My 6 Favorite Street-Parked Classics at Monterey Car Week

Events like the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Motorlux, and The Quail allow car geeks to look at their leisure, with cars acting as contemplative objects. We forget that Monterey Car Week is actually a moveable feast and a certain subset of Car Week attendees prefer spotting cars in the wild, both street parked and cruising packed downtown Monterey streets like Del Monte, Alvarado, and Calle Principal. I'm part of that subset. As always, Monterey didn't fail to deliver copious helpings of the weird and wonderful this year to snap and talk about (precise years are guesswork on my part):

1966 Ford GT40 (Replica)

OK, I'm going out on a limb here and assume that this was a replica since street legal GT 40 MK IIs are almost non-existent, and well into seven figures. Still, this car looked the part with its right-hand-drive, knock-off Halibrand wheels, Avon racing tires, and two banks of Weber carbs. Maybe it was one of the cars built for the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari." I dunno, but it certainly looked impressive parked in the lot of the historic Hotel Del Monte.

1979 Datsun 280ZX

These cars weren't particularly adored by enthusiasts when they were new. They were both heavier and softer than the original Z-cars, and not much more powerful. "Discomobile" was among the harsher epithets thrown at them back in the day. Nobody cares about that now, least of all, this car's smiling Gen-Z driver. Pristine examples like this one are few and far between. It looked to be all original down to its period California Blue plate oh-so-seventies brown paint. I shouted my approval to the driver. He positively beamed. It was one of the best moments during Car Week for me.

1993 BMW 850Ci

The BMW of several decades ago was a much more endearing company. One that was willing to do some weirdly inspired stuff like the Z1, Z3 M Coupe, and this 850Ci. Thoroughly unconventional when it came out, most people didn't quite know what to make of it. While its predecessor, the E24 6-series was a logical evolution of the gorgeous E9 coupe, this was a total clean sheet design. It's aged exceedingly well. And this particular Mauritius Blue car was the ultimate spec available-a V-12 manual. While I wouldn't necessarily want to be the one footing the service bills for this complex and powerful GT, I have to confess, I thought it was one of the coolest cars I saw this past week.

1971 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3

While we take ultra-powerful super-sedans for granted today, 50 years ago, your choices were limited to a Maserati Quattroporte, a Jaguar XJ-12, and this. Of the three, this 6.3 Benz was likely the only one that would offer you a better than 50/50 chance of making it from LA to Monterey without incident. I saw this car heading down Alvarado Street when it was still about 100 feet away, and guessed it was a 6.3, and not a visually similar (but much tamer) 280SE. I was right. Its magnificent gold paint, and the muted growl of its big V-8 gave this car a presence virtually unmatched on the streets of Monterey. Oh, and the windows were down, and it was playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." The mic drop moment of Car Week.

1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (Replica)

Looks are purely subjective, but I've always thought that the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is the prettiest American sports car of all time. Maybe the prettiest built anywhere. Oddly enough, the day after spotting this car in a Monterey parking garage, I got to chat with the car's designer, the legendary Peter Brock. Only in Monterey during Car Week I guess. I'm not sure who the builder of this kit is, but my best guess is that it's either a Factory Five Racing or a Superformance effort. Either way, it was well-constructed, and drop-dead gorgeous.

1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Coupe

I have to confess, I was baffled by this one. The entire time I was staying at the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, this car's cover never came off, and it never left the parking lot. The long-nose, and short Kamm-tail shape, and the Cromodora five-spoke alloy wheels were, however, unmistakable. It's a Daytona, alright.