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
LOLWUT?
Call me crazy, but I’m fairly certain the reason the event is held on a famous golf course is not, in fact, because car guys don’t like golf.
So the manufacturers are desperately trying to prop up sales, while everyone else is bracing for impact. I have a somewhat less positive view of this than the author.
It is simultaneously soul-crushing that this is how decisions are being made at the highest levels of government, and also entirely unsurprising.
Except the Escape has always been in the same class as the Equinox and RAV4, not those vehicles. It would be very confusing to kill it and bring it back in a different class in such a short period of time.
So I expect that’s exactly what they’ll do. 😉
I enjoy The Autopian’s coverage of it. I have very little interest in attending myself.
Car week is dead.. just let it go. It’s of no interest to anyone under 50 BTW, not 40. I can’t imagine a more disconnected from reality group of nerds, or those who go to lick their boots… “Matt Farah looked at me!” “Magnus Walker told me to get out of his way!” “Jay Leno was 200 feet from me!”
Gross.
Are you even aware of Car Week? Have you ever been? Does it mean anything to you?
I’ve heard of it, but don’t care, zero desire to go. There’s a local concourse event here in the east coast put on by a local member of that (rich car guy) club, I have zero interest in that as well and loathe the extra traffic.
I grow more and more tired of rich guy stuff, though our treasury secretary tells us there’s no such thing as the K shaped economy and we’re all doing great. He’s only worth 500 or so million, so he should know.
TBQ:
yes, no, no. I am 40. I am uninterested in cars that by and large sit in a field, a garage, or a trailer.
Never been, and while I’d not turn down an opportunity to go, I’m not about to try to make that opportunity happen myself. Ultra rare and expensive cars interest me somewhat less than cars closer to reality price-wise (say, under six figures) and of those, I even tend to gravitate towards the lower-end of the pricetags.
That’s just me, being stubbornly realistic, and not a slam against things expensive. I just find the more accessible end of the spectrum to be genuinely more interesting, that’s all. I get bored at the Petersen Collection, but am repeatedly excited at the Queen’s English in Woodley Park.
TBQ: Car week? I thought it was called Autoweek.
“People Under 40 Don’t Care About The Cars”
I think Mr. Finaldi ain’t seen nothing yet. The People Under 20 Care About The Cars Even Less.
I’m well aware of car week, and while I would love to attend, it’s not worth an entire vacation, let alone the cost of entry.
If I’m spending 5 days of PTO to do something car-related, it’ll be a road trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway or some such.
As someone who just got back from the Tail of the Dragon, I support this message
My wife grew up in the foothills, so every time we go visit her parents, I get to explore some of that area, though we did it once in her car, once in a rental and once in my car but with Winter tires. I’d love to take a trip just for the roads, in my car with my Summer tires. They live 2 hours from the Tail, but I never got a chance to go, though the local roads were plenty lovely.
Ha that Was our family summer vacation. Mamouth Cave & Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.
I made sure we took a day trip to drive the Tail of the Dragon too and besides a bit of motion sickness from my daughter the whole family seemed to love it, incredible scenery, definitely worth the trip
I generally thought of Car Week as a rich and super rich person event that had no bearing on my. Then my friend worked on a car (ATS, made after the Ferrari walkout in the 60sI think) that made the podium. I now pay attention when he has a car there, but that’s it. Still blue blood stuff IMO.
And another thing:”It Sure Sounds Like Ford Is Bringing Back The Escape As Something Like The OG Escape”
Yes… they should make a next gen Escape. And if it’s something that is slotted below the Broco Sport, that’s fine.
Please call it the Escape and not some stupid F-name like Feign, Flag or Fertilizer.
“Are you even aware of Car Week? “
This is the Autopian. Isn’t every week Car Week?
If it’s not Shark Week, it’s Car Week as far as I’m concerned.
Every week can be car week, except for when it’s truck month.
It’s always Truck Month somewhere.
Truck-tober
Rumor has it, that they are going to call it the “Farley” 😉
The all new 2028 Ford Fertilizer bc…
… it’s ‘Da Shit’…
Never been to car week, I will however be popping over to Woodward for the Dream Cruise coming up.
I am in the wrong Tax Bracket, age demographic, and side of the country to care about the Concours, or Car Week as a whole. The only part I am remotely interested in is the Motorsports Reunion because race cars from all eras rule.
I’m mostly interested in Torch’s antics.
One other thing:
“Automakers Tried, Unsuccessfully, To Stop Tariffs”
If automakers want to stop the chaos, then the management at these automakers need to vote for whatever candidate has the best chance of defeating the Trump/Maga candidate.
The only way the tariff madness will stop is if the Maga crowd is voted out of office.
And THAT means (in most cases) voting Democrat AND getting a backbone and openly supporting the democrats and openly Declaring that the Republicans are the most UNCONERVATIVE, FISCALLY RECKLESS AND POLITICALLY RECKLESS choice.
Until they do that, the automakers can go fuck themselves.
A thousands years ago in 1988, I was stationed at DLI on the Presidio of Monterey.
When Car Week happened (and to a lesser extent, the AT&T Open) going off post was an exercise in futility – too many rich people in what is already a rich people community doing rich people things, clogging the streets and restaurants and bars.
We junior enlisted folks could barely afford to do anything in Monterey on normal weekends – during those weekends it was a good time to buy some cheap beer and hang out getting some sun under the big eucalyptus and Monterey Pine trees at the top of the hill.
Later, in the mid-teens, I was driving up to Monterey for a legal department retreat at the Hyatt Regency Spa and Golf Resort – it was the week before Car Week, and there were already dozens of Paganis, 1990’s Bentleys and early 1960’s Lamborghinis clogging the 1 from Malpaso Creek all the way into Monterey.
Around that time I worked with a British Expat who ran, aside from his newer Range Rover and S Class, a 1999 Bentley Continental R. He would get overpriced rooms with his buddies every year and motor on up to Monterey, and every time he arrived at the Bentley enclave at the helm of his Continental, they waved him in and offered him champagne, gratis.
What in the absolute hell is this AI trash video I was just subjected to. Is that what Victor says he thinks it might be like under Vince? If more young people show up? If it gets too popular?
No, it is a spoof characterization of the current slopfest that is Car Week. ADH makes lots of those types of videos, some funnier than others, but all have a level of reality to them.
Ah then Matt’s wording is confusing, using phrases such as “might be like” and “potential vibes”.
“No peasants allowed on the 17 mile drive this year, sorry.”
Don’t they know it is very poor form to apologize to the peasants? How gauche!
Strange they just don’t use armed guards to keep out the undesirables. Preferably kitted out in stylish Hugo Boss uniforms.
“ 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.”
I have a hunch many of the supporters and attendees of the Pebble Beach Concours do not care if it’s family friendly and I suspect it’s priced the way it is to keep families with young kids and other ‘riff raff’ out.
And I also suspect they don’t care all that much about people under 40.
This is an older crowd… many of whom I suspect don’t want kids around.
It’s a bit like the car event version of The Villages retirement community in Florida.
You’re right – This is not an event made for anyone’s sticky-fingered, chicken-tender-munching brood.
That’s what Disneyland is for.
Having recently gone to Disneyland with one of those sticky-fingered people, and knowing that I love all kinds of cars, I would choose the Disneyland option over Car Week every time!
There are actually a couple of cool vintage cars on static display over in California Adventure – A Packard and a Rambler – before we even get to Cars Land/Radiator Springs with all it’s obvious and Easter-egg automobilia
I do vaguely remember seeing an old car there, and an old fire truck maybe? We also sat in an original car from the Autopia ride, and my family was subjected to me telling them all about how Walt Disney got his idea for Disneyland after going to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan and talking with Henry Ford/touring the Ford plant about how to automate etc. So car stuff still occurred!
The old fire truck, Autopia, the Submarines, the Monorail, and many other things in Disneyland were designed by Bob Gurr – a former Automobile designer for Ford.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gurr
There’s a great documentary about him streaming on PBS SoCal
https://www.pbs.org/video/bob-gurr-living-by-design-3nzgwt/
My understanding is that Walt got the idea of a park for the whole family while sitting on a bench watching his daughters play in Griffith Park – tho I’ve also heard he was inspired by Beverly Park, as well as Tivoli Gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Park_(amusement_park)
Of course the Imagineers took their inspiration for California Adventure from Old Hollywood, Santa Monica Pier, Yosemite and it’s Ahwanee Hotel (The Grand Californian)
We did see most of those items but didnt really get to look them over. And maybe my story of Walt getting inspired by Greenfield village was more specific to FrontierLand? Or maybe its just BS I read on the internet.
Why in hell is it that any time someone creates an upscale event that is nice and clean, and obviously focused on a more mature crowd, does someone show up and say, “why can’t we make this more friendly for families and children?”
Aren’t there enough places to take these vermin so they don’t have to infect those that don’t want children exposure? There’s Cars & Coffee. That seems very friendly to children!
We can’t have coupes because people need to stick their kids in the backseat without whining that their blood circulation is cut off from the front seat backing into them. Wah! We can’t have a car show without hand prints all over the priceless cars because we gotta take our kids there. Wah!
Ok, so this is sarcasm. Well sort of. But seriously, why can’t some things just be for the adults?
If you’ve been watching F1, I find it interesting that several of the venues have adjacent small amusement park for the little gremlins.
They even have taped replays of the races with cartoon avatars of the drivers for – you guessed it – the kids.
I think a lot of it is the flip side to having a society where adults resist being adults. Hard to pinpoint when this started, but even in the 60s/70s, there was a defined adult culture that was separate, that kids simply weren’t part of…they dressed differently, listened to music that kids didn’t, did things like cocktail parties, etc. That doesn’t really exist anymore.
I remember the 70s; the parents had a party upstairs and the kids were pushed down to the basement to play. Which wasn’t all bad. That’s when cable TV first started being a thing and the nights of parents’ parties were when we could first watch rated R movies without them knowing.
I agree. The price is that high to reduce crowds and keep people, like me and my young children away. I’m not paying $550 per person so I can spend my day intercepting overpriced shrimp my daughter keep throwing at cars while tackling my son who just wants to climb in the million dollar cars to honk the horn.
You were hanging out with the attempted savior of Saab and all we get from it is a link to an Instagram post?? Where’s the news about where the Phoenix concept went, stillborn 9-3ng news??
Saab AB is one of the big winners of Trump 2.0 with a great many NATO allies who’d planned to buy F-35s switching to Gripens (most recently Canada). They should use some of the money to buy their car trademarks back.
Wake me up when it’s Shark Week. If I want to watch proper vintage machines, Goodwood Revival is what gets my attention.
That was a couple of weeks ago. My sister’s shark research expedition had a show so that was a fun watch.
On what duration loan?
Yes.
120 months. Cars are more reliable than ever. (Snark)
Depending on how the next few months go that comment will end up being unsnarkily said at dealership across the land.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. 72 months is long enough.
I bought my car 14 years ago when it was new and still have the car, If I am offered 80 months at 0% I might jump.
Tariffs. If the Supreme Court can’t stop Trump from issuing Tariffs, the car companies are doomed.
I think I was lied to by cartoons as a kid, although I guess if a Coyote can survive having an anvil land on his head, then I guess the concept of “I’m just a Bill on Capital Hill” doesn’t apply either.
Perhaps if you were a billionaire bridge owner, instead.
I think Ford and GM will be fine. Stellantis might be in trouble eventually, well Stellantis is already in trouble.
Stellantis has been in trouble since before it was founded. It was needing the US government to prop it up 50 years ago.
I can see Stellantis perhaps breaking up. What I see is Stellantis selling Ram. I could see Ford or GM buying it to increase their production capacity of full sized trucks. I could also see someone using that as an instant step into getting into the US large truck market. Ram makes good money in North America.
The real value of Stellantis is Jeep. They sell well all over, unlike any other brand they have. It’s ironic, the brand that saved Chrysler for a good while and is propping up Stellantis is actually an AMC brand. Maybe Carter bailed out the wrong company back in the day.
“Wealthy attorney takes over leadership of most prestigious and exclusive car show in the world, ponders how it will stay relevant.”
Honey, I think that horse sideways-cantered out of the equestrian center some time ago. I mean, no shade on those who enjoy it, but I’m not too worried about whether an event that judges the finest automobiles in the world is going to survive. I think they’ll figure it out.
Please, please, please stop trying to tailor everything to children. As someone who not long ago crested that golden marker of middle age, 20 year olds are idiots. If they don’t like or understand your thing, good. They’ll either get it when they’re older or they won’t, but pretending there’s something wrong with your product because it’s inscrutable to people too young to understand it is why the world is so fucked now. Quality takes time, and it takes time to appreciate – the people telling you to change your product today are going to be the ones upset you did in a decade.
Every decade of age thinks the previous decades are comprised of idiots. We even do this to the memories of ourselves, no need to paint a generation with one brush.
The theory of evolution is based on the principle of adapt or die out. This is also true of events.
Kick & scream all you want that they’re abandoning their core demographic in favour of courting fresh blood, but that core group is shrinking every year.
Thanks for saying this. Not all people are the same, regardless of age. I am a volunteer at a weird little museum restoring vintage electronics and we have a few members whom are actually UNDER 20 years old- one being 15- and they’re geniuses. Smarter than the rest of us there. And they will be the ones to carry on with our strange hobby.
I’m very anti-gatekeeping. There are limits to keep things from devolving, but overall I want as many people as possible to just be able to enjoy things that pique their interest.
Ok yes, “not all young people.” I’m not saying exclude young people from events. I also daresay I suspect the young people you’re referring to would prefer that not everything be tailored to the market’s concept of what young people want, as they sound the sort to prefer some variation in the world, which is what I’m arguing for.
There seems to be some kind of misconception that 20yr olds do not eventually become 40yr olds. The day we run out of 40yr olds is about 20 years after we ran out of 20yr olds. Nevertheless, we seem to consistently have a crop of 40yr olds whose behaviors and preferences dramatically differ from their behaviors and preferences 20 years prior to that, and this consistent deviation seems to elude our sharpest business minds.
Has anyone EVER under the age of 40 gone to Pebble Beach? I remember when my dad was about 55 or so, he was invited to an auction/car show that was full of the uber rich. Dad was an OLD looking 55, having spent some very stressful years right at the equator without sunscreen. However, he was, by far, the youngest looking person there, other than his brat kid he brought along.
Yeah they should have made that little brat wait outside at the gate!!!
LOL
TBQ: am aware and have been for awhile. Very much a west coast party for money. Making it into a mass event for all is probably going to ruin the vibe for many owners and they’ll pick up their toys and go home. Or start a new event at Agusta. Or somewhere owned by The President.
Love the cars and the historic preservation aspect, don’t care for anything else, really, especially the exclusionism that tends to pervade anything involving big money in America. And that’s fine. It’s way too far away for me, socially or distance wise, anyway.