Our approach to Monterey Car Week every year is that there’s really no one right way to enjoy cars, so long as your enjoyment is socially responsible and friendly (e.g. not takeovers or coal-rolling). Over the course of one week, this little peninsula supports weirdos (Concours d’Lemons), raceheads (Historics), broccoli-headed paparazzi (Exotics on Broadway), vintage cars (Concours d’Elegance), new hypercars (The Quail), and everything in between. I fall into many of those camps, so I typically have a great time.
One of the big reasons why this is such a huge week is the flagship event, Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance. In the roughly decade that I’ve been going it’s grown in prestige and importance every year, thanks in no small part to the woman who has seen it become the pivotal show for a certain kind of car person. She’s passing the baton, and the new guy is curious if there’s enough of that certain kind of car person for the event to survive.
Today’s Morning Dump is all about barriers to entry. One big one for car buyers has been credit, and one of the key measures of credit availability just hit a ten-year high. Another challenge for affordability are the trade barriers put up by the President, and a new book details how hard automakers fought to stop them. With the loss of the Escape and the EcoSport, Ford’s biggest barrier to more sales might be an entry-level car. A new one is coming, and it sure sounds like the OG Escape.
‘Wow, Who’s Vince?’
There’s a lot to enjoy about this Hannah Elliott piece in Bloomberg on the legacy of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Chairman Sandra Button and the new guy. It captures the inherent tension of the event and the challenges facing the next chair, Vince Finaldi, an attorney and car restorer. Lemme just start with this hilarious quote from McKeel Hagerty, though:
In this rarefied air, Finaldi is almost totally unknown. “As soon as it was announced, it was like, ‘Wow, who’s Vince?’ ” Hagerty says.
The joke here is that Hagerty has a Rolodex the size of a Packard Super Eight, so it’s noteworthy for him not to know someone important. I also had no idea who Finaldi was and I was also curious how anyone could replace Button. In just ten years, Car Week has exploded, and a lot of that has to do with the stature of the Concours, which has attracted new events, new auctions, and new people. Her tenure has seen the slow introduction of post-war cars, Japanese cars, and other vehicles that were not allowed, but the pricey event (it shuts down the Pebble Beach Golf Links) has still always felt authentically like the Concours.
Should things change? According to this article, the new guy has thoughts:
Over hash browns and eggs at Carmel’s Little Swiss Cafe, Finaldi lays out his objective: to modernize the $550-per-person fête that is prohibitively expensive for many families and dominated by cars unrelatable to pretty much anyone under age 40.
“It’s got a lot of room to scale,” says the ex-Marine. Top of his fix-it list are parking, official concours merch (“Car guys don’t wanna wear golf stuff”) and social media strategy. “When my own personal social media is more active than the leading car event in the world, that’s an issue,” Finaldi says.
The transition arrives as a younger cohort in car culture is now in the position to define the next generation of auto icons. Indeed, the market for vintage rides is increasingly driven by the tastes of influencers and investment firms rather than hobbyists. Even the most prestigious concours must adapt or risk calcifying into irrelevance.
I happened to be hanging out with Victor Muller of Spyker fame yesterday and, when talking about what Car Week might be like, he mentioned the Angeles Death Highway reel, which sums up some of the potential vibes:
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Do I want the Concours to change? It should evolve, of course, but I think I agree with Hagerty when he told Hannah that there are so many Paganis just driving on the streets of Monterey, or at The Quail, that they don’t necessarily need to be at the Concours yet (in 50 years, sure). No one is making more Brass Era Cars or Voisons, and it’s wonderful there’s a place for them to be appreciated.
At the same time, what’s classic to someone who is 83 isn’t quite the same to someone, like me, who is 43, and I don’t want to know what a 23-year-old thinks is a classic. A Lamborghini Miura is a classic to me, and this year’s tribute at the Concours to the Miura feels right, even though there will certainly be people there who remember when that was a new car. The last few years has seen cars from Le Mans, more Japanese vehicles, and fascinating categories like Wedge Cars:
I do agree the accessibility issues are real, both in terms of price (every year we generally talk to the same longtime attendee, and she’s mentioned that the expense is getting harder to justify) and in terms of sheer volume of people overwhelming the infrastructure. This isn’t specifically a Concours issue as much as it is a greater question for Car Week and the local authorities to address. Just getting anywhere during Car Week is a huge hassle, and David suggested yesterday that we might honestly be better off on eBikes.
Either way, we leave tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this new year brings.
This Key Car Affordability Metric Just Hit Its Highest Level In A Decade
My new theme lately has been that, for all the k-shapedness of the economy, it’s not all completely terrible news for carbuyers. With interest rates climbing from nearly zero during the Pandemic, the availability of credit has been an ongoing issue. While it’s not an entirely solved one, the Dealertrack Credit Availability Index from Cox Automotive shows that a narrowing of yield spreads has led the index to its best level since 2015.
What’s going on here? More approvals for buyers with decent or good credit, slightly fewer subprime loans, and a lower share of negative equity all played a part. Cox Automotive provides a little more detail:
Conditions for financing a vehicle were more favorable in July, though the improvement was not evenly distributed. Approvals rose for a fourth straight month, improving across all four lender types and every used channel, with New the lone exception. Rate relief was narrower: The average contract rate fell 8 bps to 10.9% even as the 5-year Treasury rose, leaving borrowers in aggregate paying less over the benchmark than at any point since January 2025, though that decline came almost entirely from captive lenders, which cut 25 bps, while banks, credit unions and finance companies all edged higher.
So, generally good, but note that a lot of this is coming from automakers themselves via captive lenders, who are more incentivized to extend deals than traditional lenders. So long as the economy stays good and people can pay, this isn’t as much of an issue.
Automakers Tried, Unsuccessfully, To Stop Tariffs
President Trump’s “Liberation Day” has mostly been a liberation from profits for automakers, as the joke goes. Having potentially the most leverage, the Detroit Three automakers attempted to prevent tariffs according to a new book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” from New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.
I haven’t gotten a copy of it yet, but the Detroit Free Press has, and shared these details:
“In an early March call with three titans of the American auto industry — Stellantis (Chairperson) John Elkann, Ford CEO Jim Farley, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra — the president broke some tough news. Auto executives, echoing leaders across other sectors, had been making the case that the supply chains underpinning their industry would be thrown into chaos — and the industry itself crippled — by Trump’s 25% tariffs on vehicles from Mexico and Canada.”
Trump had paused the implementation of tariffs by a month, offering a little reprieve. But the book said he told Elkann, Farley and Barra during that call that “they all needed to buckle up” and “get on board” because the full tariff implementation would go into effect on April 2, a day that Trump dubbed “Liberation Day.”
The White House has granted various exemptions related to the USMCA, so it hasn’t entirely crippled the industry. Some of this seems to stem from the work of new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has done a good job of maintaining peaceful relations with President Trump. Why has President Trump listened to President Sheinbaum? The book also offers an explanation:
Trump was not moved by the automakers’ pleas, the book said. In fact, it appears the only one to move him was Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who called Trump on March 6, 2025, requesting a delay on tariffs. She got her wish, in part because Trump liked the sound of her voice.
Sometimes it’s the message, and sometimes it’s the messenger.
It Sure Sounds Like Ford Is Bringing Back The Escape As Something Like The OG Escape, Just In Pure Hybrid Form
As our Mercedes has noted, the original Ford Escape was an exceptionally good vehicle. I’ve always thought it looked great, was the right size, and the fact that it was available as a hybrid two decades ago was impressive. Slowly, though, the Escape morphed into something more like a conventional, blobby crossover. You could argue the car got better in certain quantifiable ways, but I think it became less and less like an Escape.
According to information from a dealer meeting obtained by Automotive News (seemingly the same one with the Mustang news), Ford also showed a $25,000 hybrid that looked kinda familiar:
Ford executives showed dealers at a private meeting in Las Vegas early mock-ups of a small crossover that will have a starting price around $25,000, according to multiple people who were in the room. The vehicle, which the people said would be offered in gasoline and hybrid versions, is expected to go on sale in 2029.
People at the meeting described the crossover, shown on video and in early prototype form, as boxy and wide, with one person saying it resembled a first-generation Escape. Executives did not reveal the vehicle’s name to dealers and indicated that the designs were not finalized but shown only to give a general sense of size.
That sounds awesome. Just call it the Escape, make it kind of look like the one above, and make it a cheap hybrid to compete with the Traxes and Corolla Crosses of the world.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Do you know what David Tracy and Frank Zappa have in common? Both lived in Monterey because their fathers were attached to the Naval Post Graduate School (David’s dad as a student, Zappa’s as a teacher). This is where Zappa first learned to play music, and so today you’re all going to be treated to some “Cosmik Debris.”
The Big Question
Are you even aware of Car Week? Have you ever been? Does it mean anything to you?
Top photo: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
TBQ: I’ve been to Monterey Car Week (or whatever it’s called now) several times, and have been a judge at another well-known concours. Much as I enjoy the cars themselves, I’ve sort-of burned out on the over-restorations and the entrants who treat their cars as Investments, and never put them on the road. It’s not so much fun as it is an industry.
When I was active as a scribe, I had numerous people toss me the keys to their machines and say “Have a go.” Many of those could and should have been at Pebble. In fact, I think one or two made it, though they never got the big prizes. Naturally, I never turned down an invitation like that. I did, however, avoid writing about cars I could only stare at as much as possible.
Is there a solution for the new guy at the Concours? I don’t think so. As far as I can see, it will always be expensive for the audience, and even more so for the entrants. Duesenberg SJs and Ferraris are not going to get cheaper. Nor are the rates at restoration shops.
In later years, I’ve attended many local car shows. For me, those are fun, the people are generally low-key and approachable, and I can appreciate a shiny Lotus Cortina, Hudson Hornet or well-kept Heinkel as much as I do, say, a Hispano-Suiza.
Lamborghini Miuras are an exception to that. Those rack me wherever I see one.
I live relatively close to Monterey and I usually go to a couple of the free events. Even the auctions are super expensive. For most of the events, it’s too much money and parking is always an issue
I own 6 90s Hondas – that were just used cars when I bought them, but now they are “classics”. I adore them. I go to a lot of car shows, and the Honda ones are packed, have energy and skew vastly younger than, say, a British car show (lots of MGs, etc).
However, my heart is with prewar cars, which are mostly out of my price range, although I do have a model A (in the family for over 60 years). When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s I remember going to brass era car shows and riding in brass era cars – talk about a way to get kids hooked. It saddens me that there are no brass era car shows I can find anywhere near me.
I think Pebble beach should keep its focus on prewar cars, because they are an important part of the hobby and there are not many other venues that cover them and of course there’s the pebble beach heritage, etc. I’ve never been – always seemed too pretentious for me, and the cost is prohibitive, but when my kids get a little older I’ll take them. It sounds like the whole peninsula is a zoo these days and expanding the focus is only going to make that worse. It’s a difficult dilemma – you need fresh blood, but you don’t want to loose the premier venue for prewar cars and the place is already overcrowded, so expanding coverage makes the crowding worse (which basically requires high entrance fees to keep crowds manageable). I’d say keep the prewar focus and add a different special post war category (or 4) every year.
Prewar cars are wonderful: they are great to drive, beautiful to look at, and simple to understand / repair – more hobbyist should consider them. I blame the current car seat laws in part for their waning interest. When I was a kid a 7 year old could go to a brass era car show and get a ride in one, or three. The rumble seat it the best! That doesn’t happen anymore.
I haven’t gone to Pebble Beach since I lost my drive coat, top hat, opera glasses, sitting stick and Rolodex. Also my footman retired. And I died 20 years ago.
Today’s bit of musical trivia: Cozmik Debris was written about Carlos Santana.
I’ve lived within an hour of Monterey for 14 years and have never once been to car week.
I love cars and driving, but I don’t love people. Moreover, I REALLY don’t love the kind of people who own the cars I love and the hangers-on that come with them.
That said, this site has introduced me to the best of car culture and I will happily be attending my first d’lemons this year.
See you there!
You should check out the reunion at Laguna Seca next year.
It’s not very crowded, especially on Wed/Thurs/Fri, and at times it feels like there are more cars than people. Plus you get to see them race on track!
More cars than people is a world I want to live in!
I feel like this somehow describes my commute. I don’t recommend it.
WOOHOO!!!!!
I’m fortunate to be at an income bracket that I could go if I wanted. But like the Monaco GP, Mardi Gras balls, the Beyreuth festival… there’s the cost to get in the door, and then there’s the not-available-if-you-have-to-ask cost/access to really have a good time. I’d really enjoy it, but, like Uncle Adrian at the Bonhams auction, I’d need to be with a friend who can lift the velvet ropes.
I’ll be at Laguna Seca this weekend while dabbling in the rest of Car Week, but I can’t afford the $1600 ticket to the Concours right now. Maybe one day.
Funny enough, my hotel is near Exotics on Broadway. I’ll be at the track that day, but I think I can sneak away for a little bit to check out the event.
On Saturday we’ll be at Laguna, so come find us!
I would like to go once, just to experience it. But I think that opinion was made for me from osmosis of consuming auto journo opinions. It sounds neat, but the idea of every kid that made it big before they were 25 being hooligans in their Mclarens doesn’t sound too fun. Maybe if I had a group and a fun car that would carry all of us around.
I’m interested to see what Vince does with the show. I enjoy a fancy Concours style event and don’t mind paying a bit more to go. I’ve even considered making a vacation out of going to Pebble beach but I’m not even close to being able to justify the price of admission.
Lowering the price would help drive interest the younger common folk like myself but at the same time, I feel like the price being as high as it is was intended to keep the younger common folk like myself out. It was a feature, not a bug.
Sadly, I’m a peasant so they wouldn’t let me in.
I get more joy from seeing a clapped out Geo Metro in the Kroger parking lot than I ever would looking at rich people toys.
I’m a member of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club, which defines “vintage” as anything 20 years old or older.
It sounds odd to those of us at a certain age who see “vintage” as e.g. pre-1980 or similar. OTOH something from the mid 1990s is ~30 years old; theoretically that should easily considered vintage, too, but the vibe isn’t really there for a lot of people. A car from the 1990s is often seen as just a car, and not something that is likely to inspire a desire to preserve/restore. (There are exceptions, of course.)
But Griffin could at least wait until his Corvette is 20 before calling it “old” 😛
Vintage is as relative as it is arbitrary.
In California a significant number of vehicles on the road are 20+ years old. The state doesn’t classify a car from 2006 as vintage and neither do car people. One day, sure, but not yet. Typically, the 90’s are the start of what most enthusiasts in my area would call vintage.
Cars 25 years or older are eligible for Historical Vehicle plates in California (with other requirements).
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2/special-plates/historical-vehicle-and-horseless-carriage-license-plates/
The only time I’ve been interested in car week was when these guys snuck a fiero into the “Great Ferraris” display
https://youtu.be/JqvPuJ04fk4
Car Bros is fantastic.
The same car won Concours d’Lemons that year.
Never been, but going Thursday to the historics at Laguna Seca. Went to the historics at Sonoma 10 years ago and it was great. I have no interest in the zoo downtown.
I’ll bee there too! Admittedly, the actual race days are more exciting than the practice/qualifying days, but all of it is fun to be around regardless of the on-track action.
I’ve known about Car Week for a long time and was fortunate to attend in 2019. Some friends and I slummed it and got/snuck into as many free/cheap events as possible and it was a good time. This year I’m participating in the California Lemons Rally which ends at Concours d’Lemons, but I’m flying home immediately after the show. I’ll be in yellow Volvo 66, so stop and say hi.
That said I’ve never had much interest in pre-war cars or high dollar hypercars so a lot of the traditional events at Car Week such as the Concours d’Elegance don’t hold a ton of appeal to me, and it’s doubtful I’ll ever have the money to play with that crowd.
If you take the pseudo off-road cladding off a Bronco Sport it already reminds me a lot of the original Escape (which my wife owned and I agree was a good car).
Everyday is a good day to hear Zappa
I do think they need to start culling the herd of pre-war stuff. Way overrepresented at this kind of thing, and, at this point, of passionate interest to only a very small (but wealthy) group of people.
Not saying they’re not interesting, if only for still existing, but they should be a very small part of a given show.
Nope, nope, and nope. Sorry.
There are some local shows I’ll hit up with friends a few times a year, plus the occasional racing event at nearby tracks.
It’s nice that they exist and I wouldn’t want the shows to go away but they really hold very little interest for me. Certainly not enough to actually travel there.
Damned if they could find anywhere to do it…
… but what Car Week really could use is its own Goodwood Hill Climb.
People care about the old stuff a lot more when they get to see it driven in anger.
It’s like I feel the smarter play for the Monaco GP nowadays is to attend the Historic Grand Prix instead. You watch the old cars get thrown around properly, plus with much better access to not only the cars, but old engineers, drivers, etc. All at a lower price for everything than it would be for the main event.
That’s something I do appreciate about some of the European events. They might be highly restricted to what can participate, but the cars get driven if not raced.
If only there were some kind of famous racetrack in or near Monterey that could be used for such things 🙂
Trust me, I thought of it.
Laguna Seca is getting a lot of heat for noise as it is. Sadly I don’t anticipate that abating anytime soon, either.
The hillclimb could be running the Corkscrew in the opposite direction
I hear you about the noise piece. When I lived in Monterey (a million years ago) IIRC there wasn’t really much nearby. Heck, watch YT videos from the very early 80s and it looks like the track isn’t even completed. 🙂
Maybe the Pebble Beach concours crowd has the political pull and/or clout to oppose the noise-complainers.
They literally did that last weekend.
https://weathertechraceway.com/pages/monterey-pre-reunion-and-corkscrew-hillclimb
I mean, it wasn’t just that there wasn’t much nearby… it was an active artillery and tank range.
Yeah – when I was stationed there Fort Ord provided support functions (e.g. a hospital) for Naval Post Grad and the Defense Language Institute.
It looks like a lot of the former Ft. Ord property is now under the Bureau of Land Management – hiking trails, etc.
Yep! It’s a fantastic place for mountain biking. Unfortunately many of the great trails off reservation road have been lost to housing development, but the amount of UXO around limits how much can be done with a bulk of the land.
Can confirm, I’m about to add an additional muffler to my race car to run there.
Yes, but mostly because of car websites like this one.
No.
No, but I’m glad it exists.
The Bronco Sport is already pretty OG Escape-like, so is Ford just going to have two Escape-sized cars that both look like Escapes?
My guess is it will try to replace the Escape and Edge by being a 1/2 size up from the BS.
They said “small” and “$25k” so I’m imagining something closer to a 10-years-ago “small crossover”. More Corolla-Cross sized which would probably be smaller than the outgoing escape but bigger than the Ecosport
I wonder what this $25k crossover is be look like. I mean, the Maverick starts at $27k and the interior is disappointing at that price.
The older I get the less I care about rare collector’s items on wheels I will never see owned by oligarchs. I also know a lot of young people do not give a crap about cars and car culture. Car culture will be very different in 30 years.
“I don’t want to know what a 23-year-old thinks is a classic”
You already know. Ask Griffin Riley, if you want to know.
“I’m A Young Person Who Bought An Old Corvette”
That ‘old’ Corvette? A 2007 C6.
Are we arguing old means classic? I’d say a C6 is old, but I wouldn’t call it a classic. To me, a “classic” is a C3 and older. I’m also open to arguments that a C4 is a classic, but it’s somewhat moveable.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2027: The Quest For More Money!
Vince Finaldi: Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the show is made. Concours-the T-shirt, Concours-the Coloring Book, Concours-the Lunch box, Concours-the Breakfast Cereal, Concours-the Flame Thrower.
[turns it on]
Dink, Dink, Dink, Dink, Dink, Dink: Ooooh!
Vince: [reacts to dinks] The kids love this one.
[a dink hands him a doll that looks likes Vince]
Vince: And last but not least, Concours the doll, me.
[pulls string]
Doll: May the best in show be with you!
Vince: [kisses the doll] Adorable.
Engage Ludicrous Prices!
COTD