A Reunion for Racecars

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, which takes place this weekend at Mazda Reaceway Laguna Seca, is the one time of the year when the world’s coolest old cars, ordinarily hidden in temperature-controlled garages, get a chance to stretch their legs under the warm California sun.

Of the half-dozen world-class race events at Laguna Seca each summer, this may be the one most worth the drive down 101. The Reunion will feature 550 historic racecars from around the world—some of racing history’s most valuable and famous machines—which will compete on the fabled 2.2-mile racetrack nestled in the picturesque Monterey hills.

An opportunity to see automotive museum pieces roar to life and compete wheel-to-wheel against old rivals, the reunion brings together pre-war LeMans cars, classic Trans-Ams—the Mustang Bosses and Camaros of the ‘60s and ‘70s—and even the surreal 1,000-plus-horsepower twin-turbo Formula One cars from the ‘80s.

This year, the Reunion will spotlight the extraordinary automobiles produced by Jaguar, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the iconic E-Type. This sleek machine, when first revealed, was envied by Enzo Ferrari himself, who famously proclaimed it to be “the most beautiful car ever made.”

Jaguar’s Heritage Display at Laguna Seca will showcase race-winning cars going back 75 years. A local favorite will undoubtedly be Phil Hill’s 1950 XKS120, which was driven to victory by the then-23-year-old in Pebble Beach’s Del Monte Forest for America’s first Formula One Championship.

The Reunion will feature three days of non-stop racing, with 17 classes racing for up to 25 minutes at a time. That might be enough time for some of the drivers to forget the priceless works of art they are driving, and perhaps really give the crowd a race to watch.

The pre-war class is a spectacle unto itself, as the open-wheeled Bugatti Type 35s and 37s blast through Laguna Seca’s corkscrew complex. The supercharged roar of the straight-eight engines as they come around the Andretti Hairpin and hit 6000 rpm on the straightaway might only be matched by the V-12 wail of the featured Ferrari GTO 250s, as they compete against each other for the first time since 1965.

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