Monterey Car Week: The Complete Guide
Ten days, a dozen venues, as many organisers: how to approach an August week when the whole Monterey Peninsula lives at the pace of the automobile.
Last updated 6 October 2026 · 5 min read
Monterey Car Week is a series of automotive events held every August on the Monterey Peninsula, California. It has no single organiser: the Laguna Seca circuit holds its historic races, the Monterey Pre-Reunion on the first weekend and then the Monterey Motorsports Reunion from Wednesday to Saturday; gatherings fill the golf courses of Carmel Valley, Seaside and Pacific Grove; Carmel-by-the-Sea hosts a free street concours on Tuesday; several houses hold their auctions. The 2027 edition takes place in August and culminates on Sunday 15 August with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Each organiser sells its own tickets; some events are by invitation or by ballot. Accommodation, arrival and chauffeur are booked months in advance.
What is Monterey Car Week?
It all begins in 1950, with road races in the Del Monte Forest and a concours d'elegance held alongside, on the shore of Carmel Bay. In 1957 the racing moved to the newly built Laguna Seca circuit; the concours stayed on its fairway. Around these two events the week gradually filled: historic racing from 1974, gatherings, sales, displays by country of origin.
Today Car Week brings more than one hundred thousand visitors to the peninsula, according to the figures published for 2024. It is not one event but a constellation: each gathering has its own organiser, venue, ticketing and audience. That is what makes it rich — and what makes it hard to compose without preparation.
The week's main events
The week can be read as four families. Racing first, at the Laguna Seca circuit, where historic racing cars compete in period groups. Gatherings next, on golf courses and in the streets of the peninsula, from Carmel's free street concours to the limited-ticket gathering in Carmel Valley. The auctions, in the evening and towards the end of the week. And finally the Sunday concours d'elegance at Pebble Beach, which closes it all.
The table below summarises each, without prices. Not all of the 2027 dates are published yet: we confirm them as the organisers announce them.
| Family | Where, and when | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Historic racing | Laguna Seca circuit: the first weekend, then Wednesday to Saturday | Tickets and hospitality sold by the circuit |
| Gatherings and concours | Golf courses in Carmel Valley, Seaside, Pacific Grove; the streets of Carmel | Free, on ticket, by ballot or by invitation, depending on the event |
| Auctions | Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley, mostly Thursday to Saturday | Each house's rules: saleroom, catalogue, registration to bid |
| Concours d'elegance | Pebble Beach Golf Links, Sunday 15 August 2027 | Tickets and hospitality sold by its organiser |
Laguna Seca: historic racing
The Laguna Seca circuit, built in 1957 in the hills east of Monterey, runs 3.6 km and eleven turns. Its downhill section, the Corkscrew, drops eighteen metres in a few dozen metres, blind. Since 1974 it has hosted the Monterey Motorsports Reunion: some five hundred and fifty historic racing cars, grouped by period, with a featured marque each year.
The weekend before, the Monterey Pre-Reunion puts hundreds of cars on track in a calmer atmosphere, with a hillclimb on the Corkscrew. The admission ticket opens the grandstands, the hillsides and the paddock, where teams prepare their cars; the circuit also sells hospitality clubs and suites above pit lane.
Gatherings, street concours and sales
On Tuesday, Ocean Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea closes to traffic and welcomes hundreds of cars: it is free, open to all, and a relaxed moment of the week. On Friday, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering brings rare cars and new-model presentations to Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, before a deliberately small audience; food and drink are included, and tickets are allocated by ballot. On Saturday, the Concorso Italiano devotes a golf course in Seaside to Italian automobiles.
Other gatherings, free or on ticket, fill the Pacific Grove golf course, downtown Seaside or other golf courses, often by country of origin. Several houses also hold their auctions, mostly from Thursday to Saturday. Some of the week's evenings are strictly by invitation: we tell you plainly, we do not sell entry to them.
Preparing your stay: accommodation, arrival, attire, budget
Accommodation first: Carmel Valley, inland, among vines and hills; Carmel-by-the-Sea, a village of galleries by the beach; Pebble Beach, for those who want Sunday on foot; Monterey, around the harbour; or a villa on the peninsula. Arrival next: jet to Monterey Regional Airport, or a scheduled flight to San José or San Francisco, then the road with a chauffeur. Our guides Where to Stay for Monterey Car Week? and How to Get to Monterey Car Week? compare each option.
Attire finally: cool, often misty mornings, warm afternoons in the hills, wind at the circuit. Layers, shoes made for walking, a jacket for the evenings. The budget is composed item by item and prepared on quotation: we explain what makes it vary rather than publish a price list.
Key points
Monterey Car Week takes place in August 2027 and culminates on Sunday 15 August with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance; the historic racing at Laguna Seca, the gatherings, Carmel's street concours and the sales fill the days before. Each organiser sells its tickets; some events are by invitation or by ballot. TGZ Conciergerie, an independent house with no affiliation with any of the week's organisers — neither the Laguna Seca circuit nor the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance — and no official status, composes the week — tickets and hospitality sourced on request, accommodation, arrival, chauffeur — on quotation, availability and conditions confirmed before any commitment.
Frequently asked questions
In August 2027, culminating on Sunday 15 August with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The historic racing at Laguna Seca usually takes place in mid-August; the circuit has not yet published its 2027 dates.
About ten days, from the first racing weekend to Concours Sunday. Most visitors choose four to six days, around the racing and the Sunday.
No. Each event has its own organiser and ticketing: the circuit for the racing, the Concours organiser for the Sunday, each club or house for the gatherings and the sales.
Carmel-by-the-Sea's street concours on Tuesday, the Tour d'Elegance passing by on Thursday at the designated points, the Pebble Beach Concours Village from Thursday to Sunday, and several gatherings in Pacific Grove and Seaside. Conditions are confirmed each year.
Yes, at most events. At the Laguna Seca circuit, children 15 and under enter free with a paying adult, except in the suites, according to the conditions published by the circuit for 2026.
From the autumn for August 2027. Rooms on the peninsula, slots at Monterey airport and hospitality packages go early; tickets allocated by ballot open at the start of the year.
No. TGZ Conciergerie is an independent house, with no affiliation with any of the week's organisers and no official status. We compose stays and source tickets and hospitality on request, never reselling a ticket or selling an invitation.
Take it further
Your week in Monterey starts now
Tell us what draws you — the racing, the gatherings, the sales, Concours Sunday — and we compose the complete stay: accommodation, arrival, chauffeur, tickets and hospitality sourced on request. One point of contact, an itemised quotation.