Concorso Italiano, 2024

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

Concorso Italiano was held on August 17th, 2024, the day before Pebble Beach. It is now a decades-old tradition and a mainstay of the Monterey Car Week. But this is how it began.

In 1984 my friend Joe Duray saw an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for a 1962 Maserati 3500 GT coupe, located in a lockup in Vallejo. Joe was the only person to respond to the ad, and he got the car, which he has since fully restored. Around that time a gentleman named Francis Mandarano set up a business in Seattle called Maserati Information Exchange.

Joe contacted him for parts. Shortly thereafter, Francis put out the word that he was going to host a gathering for Maserati owners during Car Week, at the Carmel Mission Inn. It was a surprisingly successful event. Joe and I were there and marveled at the enthusiasm of the group. I think that this gave Francis the idea that there might be an opportunity for a larger meet at a setting more amenable to an upscale car show. In an extraordinary stroke of luck, he found the Quail Lodge resort in Carmel Valley, and the next year the event took place there. Over time it grew to encompass all Italian cars. I attended this for every year it was there, and I must say it was one of the most enjoyable car events of my life. Mandarano ran the event there until 2004, when it was sold to a new owner.

But at some point, things came to an end there, and the event had to find a new home. This is quite a challenge for an event this size, but it moved to a golf course located on the old Fort Ord property in Monterey, with a sweeping view of the Bay and enough room for a very large show. Fort Ord, originally 28,000 acres, was closed in 1994 and most of the land now is part of the 14,000-acre Fort Ord National Monument. Most of the land was returned to the State of California for public use and became the home of a new California State University and for UC Santa Cruz. You may remember that in 1957 land on the eastern side of the post was used to create the Laguna Seca Raceway, to replace the Pebble Beach Road Racing course which had just closed. There were two military golf courses (of course), Bayonet and Black Horse, now public golf courses, that were renovated in the mid-2010s. That is where the Concorso settled.

Now CI is 39 years old! Recently there was an announcement that there is new ownership. According to a press release, in April, Richard De Andrade took over ownership of the event. During a June press conference in Milan, Italy, he said that “2024 kicks off a five-year development plan to elevate Concorso and its focus on providing an authentic Italian experience, centered around design, mobility, and culture.”

Then on August 9, a longtime Concorso volunteer, Tanya Kosta, said that she signed on as owner and chair of the event this year. Kosta is the founder and executive director of All-In Monterey County. She says that she is the “limited-edition chairwoman” and does not plan on being a car show owner in the near future. She said that the show has financial backers to take over the ownership starting next year for the 40th anniversary.

Meanwhile, the new Chairman, Richard De Andrade says that going forward, “The event will be a celebration of the Italian lifestyle, from beloved automotive design (cars, motorcycles, mopeds, and bicycles) to exquisite art, design, fashion, technology, and Italian cuisine.” This sounds pretty good to me.

As you would expect, just about every Italian car was represented at the show. The Ferrari contingent seemed to outnumber the other groups, but there was a respectable contingent of club-based groups, particularly Maserati and Lancia (my favorites).

I have some idea of how much work and dedication it takes to put on an event like this and I know that it is not easy. There are certainly many other events during Car Week, but this is the only event that is focused on the broad range of Italian cars (although of course you will see them at the Quail and at Pebble Beach).

The Concorso charges an entry fee of $225. In the past they have provided a very comprehensive program with a page for each of the many Italian car clubs. This year there was a small program which was only available if you were a VIP Club member, which costs over $500.

On the Thursday the Ferrari Owners Club has “Concours Carmel, on the street in Carmel. It is free for spectators and $275 to enter your car.

There is also a Ferrari Event at the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel, with about a hundred cars on display. General admission is $100 to look at the cars.

The Lamborghini Club has “Serata Italiana,” located at The Club at Pasadera, with an entry fee of $725.

The entry fee for the Pebble Beach Concours is $495, and as I discussed in my column on the Quail Lodge show, that is an auction and the winning bid typically exceeds a thousand dollars.

You can see that this is an expensive week for a car enthusiast, not counting the cost of hotel or motel lodging, which will be around $500 a night, with a three-night minimum.

I hope that the “re-invented” Concorso next year will grow and attract more entrants and spectators. We all own Italian cars (don’t we?) and we all want to see this succeed, to attract more people and get them to restore an old Lancia or Alfa, and yes, they are still out there!

Here’s a few of our favorites…