After a year’s hiatus, the 18th running of the Quail returned in full force, despite the slightly reduced crowds. Excitement rippled across the lawns of the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley before any of the concours judges had even unsheathed their clipboards, with many cutting edge hypercars making their American and Global debuts this weekend. Unsurprisingly, the rebirth of the Lamborghini Countach became the focal point of the show, with a white Countach LPI 800-4 taking centre stage. Another new ride that paid tribute to an automotive icon of the past was the Gemballa Marsien, a rally-ready 911 Turbo S that borrows design inspiration from the legendary Paris-Dakar Porsche 959.
Perhaps even more striking was the production prototype of the weapons-grade Bugatti Bolide, now confirmed for a 40-strong production run and with its sights set on pulling the rug from under Aston Martin’s Valkyrie. Of course, the USA was also well represented in the Hypercar arena, with two Hennessey 1,817hp Venom F5s glistening in the Californian sun. However, the resurfacing of the F1-engined Monteverdi Hai, arguably the world’s first hypercar, certainly gave even the most bombastic of hypercars at the Quail a run for their money, and that’s before we even get to the actual concours.
More than 200 showstoppers settled on the links course, divided into 11 classes for judging. Of particular note was the golden 1966 Ford GT40 Mark II, which won the Post-War Racing Cars class. However, there could only be one winner of the Rolex Circle of Champions Best of Show, and the honours went to the stunning 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster. K. Heinz Keller must have been relieved to see his pride and joy take home top honours, having owned the car for more than three decades, during which it underwent an exhaustive 8 year restoration. Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the new Lotus Type 62-2 coach built by Radford. Developed with the help of Jenson Button, the carbon fibre beauty perfectly nailed the retro-futuristic design brief in its Gold Leaf livery. At any other event it would have been a show-stopper, but it just goes to show the quality of metal on display at the Quail this year.
Photos by Zach Brehl
