The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, 2022

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

-the Concours of the Year, named last November by the Historic Motoring Awards at the Rosewood Hotel in London
-a lifestyle event, celebrating automotive design and innovation, with global debuts and new product launches
-a lush setting with an almost bacchanalian offering of champagne, caviar, oysters, desserts, craft cocktails, wine, local beer, and five gourmet culinary pavilions, along with interactive displays, product debuts, music, and commentary.

The idea came to the founders, Gordon McCall and his wife Molly, back in 2002. His comment at the time was something like, “Imagine you are attending an elegant garden party and suddenly a car show breaks out!” It is preceded 2 days earlier by the McCall Motorsports Revival, started 30 years ago as a 5- hour event, and this year transitioned into new ownership as “Motorlux.” That event, hosted at the local Monterey airport, features 150 display cars, 10 planes, and 3 helicopters. It is a lot to take in.

The event is a partnership between the McCalls, Quail Lodge and Golf Club, and Peninsula Signature Events. They say that every little facet is meticulously curated and I would say that is an accurate comment. This year the show featured special appearances by automotive luminaries. (One of the highlights for me was attending a panel discussion hosted by Chip Foose, who kindly autographed a book on automotive design for my son David).

There were multiple manufacturer displays, which featured the introduction of a new model, i.e. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Cadillac, Koenigsegg, Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Hennessey, Lucid, Rimac, Czinger, Hispano Suiza, McLaren, Pagani, Maserati, Gordon Murray and O’Gara. These manufacturers are showing their new offerings here first, because all their customers are here, no matter where they domicile. They are here to see these new models, which took years to design and manufacture, and will be sold out quickly in small numbers. This is something new and unique in the automotive world. It reminds me of Paris fashion week. Before today’s organized event, new fashion showings were being held in Paris as early as the 1700s in couture salons, called “defiles de mode” (fashion parades). In 1868 the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture was created to determine what constituted a “couture house;” the clothing must be custom made, hand-made by multiple skilled artisans in separate fields, and only using the highest quality materials. I predict that going forward this show will be the automotive equivalent of Paris Fashion Week for manufacturers such as these.

Of course, the show is about more than supercars, more about that in a minute. In my case, my automotive interests cause me to live in the past, where I am very comfortable, so looking at supercars is a new experience for me. Here I will quote David Coulthard about this. “Supercars are beautiful creations and I can see why people spend so much money on them. The majority of people are touched more by how things look than how they perform. Supercars are an admired and accepted blend of art and functionality and are beautiful works of art. Someone else might buy a painting and look at that, admire the skill and creativity of the artist. A supercar is no different, except that it has function as well as form. They are mobile works of art, the ultimate expression of engineering, performance, and style. They do seem to be an almost universal fascination for millions of people around the world, and that alone is sufficient justification for their existence.”

As has been the case, the show featured the traditional classes of Pre-War Sports and Racing, Postwar Sports, the Great Ferraris, Custom Coachwork, and others. One of my favorites, being a Jaguar person, was Seventy Years of Jaguar and their six wins at Le Mans. Cars on display included a 1952 C-type, a Tempero replica D-type, XK 120s and 150s, and a 1956 D-type. But I must say that the car that absolutely astounded me was a replica 1966 Jaguar XJ 13 (completed in 2020), owned by Tyler and Joyce Schilling. It was handbuilt over a period of six years by a team of people in England, Poland, and the US. It was designed and constructed with input from members of the Jaguar Competition department, who helped create the original. Only one original car was built and while it was built to be a Le Mans contender, development was slow and by the time it was completed it was obsolete versus the new cars from Ford and Ferrari. It was styled of course by Malcom Sayer, and fitted with a 5 litre V12 motor. In 1971, it was taken out of storage to be filmed at the launch of the E-type V12. Driven by famous Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis, a tire blew out at speed and the car rolled twice. It was then put in storage, but finally Abbey Panels, which had built the original bodywork, volunteered to restore it at their expense. Now the car is safe in the factory museum. The car shown by the Schillings is a breathtaking replica, with polished bodywork, like an Airstream. To me, this was the hit of the show.

Other cars that stopped me in my tracks were the following:
-1947 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS, original, owned by one person from 1946-2005. Now owned by George and Sibet Alspaugh.
-1953 Abarth 1100 SS, owned by Bradley and Buzz Calkins, displayed at the 1953 Turin Auto Show, discovered in a barn in 1982 and beautifully restored. -1956 Maserati A6G Zagato, owned by David Smith, raced in the 1956 Mille Miglia.
-1964 Alfa Romeo TZ, owned by David Eichenbaum. This is a spectacular mostly original car that has spent its life in California and was raced in period. It deserves a separate story, at another time.
-1957 Ferrari 250 GT Boano coupe, owned by Jerry Roehl
-1967 Ferrari P3/412 P, owned by John Nino, a replica built over ten years with assistance from David Piper. The body is dimensionally accurate as is the chromoly chassis. It incorporates many “cast-off” Ferrari 330 P4 and 412 P parts from Piper’s collection. It has a 600 hp Ferrari V12 motor. This is another breathtaking car.

These are the sorts of things you would see at the Quail that you would not likely see elsewhere. This year, in order to give a balanced and perhaps more comprehensive view of the show, we are featuring photos by Steve Burton of the class winners. Thanks to Felicia Pfleger at Peninsula Signature Events for making this happen.

To get a ticket for this event, you enter a lottery to bid on one of about 5000 tickets available. The tickets sell out immediately. The event supports a wide range of local charities, including the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation, Rancho Cielo Youth Campus, Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Foundation, and Junior ROTC. Congratulations to the McCalls, Peninsula Signature Events, and Quail Lodge for another wonderful event. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how quickly the time goes, and before you know it the day is almost over, and you haven’t even visited all the restaurants!

Here are the Winners at this year’s Quail: