The world’s most important classic car show is a chance to say thanks.

I’m in California for the annual Monterey Car Week, the series of annual car-related events in and around the Monterey area just south of San Francisco.

Monterey Car Week is a big deal. It officially kicked off last Friday and will culminate in the spectacular annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, regarded as the world’s most important classic car concours (competition).

The event attracts the world’s rarest and most important classic cars. It’s held on the spectacular 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links every year and it takes an exceptional car to win the prestigious Best of Show Award.

This is a Bucket List event but I’m here because Premcar will make an appearance in the days ahead.

It’s a thrill knowing our latest work will make its debut on such a big international stage.

More on that in the coming days.

Most car lovers dream of attending Monterey Car Week. This glamorous event, however, is more than a gathering of the world’s greatest classic cars.

These mechanical masterpieces are a reminder of the technical skills and artistry that created the global car industry and continue to underpin it.

Most of the classic cars at this major event will have undergone restoration of some kind. Many are restored with meticulous detail and usually by artisans with breath-taking skills.

Their captivating work always makes me think of the people who built these cars when they were new.

Coach Builders who created their bodies by beating sheet steel and aluminium with a hammer over a carefully crafted wooden form.

Metal workers who hand-built chassis frames. Tool makers who hand-machined precision parts such as engine pistons and gearbox shafts.

Woodworkers who crafted and varnished timber inlays and upholsterers who trimmed interiors with an accuracy and style that keep your eyes darting from detail to the next.

Sure, today these elements are mass-produced for cars using computer-controlled stamps and machine tools and so on, but it’s an oversight to see these vehicles as only rare and expensive antiques or objects of art.

They’re more than that.

These classic cars are the distillation of valuable crafts and skills that have gradually evolved and compounded over more than a century.

They became building blocks of knowledge that spawned and supported various industries.

Greater use of rubber tyres necessitated tyre development and growth in the industries that supported their production and materials advancement.

Ever more complex vehicle body shapes and structures steered how metals were developed and processed to create safer vehicles.

Lubricants and fuels had to keep pace to create longer-lasting and more efficient engines.

Corrosion-protecting liquid coatings.

More durable interior materials.

Onboard active safety technologies.

Monterey Car Week is a great reminder of everything national car industries have given rise to. Events like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance are more than a celebration of the past. They’re a chance to quietly acknowledge how the global car industry got here and how it’s got a big future.

If you’re keeping an eye on the coverage from the many magnificent events this week, take a look beyond the chrome and give a thought to the clever people who originally created these artistic marvels.

That’s what I’ll be doing because we have a lot to thank them for, and because they continue to inspire new generations of skilled creators – the very kind Australia needs.

Oh, and keep an eye out for us 😉

Bernie Quinn – Engineering Director, Premcar Pty Ltd

About Premcar – Premcar Pty Ltd is a leading Australian vehicle engineering business that specialises in the automotive, defence and aerospace industries. For more than 25 years, global car-makers have made Premcar their go-to partner for the complete design, engineering and manufacture of niche-model new cars, full-scale new-vehicle development programs, and electric vehicle (EV) conversions and manufacturing. As the name behind more than 200,000 new cars and 55,000 new-vehicle engines, Premcar’s body of work is extensive and has delivered technical and sales success for major car brands from Europe, the USA, Japan, China and Australia. Visit premcar.au.

Follow Premcar on Instagram – @premcaraustralia

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