Revs Institute brought two cars for track exercise: the 1964 Abarth Simca 2 Mila Corsa and the 1967 Porsche 910/6. Both were running strong during the Pre-Reunion. Racing driver Gunnar Jeannette found the 910 to be “perfectly balanced” out on track. The rear-engine Abarth Simca takes more work at the wheel to get the most out of it, and Gunnar put on a show by taking it sideways through the corners. When the Reunion weekend arrived, Gunnar put the Abarth Simca on pole during qualifying and finished second in Race 1 on Friday.

But he could sense, as is sometimes the case with historic race cars, that something was amiss. Our team took a careful look and found that one of the control arms was showing signs of stress that could lead to failure. Out of an abundance of caution, the car was withdrawn from Saturday’s Race 2. Although control arm failure is not a known issue on Abarth Simcas generally, it is entirely possible that a previous repair from its racing days has returned to haunt us. Such is the nature of historic racing cars: they were often repaired “in the field” outside the workshop and without detailed records. In a time before Google image search and eBay Motors, mechanics and drivers alike relied on elbow grease and quick solutions to get damaged cars back on track as quickly as possible. Further investigation will be done back at our workshop, and our expert technicians will then decide how to proceed.

The 910 continued to run beautifully. Unfortunately, during its first race on Friday, there was still oil on the track from an earlier run group. The driver is a crucial consultant for the preservation and maintenance of our race cars: Gunnar is one of the foremost drivers in historic racing today, and he provides invaluable feedback on the cars as well as making sound judgment calls. The track conditions presented an unnecessary risk, so Gunnar brought the car back to the paddock after the out lap.

Gunnar, who is also Team Principal of AO Racing, then had to depart for testing at VIR. For Saturday’s Race 2, Tazio Ottis (who drove our 906 at Rennsport last year) hopped into the driver’s seat to give the Porsche some exercise. Rules meant that Tazio had to start at the back of the field of 29 cars. Despite never having had a practice session in the 910, Tazio wove through the back markers to finish at P15 after 10 laps! Tazio reported that the 910 ran on rails, a testament to in-period Porsche engineering and modern workshop know-how! Mike Ellis, Bill Blume, along with Pedro Vela and Tim Bair from our workshop prepared these historic performance machines beautifully and tended to them carefully during competition.

Of course, racing is not the only thing to see at Laguna Seca during the Reunion. To celebrate 50 years of historic racing, a huge display at the paddock entrance featured some of the rarest cars from the greatest marques to have run down the corkscrew. Revs Institute brought the 1935 MG PA/PB (aka, “Leonidis”), the 1952 Cunningham C4-R, and the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport. Both the Cunningham and the MG drove the track for exhibition laps. The MG, which began its life as part of the all-woman “Dancing Daughters” driving team at the 1935 Le Mans, was featured in a special photo shoot with Lyn St. James and her group, WIMNA (Women In Motorsports North America).

The Cunningham, meanwhile, enjoyed its moment in the spotlight during the event’s live broadcast: Miles Collier was interviewed about Briggs Cunningham and his importance to American motorsport.

Lyn would not be the only special guest to join Revs Institute for Monterey Car Week. While the race cars roared at Laguna Seca, the entrants of the Pebble Beach Concours gathered for a Thursday morning drive down the Pacific coast. The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance is one of the highlights of the week. Revs Institute brought not one, but two Bentleys to Pebble this year. The first, a 1926 3-Litre Super Sport, made its first public appearance after a multi-year restoration in the UK, by noted Bentley experts R.C.Moss. The roadster’s rare Surbico coachwork (complete with custom wood decking on its boattail) caught the eye of every passer-by. In addition to the Super Sport, we brought the 1930 6 ½-Litre Speed Six Sports Tourer with Vanden Plas coachwork. The car was built originally for Jill Scott, the first woman and eleventh driver to earn the 120 mph badge at Brooklands. Fitting, then, that we were joined for the Tour by Amanda Stretton. Before she was tapped to be the MC of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Amanda had an incredible career as a motorsports journalist and racing driver. Her father was himself an avid historic racer, so Amanda was more than game to take the wheel of the Speed Six for part of the Tour on Thursday.

Sunday begins early for Concours entrants: dawn finds a line of cars arriving at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, turning the golf green into a show field for some of the most beautiful cars on earth. As the sun burned off the foggy marine layer, the scenic view of the ocean provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s Concours. Both people and cars were perfectly turned out. Flocks of judges in blue sport coats and straw hats poked and prodded; the beep-beep of horn testing sounded up and down the show field. Pedro Vela and Tim Bair from our shop represented our Bentleys during judging (Founder Miles Collier and Curator Scott George were themselves busy serving as judges elsewhere on the grounds). The Super Sport was awarded 2nd in the European Classic Sport class, a great honor! The car looked stunning while rolling across the platform, and we look forward to seeing it on display again in our museum when we reopen this Fall. The entire event is only possible because of the hard work of its staff, volunteers, judges, and entrants. This collective passion not only keeps cars alive in the world, it raises money for area charities.

If you missed the livestream of the Concours, you can catch up here: https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/events/2024-pebble-beach-concours-live/

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