some great French food at Casanova in Carmel.

 

G'day Mate,

I went last year.

I really enjoyed the historic racing at Laguna Seca. We actually camped out at the track which was awesome if that's your sort of thing.

I would also recommend going to the Werks Reunion Porsche show on the Friday if you are into Porsches - There are about 1500 cars and the show is free. Also right nearby is The Quail show which is very exclusive and expensive, I would recommend stopping in there to check out what is in the public carpark, last year there was a Ferrari 250 GT, a Porsche 918 and a huge amount of other good things.

My brother and I really enjoyed the Alverdero Street Brewery, the food and beer was great and there were always good cars going past on the street.

Make sure you walk the nearby carparks at Pebble Beach on the Sunday as they hold some gems.

Cheers

Stewart

 

Seeing a Tom Davison photo collection in real life is going to be the highlight of this trip. Bob

 

Pre-Historics (practice runs the day before the historic races) is cheaper to attend, less crowded, and you can walk the infield and see all kinds of cool stuff.

Tom D above mentioned "Beach Ave" in Carmel, but the street is Ocean Ave, and you can see many concour cars, as well as many other interesting ones, there for free after their tour. It is crowded, but free of charge. 12-2 on Thursday.

 

Thanks for the street correction 4woody.

Thanks for the additional tips, Stewart.

 

Beach Ave. is the place to be for "Free" viewing but parking is real tough due to the number of cars. Traffic can be heavy on the 101 during show times. Well-worth what ever it cost you. You are visiting a premier location designed for the vary rich but you can enjoy it by doing some investigating about cost. Nothing is inexpensive in Carmel.

 

Thursday. Pebble Beach Tour itself from Carmel. Go sit on Highway 1 just south of town and they will all p*** you by as they head down South and then turn around and go to downtown Carmel. I imagine with all the GT40's on display this year, with them all on the PCH -- it will be a glorious sound. At that point, head to downtown Carmel where all the participants will be on display (for free) to the general public for about two hours before they head back to the Polo Field at PB.

Friday is usually the best day at the racetrack itself at Laguna Seca. Less crowds and everything runs and less barrier ropes across the pits. (which sadly are required sometimes on Sat/Sun as crowds make it difficult to prepare the racecars in the paddock for the owners)

Saturday. Numerous shows about town and see others notes. Usually I just like to head down into the Marina, aquarium and just be a normal tourist. Relax before the big day Sunday at PB. (and sometimes I head up to San Francisco or Santa Cruz and do tourist things instead with friends who have never been in the area before)

Sunday. PB Concours and it is worth the visit alone. (I'm biased though as I have shown and been there 15+ times over the years) Get there as early as possible if you are into photography as the morning light is usually good. Definitely stay for the awards themselves and you will be there until 4pm at least. Figure 9hrs plus commute into/out of the event (w/bus ride from parking lot to the concours itself). Once the show is over, many of the cars will be exiting the golf course via the back gate. Many of the cl*** award winners will take their cars down to the water and you can get some great photographs then as well with zero crowds about. Long day but you can plunk down onto the gr*** almost anywhere and people watch while resting your legs. Expensive? Yes. But there is no museum or private collection in the world that even comes close to what appears on the gr*** at PB. Make sure you were very comfortable shoes for the day! I normally would get there at 5am given a show car and leave about 6pm once final photos are done and the car put back into the transport trailer.

Monday. Blackhawk Museum in San Simeon has a free open house to the general public. Free food. Always a great visit on the way out of Monterey or worth the detour before heading to the airport. Very relaxed atmosphere and occasional a good seminar put on by a automobile collector for everyone.

note: pre-Pebble Beach festivities? Instead of flying into San Fran / San Jose / Oakland, you might consider Salt Lake City in Utah instead. Bonneville Speedweek is August 13-19th (PB is Sunday the 21st) and is a definite bucket list item in itself. Get a rental car from SLC and enjoy at day or two at Speedweek, then head through Lake Tahoe to Monterey and have fun. I've talked to hundreds of people who have done the double-event this way. Visit the Blackhawk on Monday morning and catch the late afternoon flight out of SF or Oakland back home. You will have stories for years then to tell!

 

All this info is great, we're still in the planning stage, fly into Burbank Tuesday before the show and out the following Tuesday, another great ride up the Coast, the rest will just happen. If anyone knows the location of "reasonable" rooms within an hour drive please send me a PM. Thanks Bob

 

When I went to PB in 2010, Salinas was where I stayed, it was under a 1 hour drive to PB. Laguna Seca is 20 minutes from Salinas as well.

 

Got the plane tickets to go with the Sunday show tickets, lodging is next. Guess we'll look into Salinas, unless there are other suggestions. Bob

 

I'm about 48 hours away from take off, hard to believe this is really happening. Does anyone have any last minute tips? Bob

 

Get on the grounds as early as you can watch the cars drive on the field its better than the show.

 

Check up frequently on road closures due to the big fire. Car week is still on, but some roads in the area may be a problem.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip Bob! I don't really know how the Pebble beach stuff works, it's my understanding that there are multiple shows. In know one of them is "Quail" not sure if that's how they spell it. But, our '36 Roadster will be there.

 

I'm sure the '36 Roadster will fit right in, sure looked good to me at the GNRS. The "Quail" is sold out, found out tickets for it are more that the Sunday Pebble Beach show. This is going to be a lot of fun. Bob

 

I'm back! MAKE SOME MONEY AND GO NEXT YEAR! Details at 11:00. Bob

 

I took some photos:

 

After going to Bob's Hershey spot for the last 10 years and never meeting him there I finally go to shake his hand on the show field at Pebble. We should have taken a picture to prove it!

 

Bumped into an old friend just before we got to the show field, who said Pebble Beach was a magnet for car guys. An hour later after buying breakfast I spotted one of those two foot round stand at tables with an opening. I asked if the spot was open, it was. Turned out two total strangers lived in the towns west and north of me whos boarders touch. We all traveled over 3,000 to meet. Bob

 

I was told there was a wood chipper/shredder working for a week to produce the chips that covered many acres of spectator parking lots.

 

Bob, really good seeing you at Pebble

 

It was a great week, always good to see you. I got some Es*** kickup tracings Monday before I left, now I'll get back to that T frame project. Seeing that T you built at Laguna Seca, got me rolling. Bob

 

More Pebble Beach cars that I liked. This unrestored Type 44 Bugatti lives the next town over from me, had to fly 3,000 miles find that out. Bob

 

1901 Panhard et Lev***or Type B Race Car. First front mounted four cylinder rear drive they made, it won the New York to Buffalo endurance race.

 

A very correctly restored Type 40 Bugatti, that the judges couldn't see to give an award. Bob

 

1953 Ferrari 250 MM Pina Farina Berlinetta

 

Droool, slobber....^^

 

In the pits at Laguna Seca, Chevy Lister. ​