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The Quail Lodge & Golf Club swaps carts for world-class cars – but you need to register for the chance of a ticket
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The Pebble Beach Concours has become such a major happening that it’s known to people the world over, regardless of whether or not they are fans of old cars. But less well-known (and therefore, dare we say it, perhaps more appealing?) is the genteelly named The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering.
Established 20 years ago by co-founders Gordon McCall (the classic car events impresario who also founded the Motorworks Revival that helps kick off Monterey Car Week) and automobile enthusiast, utilities tycoon and hotelier Sir Michael Kadoorie, the one-day event promises a ‘garden party’ atmosphere.
Cars and motorcycles are displayed on the greens and fairways at Carmel’s Quail Lodge golf club a discreet nine miles south-west of Pebble Beach, and the occasion is generally less hectic, less crowded, more relaxed and less commercialised than the main event up the road. But that’s not to say it isn’t significant.
Motorcycles are also part of the event
This year will see 11 major vehicle debuts from eight car marques along with a trio of anniversary celebrations to acknowledge a decade of Singer Vehicle Design, a century since the first Bentley entry at Le Mans and 70 years since Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt and Stirling Moss and Peter Walker took Jaguar’s famous 1-2 there.
Other featured themes for 2023 include 50 Years of the Porsche RS Carrera, a focus on the Porsche 959 (which went out of production 30 years ago) and a celebration of the work of Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, creator of such landmark cars as the Lotus Esprit, De Tomaso Mangusta and the original VW Golf.
Traditional concours judging will also take place, with six car categories this year encompassing everything from pre-war sports and racing models to modern supercars, plus a seventh category dedicated to sports and competition motorcycles.
And, since The Quail is run by Kadoorie and owned by his Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels group (which, in turn, owns top luxury hotel brand Peninsular) you can bet that the organisation, presentation and hospitality is nothing short of the best of the best – which, incidentally, is the name Kadoorie gives to his annual competition to judge the outright finest car from the winners of all of the world’s leading concours shows.
Try not to spill your fizz on the bodywork
So between ogling some of the world’s most covetable and interesting cars, visitors can graze on epicurean delights from no fewer than five culinary pavilions and sample the wares of numerous award-winning wine and champagne houses. There will also be a fireside chat feature in which big names from the automotive world give their take on the industry.
The day before The Quail proper gets underway, meanwhile, Bonhams will stage its 26th car auction at the venue – the first of which, in 1997, sowed the seed for the founding of the Motorsports Gathering.
The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering takes place on August 18 and runs from 9am-4pm. But don’t just turn up – tickets can only be obtained by registering on the Quail database request site, with names being drawn by lottery. See peninsula.com for details.
The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, Quail Lodge & Golf Club, 8205 Valley Greens Drive, Carmel