By J.A. Ackley
Jul 30, 2024
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BMW,
Monterey Car Week,
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,
Gooding & Company,
Legends of the Autobahn,
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance,
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Photography Courtesy BMW
If you’re looking for some of the most iconic and rarest cars, Monterey Car Week won’t disappoint. And BMW isn’t holding back, either, with what they’re bringing to California.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance–Sunday, August 18
Headlining BMW's offerings will be the 1972 BMW Turbo Concept and 1996 McLaren F1 GTR, which will be presented at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The Turbo Concept was BMW’s first-ever concept car and is entered in the Wedge Shaped Concept Cars & Prototypes class. It had several innovative safety features for its time, including “self-regenerating front and rear crumple zones, side-impact protection beams in the gullwing doors, safety steering, all-around impact strips, a radar-based braking distance monitor.” Keep in mind, this was 1972, not 2024.
The BMW of North America-owned 1996 McLaren F1 GTR is entered in the 1990s BPR & FIA GT Race Cars class. A BMW-powered F1 GTR won overall for the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. This particular example ran the 1996 Le Mans race, driven by Nelson Piquet, Danny Sullivan and Johnny Cecotto. It ran as high as third overall, but finished eighth.
The new M5 and M5 Touring will also be displayed on the Concept Lawn.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion–Wednesday August 14-Saturday August 17
At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, you’ll find BMW of North America's 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, 1981 BMW M1 and 2011 BMW M3 GT.
The 3.0 CSL (aka the Batmobile) participating was campaigned by BMW of North America in the 1975-’76 IMSA Camel GT Series. It first raced the 1975 Riverside 6-Hour, driven by Brian Redman and Sam Posey, where it finished second.
The M1 was campaigned by BMW of North America in the 24 Hours of Daytona and had drivers such as David Hobbs, Mark Surer and Dieter Quester grace its cockpit.
The E92 M3 ran out of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing stable, in partnership with BMW of North America. Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller raced it in-period, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2011 and 2012.
In the 50th anniversary exhibit at the track, you’ll find the 1999 BMW V12 LMR that won the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring with drivers Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and Jorg Muller.
Also at the track, the BMW M5 Garage (open Friday and Saturday) will have the new BMW M5 sedan and Touring, as well as the BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP campaigned in IMSA.
Gooding & Company Auction–Friday, August 16
BMW created a special, one-of-one Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance edition of the new BMW M5. It comes clad in exclusive colors, wheels and interior details. The exterior color resembling a Pebble Beach sunset, BMW Individual Frozen Orange metallic paint, is set to be discontinued from the BMW Plant Dingolfing prior to the start of the M5 production, meaning no other 2025 M5 will have this color. The special edition M5 will hit the auction block on Friday, August 16.
Legends of the Autobahn–Thursday, August 15
Legends of the Autobahn features BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi marques. It will have all seven generations of the M5 represented on the show field, from the original E28 of the 1980s to the latest BMW M5. The newest M5 will make its official North American debut at the Lodge at Pebble Beach that same morning.
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