Coronavirus and Monterey Car Week

With several events already having or fast approaching their entry deadlines, I'm curious how the current coronavirus crisis will affect Car Week. Unlike the flu, no one knows if the coronavirus will subside with warmer weather and the situation is certainly on a path to get much worse before it gets better. Just look at Italy, France and in the US where events with > 1000 people are being banned in some areas (including Monterey which has just banned cruise ships for a while).

I would imagine that many people might be hesitant to commit big bucks for travel, lodging, events, etc until there's some light at the end of the (coronavirus) tunnel. I had already committed to Concorso Italiano before this all started, but I'm reluctant to commit another car I've been asked to exhibit at the Carmel Concours whose entry deadline is less than 3 weeks away.

 

Perhaps, but it would be appropriate IMO for those with pending deadlines to be proactive and extend those deadlines so people hesitating can have more time to see how this plays out over the next month or two.

 

Agreed. I just think it would be prudent for various Car Week organizations be more proactive and inform the public that they're studying the situation. Extending registration deadlines could be included in that message. No information is never good.

As for large scale events and how they're handling it;
- Formula 1 has delayed the start of the season until late May
- Boston Marathon just postponed their Apr 20 event to mid-Sept

 

Based on current state of affairs, for all those events which have been (tentatively) postponed vs cancelled, the fall is going to be crazy. I know Car Week event folks are marching forward on the assumption that things will improve sufficiently to still make sense to have it, but I wonder how far in advance a final go/no-go decision has to be made...1 month, 2 months, more? And would such a decision be made on an individual event basis, or by consensus?

Driving by Pebble Beach almost every day, it always amazes me how far in advance setup begins for any major event held here (AT&T ProAm golf, Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival...canceled, Car Week, etc). Interesting, and scary, times we're in right now.

 

Of course they're still planning on it happening...it's too early to cancel everything. I think it's entirely likely that smaller, less well funded events will start to cancel well before the more established events (eg, auctions, concours) throw in the towel. Event organizers are obviously hoping for a major turnaround, so that even a toned down week (in terms of attendees or number of events) could still happen. But think about it. Even after we see a turnaround, many, many people will be reluctant to dive back into crowded events for a while. As a local, as much as I despise the traffic, I look forward to many events and typically show one or two different cars during the week.

But be aware that Wimbledon, that was to run thru July 12th, has just been canceled. That's less than 30 days before Car Week happens.

 

Article in today's Monterey Herald newspaper. Some of the event organizers look to a 3 month prior deadline for a go/n-go decision...that would brings us to mid-May.

https://www.montereyherald.com/2020/04/02/coronavirus-classic-car-week-still-on-track-for-august/

 

The only guaranteed social distancing during Car Week is the distance between you and the driver in the next car while stuck in traffic.

 

The just announced cancellation of the Ferrari Annual Experience (July 25-29) certainly does not bode well for Car Week 2 weeks later.
From an email I received today from FCA.org...

Regretfully, with the continuing evolution of the coronavirus pandemic in both the United States and Canada, it has become clear that it will be impossible to hold the FCA Annual Experience in July 2020 as planned. Accordingly, FCA2020 is now cancelled, and arrangements are being finalized to return to Mont Tremblant, Quebec July 23-27, 2022 for the FCA2022 Annual Experience.

 

Today CA governor Newsom said that the idea of allowing large gatherings (100's, 1000's, 10000's of people) in June, July or even Aug is highly unlikely. This is all subject to change if mass scale testing and treatment become available.

Well that certainly doesn't bode well for Car Week...sigh