Coronavirus and Monterey Car Week

Any bets on which event is the next one likely to fall? I suspect the big ones like Concorso Italiano, Carmel Concours, The Quail, etc are waiting to see what Pebble does.

 

I highly doubt auction houses could manage assuring social distancing...they would have to go to the virtual model. Events like the Pebble Beach Tour stop in Carmel is a perfect example where you could not spread out all the cars and assure gawkers stay 6ft apart...only 2 people could view the same car at the same time? I don't think so. Some concours could spread their event out over more golf fairways, but you still have the spectator distancing problem. And then you have all the social (aka party) events...too much liability if someone becomes infected.

Pebble Beach Resorts is (currently) targeting a June 1st reopening. It'll be interesting to see if or when that actually happens. I certainly hope events happen, but the closer we get to mid Aug w/o a significant turnaround, the less likely lots of people will feel comfortable attending.

 

Expect everything else to fall behind this announcement and cancel as well, although it's possible the auctions may still happen in an online format. I have a message in to my contacts at RM and Gooding to hear what they plan to do.

 

My source at RM indicates they'll be going to an online format (like they did for their Palm Beach auction a month or so ago).

 

In today's Monterey Herald newspaper. I've been unable to confirm many of the cancellations reported in this article;

MONTEREY — Like a row of tumbling dominos, Classic Car Week events along the Monterey Peninsula are being canceled following Wednesday evening’s announcement that the premier show of the August fortnight, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, has fallen to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there are outlying events that are still being considered a go for now, including the Aug. 7 Concours at Pasadera, said Rick Barnett, the event chairman. A decision also hasn’t been made on the Monterey Pre-Reunion on Aug. 8-9 and Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on Aug. 13-16 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Raceway spokesman Barry Toepke said Thursday that Laguna Seca officials have been discussing what to do about the events in the wake of the Classic Car Week cancellations with the raceway’s selection committee and had been hearing from traditional event participants offering a range of opinions on the events from going ahead to canceling.

Toepke said raceway officials have been considering how to hold the events including using the raceway’s “big open space” to implement “spacial distancing plans.”

“We want to hold the event,” Topeke said. “For one reason, to help restart the economy. It would certainly be a different look than past years. We’re still four months out. We’ve been thinking about this for a long time and we don’t want to make a knee-jerk decision to cancel.”

Officials with Concours at Pasadera feel much the same way.

“The Concours d’Elegance cancellation hasn’t affected our plans,” Barnett said. “We have until July 15 to decide whether or not we are going to pull the plug.”

The deadline for vetting applications for the show at The Club at Pasadera off the Monterey-Salinas Highway has been extended to June 15. Barnett said beginning about 10 days ago he started getting calls from car enthusiasts from other events.

“They wanted to know if there was space at our show if their shows were canceled,” he said. “We’ll probably end up with cars from other events.”

Barnett did note that it will not be business as usual in that it is likely the cars will need to be spread out to provide proper social distancing and attendees may need to wear masks.

“We’re very attentive to the restrictions that have been placed by the county,” he said.

Meanwhile, three of the four Car Week events planned for Pacific Grove have been canceled. Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, said only the Rotary Concours Auto Rally is still slated to run but will be downsized to perhaps a parade.

Jo Snyder, a spokesperson for Indiana-based Worldwide Auctioneers — one of the canceled Pacific Grove events — said that once the Concours d’Elegance officially canceled, Worldwide immediately started looking toward 2021.

“We’ll be back next year,” she said. “We love it out there.”

Next door in Carmel, Mayor Dave Potter said Thursday morning that it was still unclear whether the Concours on the Avenue or the Carmel Mission Classic would go on, but that it would be unlikely that they would.

“It’s an order of magnitude,” he said. “The Concours d’Elegance was the anchor. Without that there won’t be the volume needed and it will be a domino effect — when that one falls the rest will follow.”

And in the hills of Carmel Valley, The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering has tossed in the towel as well, as have most of the car auctions in Monterey and all four Car Week events in Seaside, including the popular Concours d’Lemons.

The RM Sotheby’s auction at the Monterey Conference Center has been canceled. Mecum Auctions, which holds its events at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, said it will be putting out a statement Friday morning and representatives from Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions weren’t immediately available for comment Thursday.

But the debris-laden landscape of Classic Car Week is being felt by many along the Peninsula.

“It really weighs on the psyche,” said Monterey Mayor Clyde Roberson.

Classic Car Week is generally considered the largest Monterey County-wide event of the year. According to Rob O’Keefe, Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau interim president and CEO, a 2014 economic impact study showed Classic Car Week, which includes Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, generates over $53 million in economic impact, over $4.5 million in taxes and brings in over 80,000 visitors for the week.

“If more Car Week events are postponed, it will have a significant impact on our summer tourism, an industry in Carmel that is the No. 1 revenue generator for our village,” said Jenny MacMurdo, Carmel Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. “In Carmel specifically our largest attraction in town, as well as a large donor for The Carmel Foundation, is Concours on the Avenue.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, the cancellation of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is a 10. In terms of exposure and economic impact, it is the largest event in the county, according to Ammar of the Pacific Grove Chamber.

Ammar said it would be tough to put a figure, but gives a rough estimate of $3 million to $4 million in lost revenue for the city of Pacific Grove.

At Laguna Seca, Toepke said the raceway’s season-opening races in July, including the GEICO MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest July 10-12 and the Ferrari Challenge Series July 23-26, are both still on for now. He said raceway officials had received emails from both MotoAmerica and Ferrari organizers indicating the events are still on, though perhaps with limited fan participation.

Assistant County Administrative Officer Dewayne Woods said since both the July racing events involve facility leases, the decision on whether to go ahead will be up to the event organizers.

Woods said if there is “definitive” official guidance by early June on a potential lifting of the state and local stay-home orders to reopen the economy it would provide enough time to potentially allow all Laguna Seca events to go ahead.

If not, Woods said it could have a “waterfall effect” that could end up canceling all Laguna Seca events, including the July and August events, as well as IMSA’s Monterey SportsCar Championship on Sept. 4-6, IndyCar’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader weekend on Sept. 18-20, and the already rescheduled Trans-Am Speedfest on Dec. 3-6, as well as the also rescheduled Sea Otter Classic on Oct. 1-4.

“If we don’t do those events like the MotoAmerica and the Sea Otter (Classic) and the Reunion week, it will have a huge, huge impact on (the Monterey Peninsula tourism) industry,” he said. “There’s usually a huge buzz of activity during the summer season, which is a major source of revenue for the industry. It would be a serious loss to our area’s economy.”

That, Woods said, could end up in the closure of many area businesses, including restaurants and shops, that rely on the seasonal visitor trade, and help drive a recession.

According to Woods, the county is currently planning for a $7 million shortfall in its 2020-2021 fiscal year budget, but that could balloon to as much as $40 million if the economy doesn’t restart by this summer and the county loses a big chunk of its annual $25 million to $28 million in discretionary hotel tax revenue, as well as another $10 million in discretionary sales tax revenue.

One of the challenges of reopening the local economy is the decision to link all area public and business activity together. While the total number of coronavirus cases and testing being conducted are much lower on the Peninsula than in the Salinas area, Monterey County Public Health Officer Dr. Ed Moreno said the county’s shelter-in-place order likely wouldn’t be lifted sooner because it could invite outside visitors to the Peninsula and risk spread of the disease. The county’s order also seems tied to the larger region, including the Bay Area and the entire state, for the same reason.

 

The two biggest annual revenue generating events for the Monterey Peninsula are Car Week in Aug followed by the AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm tournament in Feb. The Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival and the Bach Festival are distant 3rd & 4th.

Yes, all us locals will welcome the ability to get around freely during that week in Aug, but we also want to see our restaurants, galleries, etc, be able to survive w/o the substantial income that will be lost...not to mention all the charities that will miss out on the millions generated by Pebble Beach.

 

Add Concorso Italiano to the list of cancelled events...but no mention of refunding already purchased tickets or entry fees. They shouldn't assume that the car you entered for 2020 would be entered for 2021!

Concorso Italiano 2020 is Canceled

Due to the ongoing health concerns related to the COVID -19 virus and the uncertainty of events being permitted by state officials and the California Governor, officials at the Concorso Italiano Foundation, the owners of the Concorso Italiano have decided to cancel the 2020 event originally scheduled for Saturday August 15, 2020.

The events of Car Week do more than celebrate great cars; they benefit so many people in need. Our efforts with Jacob’s Heart will continue, and the health and safety of everyone associated with the Concorso Italiano is top priority, which led us to this difficult decision. We recognize that cancelling the 2020 event will be disappointing to many, although we are confident it is appropriate under these unique circumstances.” All tickets purchased and vehicle registrations made to date for the 2020 Concorso Italiano will be valid for the event on Saturday, August 14, 2021. We will forward updated tickets to all ticketholders and vehicle registrants in the coming weeks.

The celebrations scheduled for the 35th Concorso Italiano will be celebrated on Saturday August 14, 2021, as well as significant anniversaries and celebrations of 2021. We will work with all of our partners to create a terrific event for our clients and look forward to our Italian brands returning to the beautiful fairways of the Bayonet Golf Course, with our unique features and events.

 

You can't `miss' it if it's not there, so you'll be 18 consecutive (event) years in 2021.