Even companies with nothing incredibly new to show are hosting parties for VIP clients and prospective buyers. Maserati will show an updated Levante; Jaguar will bring the electric I-Pace that it let journalists drive in Portugal earlier this summer.
Then there’s Hagerty, a Michigan-based insurance and analysis company aimed at the most desirable collectible and collector cars. Hagerty doesn’t sell any cars at all. But that’s beside the point. When it comes down to it, attending Pebble Beach is about giving the most valuable people in the industry a memorable, fruitful experience—rather than just another trade show.
“Pebble Beach is very attractive for industry executives to attend and one of our biggest efforts of the year,” says Hagerty’s Jonathan Klinger. “When you work with companies from all over the world, and their executives are going to spend one event with us, where do they want to be? They want to be at Pebble Beach.”
Klinger offered one way in which he said some automakers may lose out by choosing events like Pebble Beach over traditional shows—Pebble Beach isn’t for everyone, he said. “Where it is a potential disadvantage is for automakers that sell in high volume. These types of events are relatively short in duration for the public compared to the Detroit Auto Show and New York,” he said. “They’re not as conducive to a dealer network.”
That said, even Ford has let out the rumor that it will show off something new— its iconic GT40 race car—at Laguna Seca racetrack on Saturday before the concours. It’s tough to resist that many car-loving eyes in one place.
Of course, even the GT40 will have to compete for attention with the old-car money that attracted everyone in the first place. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO listed in RM Sotheby’s Monterey auctions catalogue is expected to sell for $45 million to $60 million. It will be the most expensive car ever offered in a public sale.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.