By Claire Pelote x Vaughn Lowery
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering brought together automobile and motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world. The event began in 2003 in Carmel, California and is located at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club. The gathering had a limit of 5,000 people and a ticket lottery system, which is probably why it is now one of the most popular events in Monterey Car Week. Los Angeles natives drove over five hours for this event. However it was closer to San Francisco at just a little over two hours.
The exhibit area stretched the length of 1-2 football fields and at the entrance, you were handed a glass of champagne. Tickets included parking, a collectible event poster and magazine, a gourmet lunch, fine wine and speciality cocktails. Alongside the handcrafted cocktails were culinary stations throughout the exhibition.
One of the most intriguing exhibits included Infiniti and Lexus as well as the Ferrari presentation of parked cars. The Robert Graham lifestyle and apparel brand made an appearance as well. There was also a show titled The Spirit of the Mille Miglia. This highly influential event celebrated its sixteenth year on August 24, 2018 and has many more to come.
Sponsors provided luxury cars that guests were allowed to test drive on select courses. The 2018 sponsors included Rolex, Acura, BMW, Bentley, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Audi, Pirelli, Bonhams, Lamborghini, Infiniti, Pagani, Lexus, Bugatti, McLaren, Leonardo Helicopters, Louis Roederer Champagne, Maserati, Singer, Byton, Karma, Gunther, Generation, Delta, Koenigsegg, Genesis, Volkswagen, Hennessey, Jaguar, FlexJet, 1000 Miglia, Chubb, Weather Tech Raceway, The Club, Dell Helicopter, Sentient Jet, Burgess, Union Bank, SCG, Weather Tech, ACJ, Walter Leather Company, Meuse, Qian Kiln, Polestar, Rimac, W Motors, Thermal, SickToiz, Jet Aviation, and Tamara Mellon.
Special shows this year included 70 Years of the Iconic Porsche 365 (which was shown at the beginning of the exhibit with a Bugatti on display right before the entrance) and the Alois Ruf Reunion. Featured alongside were Pre-War Sports and Racing, Custom Coachwork, Supercars, the Great Ferraris, Porsche and Ruff classes.
