Monterey Car Week is always one of the biggest and boldest events on the automotive calendar, and 2025’s edition stunned as ever under the southern California sun.
The greatest honour of the week capped off the event at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance today, with the prestigious ‘Best of Show’ honours being awarded to a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo.
Owned by Penny and Lee Anderson of Naples in Florida, the couple purchased the car right there at RM Sotheby’s Pebble Beach auction three years ago.
Featuring a gorgeous yacht-like mahogany body with aluminium riveting, the torpedo-shaped sporting cruiser was just treated to a two-year restoration using vintage wood. It was only completed under a week ago and shipped directly to its show spot on the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The week’s other flagship event was The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, where, on the pristine greens of The Quail Golf Club, a 1996 Ferrari F50 GT1 owned by noted collector Art Zafiropoulo was deemed ‘Best of Show’ among a group of more than 200 entrants. This prototype was the lone example factory-assembled by Ferrari, who shelved its GT1 program the following year.
As part of the award, Zafiropoulo was gifted a specially engraved Oyster Perpetual Datejust 36, presented by Rolex USA president and CEO Luca Bernasconi, who also inducted the car into the elite ‘Rolex Circle of Champions’.
The Quail plays host to radical supercar debuts
As ever, The Quail was also the home to the latest and greatest multi-million-dollar supercars and hypercars making their debut, with none other than Lamborghini headlining the proceedings.
The supercar experts revealed its latest V12 hypercar, the “few-off” Fenomeno. Per Lambo tradition, the name is taken from from a famous bull that fought in Mexico in 2002.
Limited to just 29 examples, it pairs the brand’s fabled V12 with three electric motors to deliver 805kW (1065hp).
The brand bills Fenomeno as “an original Lamborghini ‘design manifesto’, taking the brand’s most representative stylistic elements to the extreme”. As a limited-edition flagship, it sits in the same realm as the Sesto Elemento, Veneno, Centenario, Sián, and new Countach.
Double-take: Gordon Murray’s ‘new’ F1
Following the launch of McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray’s GMA brand, the legendary designer has gone a level above with the launch of Gordon Murray Special Vehicles.
While we doubt General Motors’ Australian arm – GM Special Vehicles – will be terribly pleased about the acronym, Murray’s new brand dropped two stunning vehicles at its debut: the GMSV S1 LM, and the Le Mans GTR.
Known as the ‘Special One’, hence the name, S1 was the new brand’s first ever commission, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it looks eerily similar to Murray’s greatest hit.
Indeed, it was born from one customer’s passion for his 1990s designs and the landmark 1995 win at Le Mans. As a result, S1’s timeless design pays homage to the beauty of Murray’s original Le Mans-winning race car, with it featuring prominent high-downforce aerodynamic elements. The focus of this project was to push Murray’s seven design principles further than ever before, “with a particular emphasis on exclusivity, return to beauty, engineering art, lightweightness, and driving perfection”.
The other vehicle on show in Monterey, the Le Mans GTR, draws on Murray’s long-tailed endurance racers, along with other iconic long-tail cars of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s such as the Matra-Simca MS660, Porsche 917, and Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3.
Chevrolet envisions Corvette’s future with two new concepts
Although the GMSV acronym may now be a tetchy topic, GM did play a strong hand at The Quail with the unveiling of two new Chevrolet Corvette concepts which envision the iconic model’s future.
The more controversial of the two is the Corvette CX Concept, which was created as part of a no-limits design exercise by GM’s global design team. Envisioned as a fully-electric supercar with one motor per wheel delivering 1491kW (2000hp), a revolutionary Vacuum Fan System and adjustable aero elements are cloaked beneath its streamlined body.
Fear not, because the V8 still remains in the track-ready Corvette CX.R Vision Gran Turismo, which is based around the same platform but features a 671kW (900hp) twin-turbo bent-eight – if with three electric motors to keep total power at the same 1491kW (2000hp) mark – that can rev to 15,000rpm.
Although both are strictly limited to the concept stage for now, both cars will be made drivable in Gran Turismo 7.
Chevrolet did show a car you can buy, however, with the 932kW (1250hp), twin-turbo V8-powered C8 Corvette ZR1X making its public debut, alongside a special Quail Silver Limited Edition version. The latter draws inspiration from its Blade Silver Matte paintwork from Inca Silver, a classic hue featured on the 1957-1959 C1 Corvette.
Bugatti’s latest coachbuilt model a mark of brand heritage
Although Bugatti has now been acquired by Croatian EV startup Rimac, the brand is sticking truer to its values than ever before. That’s clearly what was on display with the launch of the Brouillard, the latest creation from its bespoke Programme Solitaire department.
A one-of-one model, Brouillard pays tribute to Ettore Bugatti’s passion for equestrianism, with the name taken from the company founder’s majestic white and grey thoroughbred.
Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti Rimac, was on hand in Monterey to reveal the car, which is a showcase of just what the historic company can do. Taking customization beyond the already highly bespoke commissions of the Sur Mesure offering, Programme Solitaire draws inspiration from the storied tradition of early-20th century coachbuilding which led to the creation of some of Bugatti’s most iconic cars including the Type 57 Atalante.
Porsche-derived restomods alongside other updated classics
By now, you should know how much the Retro Rides team loves a good restomod, and The Quail didn’t disappoint as the launchpad for a number of reimagined classics.
In addition to the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer making its public debut, Gunther Werks revealed its latest creation with the Slantnose-inspired Project F-26.
Earning its name from the aerodynamic shape of a fighter jet and its limited production of 26 units, F-26 draws upon the iconic Porsche 935 Slantnose, combining this timeless design with Gunther Werks’ innovative carbon-fiber process to keep weight to just 1225kg while packing in a twin-turbo 4.0-litre flat-six that churns out 746kW (1000hp).
Iconic German manufacturer RUF also unveiled its latest creation, with the first customer-delivered example of the all-terrain RODEO on display alongside its latest CTR3 EVO.
Claimed to be the world’s only all-terrain production vehicle constructed on a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, the RUF RODEO features an in-house engineered, fully-adjustable all-wheel drive system along with double-wishbone suspension with pushrod-actuated horizontal dampers that are raised by 242 millimeters compared to the brand’s SCR sports car. Naturally, it also packs a 597kW (800hp) turbocharged 3.8-litre flat-six.
It wasn’t all 911s, though, with one of the stand-out restomods on show being an insane 1971 Aston Martin DBS created by Ringbrothers.
Known as ‘OCTAVIA’, although not to be confused with the humble Škoda wagon, this carbon-bodied Aston is the result of more than 12,000 combined hours of meticulous engineering and craftsmanship.
Envisioned to be a game-changer, this British icon has now been fully re-engineered to feature all the modern GT car prerequisites, while also serving up modern performance courtesy of a 5.0-litre Ford V8 topped with a 2.65-litre Harrop supercharger to deliver 600kW (805hp).
