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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2024

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Lon Price unless otherwise noted

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, was started by Gordon McCall way back in 2003. I have said before in these columns, and it bears repeating, there are two people responsible for creating this wonderful week in August in Monterey: Gordon, for this show and for the Jet Center show, and Steve Earle, for creating the Monterey Historic Automobile Race since 1974, as a way for his friends to exercise their old racecars at Laguna Seca. Every car enthusiast who comes to Monterey in August owes a debt of gratitude to these two men whose genius (and luck) created this ecosystem. Gordon is still in charge of entrant selection for this show. [Read more…] about The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2024

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, 2022

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Spirt of the Quail 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Bertone Sprint Coupe Dick McClure – California. VeloceToday’s Favorite Winner

Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Steve Burton

August 19, 2022. This was a remarkable day. It has been described thusly:
-Car Week’s crown jewel in a whirlwind of events [Read more…] about The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, 2022

The Quail Motorcycle Gathering Part 2

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1965 Moto Morini, red number 65, 175 cc racer, owned by Joey Shimoda

Story and Photos by Brandes Elitch

There are many high-end car shows, which are typically called a Concours d‘Elegance. Two of the most extraordinary are right in this area, the Pebble Beach show and The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, right on the same field as this show. I have been to many shows of this type in the last fifty years, but I am quite sure that the Quail motorcycle show is in a class by itself, and is likely to remain that way for a while.

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The 18th Annual Quail Motorsports Gathering

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Ah, yup, a new Delage for the Evolution of the Supercar class.

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

See Photo Gallery

As most of our readers know, Steve Earle started the first annual Monterey Historic Car Races in 1974.

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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, 2019

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

August 16, 2019 saw the seventeenth year of the Quail Lodge automobile show, located in bucolic Carmel Valley, California, at the base of the Santa Lucia mountain range. Often described as a “garden party,” this is such an extraordinary event that it’s difficult for me to come up with a lead sentence to adequately describe the day.

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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2017

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt unless otherwise noted

The fifteenth edition of The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, was held on August 15, 2017, at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club, located in Carmel Valley, California, a few hours south of San Francisco. About 225 automobiles and motorcycles were exhibited in what has been described elsewhere as a garden party atmosphere, carefully planned and curated by Gordon McCall https://velocetoday.com/gordon-mccall-authenticity-and-continuity/ and his staff. This is an exceptional event, and in this brief article I will try to convey why this is the case. [Read more…] about The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2017

Quail Motorcycle Gathering 2016

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1964 MV Agusta Triple, Virgil Elings

1964 MV Agusta Triple, Virgil Elings

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by Dave Fetherston unless otherwise noted

In my previous article, I interviewed Gordon McCall, the organizer of the motorcycle show held every May since 2009 at the Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel Valley, California. It is generally regarded as the premier motorcycle concours in the country.

One of the emcees at the show is Paul d’Orleans, a well-known motorcycle writer (www.the vintagent@blogspot.com). Paul describes the ambiance of the show better than anyone. “The world of motorcycles has all the ingredients of a good, enriching drama: heroic deeds, political intrigue, design brilliance, cut-throat business practices, quirky characters, national tensions, cultural biases, Eros and Thanatos. When diving into the muck of motorcycle history, we find unexpected riches.” [Read more…] about Quail Motorcycle Gathering 2016

Gordon McCall: Authenticity and Continuity

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Paul d'Orleans with my BSA Rickman Matisse road racer in the background

Photographer Paul d’Orleans took this image of Gordon McCall with his BSA Rickman Matisse road racer in the background.

Story by Brandes Elitch

If you have attended the Monterey Car Week in August, you are likely familiar with Gordon McCall. For 25 years, he and his wife Molly have he has hosted the first “really big show” that kicks off the week: the McCall Motorworks Revival held at the Monterey Jet Center. The event, which hosts 3000 guests, is really a party, but a very carefully planned one. Gordon says he got this from his mother, who was an epic entertainer from the East Coast. He adds, “Nobody knows how to entertain like an East Coaster, not social climbing but socializing.” The Revival combines very special new and old planes, cars, and motorcycles in an extraordinarily elegant way. Every single detail is choreographed.

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Autodelta at the Quail

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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering August 16th 2013. Art by Evan Klein.

By Brandon Adrian as told to the Editor

How could we have missed this…not once, but twice…?

Somewhere along the way during Monterey Car Week, we overlooked an unusual display of Alfa Romeos gathered at the Quail. In November, the organizer of this small but potent affair, Brandon Adrian, reminded us of our oversight. We were going to include a short report in last week’s special Autodelta edition of VeloceToday but in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and deadlines, we forgot…again! By this time poor Brandon was about to run us over with a spare GTA.

We promised to make amends so here it is…Autodelta at the Quail. [Read more…] about Autodelta at the Quail

Brandes Elitch at The Quail

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Petya Elitch

The Monterey weekend is so overwhelming that it is impossible to capture more than a small part of it here. Two reasonable and sophisticated car collectors might come back with two completely different versions of what they saw that mattered to them, and in listening to them you would wonder if they were in the same place. All of us have our biases and predilections, and oftentimes we just search out what we already favor, without being distracted by something new. This is human nature.
[Read more…] about Brandes Elitch at The Quail

Friday at Monterey with Michael T. Lynch

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Alfa S-11

David Smith’s Alfa S 11 Corto Spyder Speciale, described in VeloceToday’s 25 August issue, shows its final form at The Quail.

Story and photos by Michael T. Lynch

In our previews of the Alfa S 11 and the Bugatti Type 64, we promised you pictures of the cars when they appeared during Holy Week. In addition here are a few more Italian gems that caught this historian’s eye.
[Read more…] about Friday at Monterey with Michael T. Lynch

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