Story by Stewart Perry // Photography by Ross Perry
We attended The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during this year’s Monterey car week, but in keeping with the event’s motorsport heritage, we went not looking for concours winners but race winners.
As we arrived, we were greeted by a MazdaSpeed 757 entered in the long tail Le Mans class, still wearing the livery and number 203 from its 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans GTP Class win. Better: a great spectacle was provided for the crowd when its barking three rotor 2.0-litre engine was fired up.
Moving down the field we found the beautiful, blue Delahaye Type 145. In 1937, the French Government and the Automobile Club of France offered a reward of one million francs for any French car that could better the pace set around Montlhery Circuit by foreign teams. The race to collect the prize was on, but under hot completion from Bugatti, this exact Delahaye won, setting a speed of 146.6 km/h (91 mph) to become forever known as “The Million-Franc Delahaye”. A run at Mille Miglia collected a fourth, and its pre-war career was rounded out with a win at the 1938 Grand Prix de Pau, upsetting the much higher-powered Mercedes Silver Arrows.
Surrounded by exquisite creations from Maranello sat a class victor from the first Venezuelian Grand Prix, held in 1955: a Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II. Class wins at Nassau and Sebring followed during late 1955 and 1956. Since it retired from racing, the car has won 29 show trophies, including a class win at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—and has been under single ownership since 1960.
Click through to the Petrolicious Guide To Monterey Car Week Presented by Michelin to continue reading and see full gallery.
