The 10 Coolest Cars at the Quail During Monterey Car Week

• The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, is one of the most exclusive events during Monterey Car Week.
• There was an incredible selection of curated supercars and vintage sports cars on display.
• This year, the event’s featured category celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Ferrari F50.

Lexus is mum on further details, but we expect the production model to feature a twin-turbo V8 making somewhere north of 600 horsepower. If it's anything like the LC 500 and LFA, this should be a fun one.

9. Aston Martin One-77

I was 10 years old when the Aston Martin One-77 debuted at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, but ever since, it's been one of my all-time favorite vehicles. It’s always such a pleasure to see one; the gorgeous design hasn’t aged a day, and the V12 sounds truly incredible. I also spotted this One-77 driving around downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea the day before the Quail, and it was even more special to see it on the move.

I had the immense pleasure of riding in a One-77 in Switzerland a couple of years ago and was surprised by how raw and racy it feels relative to what you might expect of an Aston Martin. It may be more grand touring-focused than something like the McLaren P1, but the One-77 is a true supercar through and through — this thing’s special.

8. Bugatti Brouillard

Feeling green with envy yet? Allow me to make you even more jealous with my next pick, the very-green Bugatti Brouillard. The Brouillard looks much like a coupe version of the roofless Mistral, which itself was effectively a Chiron with the roof cut off and different bodywork. The Brouillard features plenty of unique details, like big dual roof scoops and stacked vertical exhausts in the back.

Most interestingly, though, and unlike the Mistral, this is the only Brouillard that will ever be built. In fact, the one-off launches Bugatti’s new Solitare bespoke coachbuilding division, which will build a maximum of two completely unique vehicles per year for special clients. No public price was announced for the Brouillard, but I’ve heard rumors near $20 million.

7. Alfa Romeo Disco Volante

Based on the equally stunning 8C, the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante features a gorgeous body designed by coachbuilder Touring Superleggera. Only 15 were built, of which just eight were coupes. Aside from the new bodywork, the Disco is essentially the same as the 8C, meaning it retains that model’s 450-horsepower 4.7-liter V8 engine and glorious exhaust note.

The spec on this specific example is particularly nice; the exterior is finished in a relatively subdued metallic grey, but the interior contrasts that with bright blue leather. This is a truly beautiful and unique-looking vehicle, one that needs to be seen in person to truly appreciate.

6. Mazda 787B

This is probably the craziest vehicle Mazda has ever and will ever build. The 787B raced during the peak of Group C, and in 1991, it became the first Japanese car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

While it’s certainly beautiful, the 787B’s real secret sauce — aside from its racing prowess, of course — is its noise. The race car is powered by a rotary engine that sounds absolutely insane; hearing one of these blast around a racetrack should be on every car enthusiast’s automotive bucket list.

5. Gordon Murray Special Vehicles S1 LM

Gordon Murray, one of the main engineers behind the renowned McLaren F1, started his own car Company — Gordon Murray Automotive, or GMA — a few years ago. The company has launched two products thus far, the T.50 and T.33, both featuring the same naturally aspirated V12, central driver’s seat and manual transmission formula that made the F1 so special. The latest creation, though, is by far the company’s coolest product yet.

Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, a new sister company to GMA, debuted the S1 LM at the Quail this year. The S1 LM is the first fully bespoke model the company has produced, and it’s essentially a modern reinterpretation of the iconic McLaren F1 LM. The S1 LM shares some general bits with the T.50, but the Cosworth V12 in the back has been enlarged to 4.3 liters (up from 3.9) and now makes 690 horsepower. Oh, and it revs to 12,100 rpm. I think the design does a great job of modernizing the F1 LM, too. Just five S1 LMs will be built, and they were all commissioned by one customer. Speaking of, does anyone know any single billionaires? Asking for a friend.

4. Argento Nürburgring Ferrari F50

Listen, the F40 may be the more typically appreciated Ferrari, but the F50 has always been my preference. Between the swooping design, removable roof and sonorous V12, it's easily one of Ferrari's best. I was thrilled to finally see an F50 finished in Argento Nürburgring, one of only four to ever be produced from the factory in this color. Ferrari offered the F50 in five colors, four of which were present at the Quail among the sea of 17 F50s. 

This silver is easily my favorite factory color on the F50; the black is sinister, the yellow is cool, and the red is iconic, but there’s just something super classy about the silver. It highlights the body's curved lines perfectly, and I’m a big fan of the contrasting headlight inserts versus the body-colored ones you’ll find on red and black examples. I also love the yellow seat inserts on this example, which add a nice dash of color.

3. Koenigsegg CC Prototype

You’re looking at the very first Koenigsegg ever. The CC Prototype was built in 1994, a rough version of what would eventually become the Koenigsegg CC8S, and it marked the start of one of the most innovative supercar makers in the world.

The CC’s DNA is clearly present in nearly every vehicle Koenigsegg has ever produced; its general shape carried through from the aforementioned CC8S to the Agera and even the Jesko, with the curved canopy windshield, lifted rear haunches and even the brand’s signature dihedral synchro-helix doors, which remain some of the coolest in the automotive industry (though they weren’t quite fully engineered at this stage).

2. Road-legal Lamborghini Sesto Elemento

This Lamborghini Sesto Elemento was largely the star of this year’s Car Week. Unveiled in 2010, the Sesto Elemento was instantly iconic. Based on the Gallardo Superleggera and using its 570-horsepower V10, the Sesto Elemento's party trick was its weight: Thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber and a stripped interior, the Sesto weighs just 2,200 pounds or so. Lamborghini planned to build just 20 Sesto Elementos, though it's widely believed that only around half that number were actually produced, none of which were road-legal — this was to be a track-only affair. But that leads me to the reason why this particular Sesto is even more special.

This is one of only two Sesto Elementos converted by Lanzante (of McLaren fame) for road use. I caught this car driving in Big Sur earlier in the week (pictured, since that’s much prettier than a golf course) and had a chance to get up close with it; the details are just insane, especially the top-exit carbon fiber exhausts. Additionally, I learned that the Sesto doesn’t actually have a traditional dashboard — that space is hollow, and instead, there’s a carbon fiber structure with various controls on it. Very, very cool car.

1. Ferrari F50 GT

Yes, another F50, but this one is even more special. This F50 GT is one of only three in existence; the model was built with the intention of racing in the iconic GT1 class but unfortunately never made it to competition due to rule changes that would have rendered it uncompetitive against vehicles like the Porsche 911 GT1 Evo.

Nonetheless, the F50 GT is an incredible vehicle, essentially taking the F50 and turning it up many notches. There’s wild aero, like the massive rear wing, a stripped-out interior, and a more powerful 750-horsepower V12 engine from a Formula One car in the back. That engine has an 11,000-rpm redline, with power peaking at 10,500 rpm, so you can imagine how insane the F50 GT sounds at full throttle. The F50 GT won this year’s Best of Show, and rightfully so, as it was easily the most special car on the field.

Photos by Ryan Greger