At such short notice, it's not been possible to arrange a woody station–wagon complete with cacti specimens (à la Terry–Thomas in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) for my arrival in Monterey next week. A good old United Airlines Boeing 777 to SFO will have to do.

I am genuinely excited at the prospect. It's been a couple of years since my last (and very first) Pebble Beach trip and, as we preview today, the minute you hit a 25–mile radius of the Peninsula the roads become a car–spotter's paradise, as TdF Ferrari follows Alfa 8C and USRRC Cobra on Highway One.

There's nothing else really like it, and in a year in which we've already experienced the Monaco Historics and the Le Mans Classic, nigh–on a week in Monterey (with the prospect of the Goodwood Revival in September to come) is the icing on the cake.

Charis Whitcombe will be in charge next week and we'll be updating you with all the Monterey action the week after, including all the published auction results and Sunday afternoon's Best of Show. Now, if only I can find that 'big W'...

Steve Wakefield Managing Editor sw@classicdriver.com

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