This year’s Monterey Historic Automobile Races marks the 35th running of this classic event. As shown schematically in the Laguna Seca track map to the right, over the course of those 35 years, a wide variety of significant automotive marques have been honored with the distinction of “featured marque.”
Interestingly, 7 marques have been showcased twice (Alfa Romeo, Bentley, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche), while one marque, Ferrari, has been honored on three separate occasions.
If analyzed by country of origin, the U.S. and Great Britain have been featured a total of 9 times each, while Italy has taken center-stage 7 times, Germany 5 times, and France once.
While featured marques have, by and large, been a central theme at Monterey, in 1991 Juan Manuel Fangio became the only driver to be featured during a Monterey Historics, while the 2007 event featured an entire era of racecars (the Indy Roadsters), and this year the theme is a retrospective of the past 35 years.
1975 saw the beginning of a Monterey tradition-–the featured marque. Driving legends like F1 World Champion Phil Hill took part in the event, which saw rare Alfas like the ex-Mille Miglia 8C2900B and Grand Prix Alfetta.
In 2005, the Chaparral racecars of racer and Texas oilman Jim Hall were honored. Hall brought many examples from his own collection to Monterey including the 2, 2D, 2E, 2H and the famed 2J “Sucker” car, which was demonstrated by driver Vic Elford.
In 2002, America’s sports car, the Corvette, took center-stage at the Historics, with the full gamut of Corvette history being represented.
The pride of Maranello was honored in 1984 when Ferrari took center-stage at Monterey. The full gamut of Enzo Ferrari’s cars was represented—from 166 Barchettas to 312 Formula 1 cars.
1998 brought Porsche back to the Monterey Peninsula and broke all previous attendance records. Porsche celebrated its 50th anniversary by erecting a 27,000-sq.ft. tent which featured nearly 20 of its most significant racing machines.
As the world’s oldest auto manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz celebrated its 100th birthday in grand style by again amassing a spectacular collection of its racing heritage on the Monterey Peninsula.
As featured marque, BMW went all out in 1996. Not only did the Bavarian manufacturer collect dozens of cars from their racing past, they erected a large display tent in the paddock, the centerpiece of which were the four “Art Cars” – racecars which had been painted by renowned artists such as Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, and Warhol.
In 1999, The Monterey Historics began its second quarter of a century by honoring the 90th anniversary of Auto Union, the racing spirit of Audi. Five examples of prewar “Silver Arrows” were demonstrated and displayed.
In 1991 a driver, not a marque, was honored. The driver was five-time Formula 1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. A number of significant cars from his career were gatherd together along with many famous drivers paying their respects to the “Maestro.”
In 1995, Colin Chapman’s Lotus cars were the marque of honor. An exceptional showing of rare racecars was complimented by a tremendous showing of street cars. Many of Chapman’s innovative designs were present, including several turbine-powered and four-wheel-drive cars.
The racing cars of Henry Miller left an indelible mark on the American racing scene by dominating the prestigious Indianapolis 500 for nearly two decades. In 1993, the Monterey Historics paid tribute to this engineering pioneer by featuring the Miller racecar.
