Bonhams to relocate Monterey Car Week sale from Quail Lodge to Laguna Seca

What has been a fixture for nearly 30 years will change this August. Long part of The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering in Carmel Valley on the Friday of Car Week, Bonhams has ended its association with the luxury resort and will move to a new Thursday slot at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The Bond Street firm has always had close ties with ‘The Track’, and its new venue will offer more space and greater flexibility for set-up. Some cars are expected to be on display at the Pre-Reunion held the weekend before.

The auction is scheduled for Thursday, 13 August 2026. Timing is still to be confirmed, though it is likely to be in the afternoon to allow visitors to view the Pebble Tour that morning. This would have clashed with Broad Arrow’s second day at the Monterey Jet Center, though the rumour mill during Rétromobile suggested that the Hagerty-owned company may take over Quail Lodge. Traffic during Car Week is always challenging — last year particularly so with the influx of modern supercars — but Fridays have traditionally been the most congested.

RM Sotheby’s remains firmly ensconced at the Portola, while Gooding Christie’s, official partner of the Pebble Beach Concours, is unlikely to move from its long-established base on the Pebble Beach estate.

The Quail sale was originally held in a tent adjacent to the event itself. As The Quail expanded, the auction was relocated some distance away — a move that required either a determined walk or patience for a shuttle bus. In 2014, in a sale topped by a $38,115,000 Ferrari 250 GTO, the Bonhams Quail Lodge auction grossed $107.2 million. By 2024 that figure had fallen to $11.3 million, though the last-minute addition of No Reserve supercars in 2025 resulted in a markedly stronger $44.1 million total.

See cars.bonhams.com