Each August, on the Monterey Peninsula, at the fabled Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, the end of the summer is marked by one of the greatest vintage car race weekends anywhere. Automotive enthusiasts, racing greats and car-enthusiastic celebrities such as Leno and Seinfeld all converge on the Californian peninsula for perhaps one of the coolest automotive weekends on the planet. As if the races aren't cool enough, the region also plays home to the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance and the Concours Italiano. Just one of these events is a must-see for any self-respecting car-geek, and all three... well that's just madness.
Both the Monterey Historics and Concours D'Elegance choose a "Featured Marque"; basically a group of vehicles that gets extra attention and is usually supported by a generous showing or support on the part of the manufacturers. In 1999, celebrating the Audi's 100th anniversary, Audi / Auto Union were chosen as featured marque for both events.
As such, the 1999 "Monterey Weekend" will go down as one of the biggest and most superb gatherings for Audi enthusiasts in the United States and maybe even the world. In celebration of it’s 100th Anniversary, Audi brought an unprecedented number of vehicles from their Audi Tradition collection, including several of the very few remaining “Silver Arrow” pre-war racecars, in addition to some recently made replicas of other Silver Arrows that are now extinct. As if that weren’t enough, the pre-war cars were joined by that year's Sebring-run black R8R prototype and the Le Mans-run silver R8R, and other cars from throughout Audi history. The Quattro Club of America ( now known as the Audi Club of North America) also attended with an immense collection of quattros, including numerous uber-rare and uber-expensive Sport Quattros.
This thoroughly enticing weekend attracted no less than four of our staffers in a supposed effort to cover the event thoroughly. Perhaps that is true, but more than likely it was simply because none of us wanted to miss an event of this magnitude and none of us had ever attended the Monterey Historic Automobile Races before.
Somehow, photographs and articles covering the event were filed into our own archives and were never run on VWvortex. With this year’s launch of Fourtitude.com, we’ve explored our archives for articles Audi owners specifically would enjoy. Monterey weekend imminently approaching and Fourtitude fresh and establishing itself in the Audi community, we figured there was no better time than to finally issue the bulk of our collection from five years ago. Hundreds of photos were shot of the event, of which all of the digital photography has now been added to our Fourtitude Galleries.
Below is a day-by-day account I wrote shortly after the event. We were wet behind the ears and in complete awe. Perhaps that shows a bit in the re-telling, though I’d hope I’d still be as awestruck at an event of this magnitude.
1999 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance coverage will follow later this week, all as part of our World-Wide Travel Guide article series.
FRIDAY
It seemed as if I would never get to Monterrey. Our flight left an hour late from Baltimore, Maryland. There wasn’t much of a worry about making our connection in Las Vegas because that flight was delayed by two hours as well. Thinking we’d get a beer, we surprisingly found that bars and just about everything else in the Las Vegas airport short of the slot machines close at 9PM, quite unlike the establishments down on the “strip”. When we finally did land in San Jose, we snuck into our hotel room in Santa Cruz under the cover of night.
SATURDAY
Thanks to my body clock being set on Eastern Standard Time, I was up quite early on Saturday morning. We rolled out of our hotel and piled into the rental car with all of our photography gear in tow for the 45 minute drive to Laguna Seca raceway, home of the Monterrey Historics.
Traveling south on Route 1, we were soon passed by several Audis driven by people with equally eager looks on their faces. What appeared as an odd-looking A4 that came up fast behind us would turn out to be H&R’s Audi A3 1.8T. We latched on to the car, following it the remainder of the trip into Monterrey.
It was necessary to stop off at the registration headquarters located in a local hotel, in order to obtain our press passes. Walking in we got our first taste of what was to come. A Lamborghini Diablo VT was parked directly in front of the main entrance and a whole host of other toys were parked throughout the surrounding parking lot.
Inside I was too giddy to maintain composure. As one gentleman handed me my pass, adorned with an Auto Union Grand Prix car, I burst out with something really intelligent like “Gee, this’ll make a great souvenir.”
“Try to look like you’ve been doing this more than a few minutes,” my more composed peer suggested.
Back in the rental car, we hurried off to the Laguna-Seca Raceway, and parked as quickly as we were able.
The fog had yet to burn off as we hustled down to the paddock area. Descending the stairs from the bridge that connected us to the infield, the Audi tent appeared before us in the mist like some sort of magical kingdom, with it's Auto Union spire a beacon in the thick fog.
Audi personnel still hadn’t opened the massive covers of the tent, protecting all the cars hidden within from the morning’s moisture and our curious eyes. I peaked inside the main tent to get my first glimpse of an actual Auto Union racecar. Though I could only see the back quarter of one car, it was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck bristle. I was just coming to grips with the historical significance of the automobiles and the people that I was about to see.
Since the Audi tent was still closed in the paddock, we made our way hurriedly to the other end of the infield, across another bridge, down vendor’s row … don’t look…there’ll plenty of time for that… and across to the Audi Owners' Corral.
Just next to the corral, the Quattro Club of America had a tent set up with no less then four short wheelbase Sport Quattros underneath its canvas embrace. Inside volunteers were signing up new members and selling Quattro Club paraphernalia.
Outside, in the corral area were a gargantuan mixing of privately owned Audis with the welcome addition of several NSUs. Next to the cars were very excited owners sharing thoughts and comparing notes like no Audi event in the past had afforded them.
Several racing cars had been displayed in the early morning mist. Two 90 Coupe rally cars were gathering a fairly large crowd and there was a mean-looking twenty-valve 4000 turbo quattro racecar nearby.
Ur-Quattros were present in large numbers as were other old-school Audis like 5000s, 4000s and some beautiful Coupe quattros.
One of the more unique cars to be seen was an S8 owned by one of the many club members present. The car turned out to be a US-spec A8 that had been fitted with plenty of S8 equipment. Seventeen-inch Avus rims had been installed on the car, as had the S8’s wonderful Recaro seats. Outside S8 badges and awesome aluminum rearview mirrors were the only other details that gave this car away. The mirrors had apparently been sourced directly from the S8 assembly line since mirrors with a full-sized passenger unit had yet to be added to Audi’s European parts warehouses at the time of this faux-S8’s assembly. The owner was still awaiting delivery of his Sport steering wheel and airbag. While the car’s presence may not be that shocking today, back then in the days after the Ronin movie but before the S8’s sale in the USA, the car had achieved legendary status and drew more than a few stares.
A monster 5000 sedan sat in the center of the corral fitted with a large metal skid plate to protect the engine’s underside. Looking more closely, we realized this car had been fitted with a Chevrolet LT1 engine. While not the most factory looking engine swap ever, this had to be one of the most original and potent. At the tail was a unique tailpipe, welded together to look like Audi’s four interlocking rings logo. This must have been one of the most unique cars in the corral.
Audi of America had their own tent directly across from the Quattro Club where all of the new Model Year 2000 Audis were on display. Several TT coupes, an Imola Yellow S4, an A6 4.2 and an A6 2.7T all sat subtly under the tent; all making their first showing to North American attendees. Getting seat time in the Imola Yellow S4 display car required some jockeying, as did the failed attempt to get a photo of the car with its hood down. The biturbo was just too enticing and almost everyone who wandered under the tent wanted a peek at the as-of-yet-unseen new S-car.
Eurospec inhabited a large tent just across the aisle from the Quattro Club and Audi of America where they displayed their own serious collection from Audi’s motorsport history. Two Trans Am 200 quattros and a DTM V8 quattro were sticking their snouts out of the tent enticing passers by. If you wandered into the tent, you may have spotted a complete 5-cylinder from the 200 quattro, a six-speed gearbox, a 2.0-liter turbo motor and a 3.6-liter V8 from the DTM car which was rated at 470hp.
Leaving that side of the infield, we had to walk down vendor’s row again. Doing so without dropping major cash was not an easy task. Plenty of businesses had set up shop selling all sorts of automobilia including clothing, model cars, art and even pieces of F1 cars.
At the end of Vendor Row was the Audi's own vendor tent. Audi of America decided to use the event to kick off a large range of new Audi logo products, Auto Union products and model cars. Two limited edition Auto Union prints were available, signed by the artist and each with their own sketch of an Auto Union racer at the bottom.
As it turned out, their buying the Auto Union logo products had been a chosen risk. Some at Audi weren’t sure if the product would sell, but were later surprised at the enthusiasm with which they had been received.
After getting past the tents, we crossed back into the Paddock area and made a beeline for Audi’s now open tent. Time flew by as I wandered around, marveling at all of the Vintage Auto Unions, Horchs, DKWs, NSUs and Audis. With the exception of the longer wheelbase Ur-Quattro rally cars from the early ‘80’s, just about every significant type of racecar from Audi could be seen flanking one side of the tent.
Later in the morning technicians began warming up the Audis, which would be included in that afternoon’s exhibition laps. Drivers began to float out of the woodwork. Hurley Haywood, Bobby Unser, Emanuelle Pirro, Frank Biela and the late Michele Alboreto could all eventually be seen mulling around the tent.
Other names of note were floating around throughout the excitement. Stirling Moss did an interview outside the Auto Union tent and next to the silver arrows. Though we didn’t see him, others confirmed that Jay Leno was also somewhere in the paddock and watching the Audi Techs warm up the Auto Union racecars.
Bobby Unser slid into the S1 as a tech reacquainted him with the car, which he hadn’t been in for eleven years. When he started the car, I was quickly reminded of the earplugs I had neglected to bring along. No matter, this was sweet music.
The next car in line to be warmed up was the Trans Am #44 car from 1988. Techs raced around the car hurriedly, performing a compression check and eventually replacing some plugs so that the car could take to the track.
After that, the #4 IMSA 90 quattro was fired up. This was Hurley Haywood’s actual car, and he was slated to pilot it through the demonstration laps. This car was awesome under the hood, with fat turbo plumbing appearing to go be everywhere and the intercooler was absolutely huge.
Across the tent’s doorway, technicians continued to work their way along.
Next up was the STW Audi A4 Touring car. Though only a 2.0, the sound was great. Too bad it was one of the front-wheel-drive cars. Emanuelle Pirro would be running this, and he sat nonchalantly with sunglasses and baseball hat on, attempting to remain somewhat unnoticed.
Seeing this car in person only made me wonder why Touring Car never took off in the United States. The NATCC (North American Touring Car Championship) failed after just two seasons. The STW’s own recent failings aside, it is much easier to identify with one of these cars in person than the NASCAR cup racers which dominate the US motorsport scene. The Touring Car spec cars are basically a heavily modified racer based on an actual sedan chassis whereas their NASCAR equivalents are ground up racecars built with token parts from the original car.
Further down the row was the DTM V8, which was slightly more subdued but nevertheless beautiful. This car, sitting on handsome BBS racing alloys, was basically the predecessor to the A4 touring program. Frank Biela, a successful DTM driver as well as World Champion TOCA driver appeared out of the crowd and would drive this car, one of his former rides, throughout the demonstration.
At the end of the row sat a pair of R8s. The black car, run at Sebring that year, had its engine started. They had to pull it out away from the tent to remove the engine cover, and I was surprised at the picture-taking opportunities allowed as techs worked on the car.
The silver ’99 R8C Le Mans car was also there, beautifully placed on the end, though the Sebring car would be the only one to see track time at the hands of Michele Alboreto. Alboreto floated around the area until they had his car ready. The handsome Italian posed for photos with his two young daughters. Sadly, Alboreto was killed at the wheel of an R8 during testing the following season.
Just before they began to line the cars up we noticed Emanuelle Pirro, now in his racing suit, head into Jesse Alexander’s tent. Mr. Alexander is a world famous motorsport photographer who had a large tent of his own across from the Audi paddock. Alexander’s area had been filled with many Auto Union photos, including many from the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed. Pirro and Alexander stood and talked until it was time for the convoy of four-ringers to hit the track.
We hustled over to the closest position we could find where we could snap some on-track photos. Turn two was fairly empty, so we claimed a spot and watched the action. The first lap or two were subdued, with the Viper pace cars still taking it fairly slow, but when they let the cars fly, the drivers of the newer cars seemed to be having a ball…taunting each other as they pushed hard around Laguna Seca.
The R8, followed by the other modern cars would come flying by at ridiculous speeds. The R8 had the clear speed advantage, but the DTM, STW, Trans Am and IMSA cars darted in and out of each other giving us all a great show. Most all of the noises were intoxicating, but the coolest sound of the day had to go to the ’88 Trans Am Audi 200 with its unique wastegate chirp.
The vintage Auto Union Grand Prix and Hill Climb cars would then come by at slower speeds, though still sliding around turn 2, followed by the 1920’s NSU Grand Prix car, DKW 2-stroke racecar, some Brazilian DKW coupes, and a race spec NSU TTS.
After the demonstration laps the race heats began, and though they weren’t Audis, it was an excellent way to see some seriously significant motorsport vehicles running the track at crazy speeds.
We headed up to Laguna Seca’s famous “Corkscrew” to get the lay of the land for the next day’s events. The “Corkscrew” starts out with a hard left turn, shortly followed by a steep decent and a more gradual turn to the right. Cars then rocket down a straightaway that gradually bears left and on around to the end of the track and the entrance to pit row.
Plenty of spectators had chosen this as the prime spot to watch the races and had claimed their space on the hill facing the corkscrew. The crowd was thick and finding a spot to watch the race without standing in someone’s way proved to be a difficult task.
The Audis took to the track once more Saturday afternoon around 2PM. We watched this time from the Corkscrew and this time got to hear some of the commentary being projected over the track’s loudspeakers. Michele Alboreto had gotten bottled up in the R8 behind one of the Auto Union cars. He decided to not risk the then six million dollar Auto Union and his own pricey Sebring R8, wisely taking a slower lap behind the older racecar. While it didn’t draw as much excitement as he could have running the R8 at full bore, the holdup did allow the crowd a chance to catch the two generations of Audi racecars lapping side by side.
Watching the Auto Union and the R8 come around the track together has to be one of the most memorable portions of the weekend. To an Audiphile, this was the confirmation that Audi had returned to its former splendor. The R8 is arguably today’s equivalent of the Auto Unions, which were themselves very much dominant over basically all of their day’s competitors.
SUNDAY
The second morning of the show started off with a little less running. We had a chance to wander the paddock and view some of the spectacles it had to offer. Several Bugatti racers, predating the Auto Unions, were present in their French Blue glory. Several vintage Bentleys were also in the area. It seemed like a significant grouping of automotive history that is now basically all in the family due to more recent purchases made by the Volkswagen Group.
Michelin also had a large tent where they were selling merchandise featuring Bibendum (The Michelin Man). They also happened to have a real Porsche 959 S, 1 of only 26 made, with a whopping 810 miles on the odometer. While I’ve seen plenty of impersonators, this car was the real deal and took my breath away.
A FINA Mclaren F1 was parked over by BMW’s collection of cars. David E. Davis’ vintage Chevrolet, previously raced by none other than Juan Manuel Fangio, could be seen parked in the paddock as well. There was so much to see, and more than that, they all took to the track making so much to hear as well.
I grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Every year it houses the largest antique auto show in the country and I have seen more than my share of great vintage automobiles. While Hershey’s show is spectacular, the idea of a race brings a whole new perspective to the vintage show theme. Being able to hear and smell the cars is fantastic. Racing the cars in heats with their former class competitors makes you feel as if you have stepped back in time.
Returning to the Quattro Club’s corral, we happened to catch Audi owners preparing to take to the track for their own demonstration laps which would precede Audi’s demonstration for the day. The club lined the Sport Quattros up first, followed by the plethora of Ur-Quattros and then the rest of the 4000s, 5000s, 80s, 90s, 100s, 200s, A4s, A6s, S6s, A8s, the aforementioned S8 and a TT (though not in that order).
We double-timed it back up to the Corkscrew and managed to get in position to shoot the cars before the Quattro Club actually took to the track. Unlike Saturday, the bank at the corkscrew was surprisingly empty. That didn’t bother us much. We had a distinctly better chance getting positioning for our photography.
Engines began to sound and the Viper pace cars soon rounded the first turn of the corkscrew. A grouping of Sport Quattros followed them; more than I thought were in this country. Then came the rest of the club. It was fantastic. Several of the cars had large QCUSA flags flying on poles propped up out of their open sunroofs.
The announcer made a few mistakes while explaining all of the cars. Audi was still a unique enough brand that he was unfamiliar with many of the earlier models doing laps on the track. Fortunately, the announcer was interviewing a QCUSA member who was there to correct him when he stumbled.
The club managed to round the course quickly, due to their orderly fashion of taking to the track, so they were awarded with a second parade lap that provided us a second chance at watching all of these fantastic Audis attacking the corkscrew, this time at a slightly more accelerated pace.
Later, Audi took to the track a second time, however not to the same degree as the day before. Since we had been positioned so well for the QCUSA parade laps, we remained there to view the Audis once more. I hadn’t had a chance to see Pirro and Biela burn through the corkscrew the day before and was hoping to glimpse it today. The first lap I spent shooting cars, so putting my camera down, I decided to watch the remainder of the demonstration.
While I watched, I kicked up a conversation with a photographer next to me. We talked a lot about the Auto Unions and he mentioned about how many drivers today don’t know how to properly drive the silver arrows from Auto Union and Mercedes Benz. “It’s an art,” he stated, “where the driver slides the car around the corners with constant corrections of the steering wheel.”
Among the few he thought qualified to properly drive the cars, he listed Hans Stuck Jr. and Juan Manuel Fangio. The first, the son of Hans Stuck Sr. who was one of the Auto Union drivers during the 1930’s and particularly successful with the hill-climb car.
The second, now deceased, had been the honored guest and the featured marque several years earlier. Fangio’s honoring had been the first time a driver, rather than a brand had been a featured marque, with all of the cars he had raced were on display.
Fangio had attended the races that year and had taken laps in a vintage Mercedes that he had raced during his career. As the story goes, the pace car was turning laps at a fairly conservative rate when it supposedly spun in one of the turns. Fangio passed the pace car and took some “real” laps in the multi-million dollar Mercedes racer. No one but Fangio could have driven the car so skillfully at the pace it was meant to be driven and no one but Fangio could have done so without catching a fair degree of hell afterwards from the Mercedes executives.
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