Building on success is often difficult. Complacency sets in and the motivation to take it a step further is hard to come by. But for the enthusiasts involved with Monterey Car Week, the bar can only go higher. In our Monterey Car Week 2013 Preview you can learn why!

Monterey Car Week 2012 was another benchmark for the increasingly attractive Monterey events. What started as just the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has now grown into the week-long festival of cars that we are now seeing every August. In an unprecedented way, last year ushered in the new era of hypercars for the North American market, with the Koenigsegg Agera R and the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento making their debuts here, along with the Pagani Huayra making another showing on US soil.

But Monterey Car Week can be so simple at times; it is not always as upscale and organized as the big weekend events. In fact, much of the excitement of Monterey Car Week comes from the mystery of finding these rare hypercars randomly on the streets, something that rarely occurs elsewhere on the planet. 2012 hosted cars such as the McLaren F1, Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss, and Ferrari Enzo among many other rare supercars.

However, spotting these cars on the roads requires you to be in the right place at the right time, and few can be so lucky. Fortunately, the planned events in Monterey are sufficient and plentiful, giving tourists and enthusiasts alike the opportunities to see cars that they may never see again.

Included in the midweek events is the McCall’s Motorworks Revival, a luxury event hosted at the Monterey Jet Center on the evening of August 14. At last year’s event, the Sesto Elemento was officially shown for the first time in the US, along with the Agera R. A pair of Huayras rounded out the hypercar group. McCall’s is not an event known for debuts, but seeing as last year’s gathering had such an impressive turnout, the Jet Center could become the go-to place during the week.

To kick-start an incredible weekend on the Peninsula, both The Quail Motorsports Gathering and Concorso Italiano are hotspots for prime exotics on Friday, the 16th this year. The Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley is the site for the Motorsports Gathering, a luxurious assembly of automobiles, and upon entrance visitors are already greeted by fields of supercars. In the parking lot, the supercars overshadow those in the actual show. In 2012, there were double the Veyron Vitesses outside the show than inside, along with a pair of the usually difficult-to-find Ferrari 599 SA Aperta. To some extent the same holds true at Concorso Italiano, held at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey, but the plethora of Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and occasionally even more special metal, inside round out that event quite nicely.

Joining many of the spectacular show cars and spectators, there are plenty of historic cars looking for a new owner and are up for sale at various auctions on the peninsula. Two of the main auctions are Gooding and Company and RM, both expecting many multi-million dollar sales this year.

The culmination of the car week celebration is the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which is an overwhelming combination of pristine classics along with the debuts of modern supercars. The Concours has earned its prestige as one of the best car shows in the world, and 2013 should raise the bar again. This year’s event will celebrate the 100 years of Aston Martin, as well as Lamborghini being a featured marque. Set to be displayed on the concept lawn will be the McLaren P1, along with the expected debuts of the coming BMW M4 and the recently-unveiled Aston Martin Vanquish Volante and Bugatti Veyron honoring Jean-Pierre Wimille.

Monterey Car Week 2013 officially kicks off on August 13 and takes its final bow on Concours day on the 19th of August 2013. The full program can be found on the Monterey Car Week website.

Impression of Monterey Car Week 2012 Photo Gallery

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