Newtimers Love Classic Cars
McLaren 6GT, Aston Martin Valen, Bugatti Destrier, Hennessey Blackbird, Lamborghini Revuelto SV—that's a whopping 5,000 PS on display at Monterey Car Week, an event that would be unthinkable without sports cars, supercars, or—if you will—hypercars. On top of that, more and more collector cars are being auctioned off. All around Pebble Beach, people are celebrating as if they were at the Geneva Motor Show. Wait a minute—that wasn't a salon at all. Why are there so many new cars at a week that's supposed to be reserved for cultural heritage that has matured over decades?
The answer is simple: it's the emotional alliance between old and new cars, united not only by performance—always relative to the era—but also by their hefty price tags. No question about it: in Monterey, everyone's in the same league, and no new VW Polo or Dacia Duster is being unveiled. Although—at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, even that's possible.
There, not only do the fastest of the fast compete, but also the newest of the new: What's set up and presented at the stands there has the caliber of an IAA, where Mercedes alone invested 40 million 40 years ago. Are classic car festivals, concours d'elegance, and exhibitions becoming party venues for dying auto shows? It certainly seems that way; manufacturers are filling their premiere gaps—even when a classic car show isn't generally dedicated to driving culture—to bridge the gap between neoclassics and classics.
Now that the once-glorious five major auto shows—Detroit, Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris, and Tokyo—no longer exist or are merely a shadow of their former selves, manufacturers have sought a replacement. And they've found one. Not at the new so-called “mobility fairs,” where the technical term itself already reveals that this has nothing to do with passion. But rather in a setting that doesn't ask about e-bikes, but instead about—joy, culture, and taste.
Driving has always been more than just getting from A to B. After all, that was possible even with a horse and carriage. No, driving has a completely new and bolder dimension. It is lifestyle, passion, and individual freedom par excellence. Wild and irrational, just like the supercars in Monterey. The perfect “match” when the “newtimers” join the classic cars. Enthusiasts of all nations, unite!
