The 1963 Corvette is distinctive not just for its one-year-only split-window backlight design but also for the debut of the now venerated Z06 edition. The Z06 package included a 360-hp 327-cubic-inch V-8, heavy-duty brakes, and a stiffer suspension. The original owner, Helen Matteson, also ticked the option box for the rare 36-gallon fuel tank. Soon after taking delivery of the car, Matteson fitted a roll bar and proceeded to enter her Vette in racing competitions at tracks such as Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton.

That didn’t last long, though, because Matteson’s father soon learned about her “weekend activities” and forbade her from continuing. According to Worldwide Auctioneers, Matteson wasn’t deterred and continued to engage “in some illicit interstate highway competition, mounting a pair of aircraft landing lights under the front bumper.” In the ensuing decades, this Z06 has led a more traditional life, receiving a full restoration and earning plenty of awards on the Corvette show

Monterey Car Week 2017 will draw to a close tonight after the main event, the Concours at Pebble Beach. Our photographer Philipp Lücke has spent the week wondering the various events and has collated a gallery showing all of the random sights he has encountered.

Monterey Car Week is, after all, an event for enthusiasts. There might be countless shows and auctions happening but what really makes it special is the fact that so many like-minded people are drawn to a small Pacific cost town to celebrate the automobile.

Philipp managed to capture the complete mix of exotic cars that grace the streets in California at this time of the year, ranging from a McLaren P1 GTR, Bugatti Veyron Supersports and a Bugatti EB110, through to Koenigsegg’s, Ferrari F40’s and Ferrari 288 GTO’s.

Original article by Lawrence Adams:  http://gtspirit.com/2017/08/20/random-exotics-monterey-car-week-2017/

Today marks the return of “The Quail” (short for The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering) in Monterey, California. Each year during Monterey Car Week, which culminates with the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance on Sunday, enthusiasts, collectors and revelers gather at The Quail to ogle some of the finest automobiles ever made.

Most are vintage and rare; many are new; all are perfect. Cars are divided into ten classes this year (two classes are being added to the traditional eight), including but not limited to The Great Ferraris, Post-War Sports 1945–1960 and Supercars and Custom Coachwork. The cars shown in the gallery above each represent a different class on display this year.

There are few other places on the planet, if any, where one could stroll past a 1931 Bugatti Type 51, a 1967 Porsche 911 S, a 1959 Ferrari 250 LWB California Spyder and a