Photos: Autoblog

An elegant hotel… an immaculate golf course… the Santa Lucia mountain range… all of these are things that you’ll find in the Monterrey peninsula of California and at this time of year, they are all bustling with automotive enthusiasts. You’ve doubtless heard of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which was one of many events going on last week.

You probably have visions of wine, cheese and cucumber sandwiches in your head now and you’d likely be right, but one event last week had more of interest to Mustang fans. The Quail Lodge, in Carmel, is well known for a number of high end automotive events and last week, it was The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.

Among a number of themes being presented at the gathering was  “45 Years of the Shelby Mustang”, in addition to “Racecar Driver Carroll Shelby”.

“Carroll Shelby is one of America’s great success stories,” said Gordon McCall, co-founder of The Quail Motorsports Gathering. “He has been a World War II aviator, a champion racecar driver winning the 24 Hours at Le Mans amongst other races and a legendary automobile designer. It is important to celebrate his passion and ingenuity that is an inspiration for Americans and motorsports enthusiasts alike.”

Shelby himself was present at the event, reportedly looking a bit fragile, but nonetheless able to enlighten the crowds about a number of the cars being presented. A couple of “barn find” examples were on hand as well as the immaculately restored versions from every year of production. In a field of perfection, the survivor cars drew just as much attention.

For the true enthusiast, The Quail provides a high quality show in a spectacular venue, with the broadest spectrum of significant vehicles that you’ll see in a year of “regular” shows. For some, it is an experience deserving to be in everybody’s bucket list.