The Monterey Fog
by Richard Carey

California's Monterey Peninsula is famous for its fogs. Generated as air chilled by the cold Pacific Ocean drifts over the warmer peninsula and coastal hills, the natural haze of Monterey's mornings is augmented annually by an emotional fog that settles upon the dazed participants and spectators who converge on the Peninsula beginning on Wednesday. It's a continuous offering of shows, races, outings, gatherings, wine-and-cheese parties, auctions, tours, events, unveilings, cocktails, chit-chat, negotiations, schmoozes … and very little sleep or time for proper meals. Sustained by wonderful cars, Monterey's charming vistas, great people and an endless stream of coffee the fog of Monterey is also a fog of good times and wonderful cars.

Ferraris are the unquestioned stars of Monterey. F40s, Cal Spyders, GTOs (and faux GTOs), Pf coupes and cabs, testarossas and Testa Rossas, Superamericas and flocks of 308s, 355s and 360s make Ferrari almost as common on the roads of Monterey as Chevys and Fords. The organizers of the principal events, the Monterey Historic Races and Pebble Beach Concours, cooperate annually to showcase selected legendary marques. Frank Mandarano annually captures a marquee aspect of Italian car-culture at Concorso Italiano. But Ferraris are the show in Monterey.

As this was being written Tuesday morning about 9AM normal life was interrupted by the despicable and cowardly events in New York and Washington, D.C. I've struggled since then with expressing the contrast between the joy, collegiality and good feelings of Monterey and Tuesday's horrific and pointless destruction of thousands of innocent lives. I've failed to find a way to reconcile, or even express, how such divergent views of life can co-exist within the human race. My articulation is no match for the magnitude of this horror, so I'll simply turn my attention back to the events of Monterey.

While Vintage Bentleys were the featured marque at Pebble Beach the scene was stolen by the presence, at the far corner of the fairway, of the astounding two-storey display of Pat and Dorris Hart's Fiat Tipo 682R Ferrari team transporter with its cargo of three 250 Testa Rossas. The three featured Bentley classes had 22 entries - yet there were 19 entries in this year's Competition and Pininfarina Design Ferraris. Out at Laguna Seca there were more Ferraris than could be comprehended, spread all over the paddock amongst what has become over the years the best, if temporary, racing car display in the world. And out at Carmel Valley on Friday the Ferrari Club of America Concours and Concorso Italiano brought together fields of Ferraris.

This year four auctions (my particular area of interest) over five sessions sold some $10 million worth of Ferraris - $3.8 million in one transaction at RM's Monterey Sports Car Auction at the Doubletree for the 1956 410 Sport, the weekend's top sale - a third of the dollar value of cars sold.

Monterey weekend is both a time to see and to be seen, to renew acquaintances with like-minded enthusiasts, to participate or simply to observe. It's a place of recreation, ostentation, enthusiasm and commerce. It's fun. In fact there is so much fun it blends almost seamlessly into a fog of pleasant experiences.

How different from the days following September 11, 2001.

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