Legends of the Autobahn Was Fantastic. Again.

They said don’t write this. There was debate. There were arguments. They said if there ever were a time to gatekeep, this is it. But here it is. Can’t keep quiet any longer! Legends of the Autobahn in Pacific Grove during the 2025 Monterey Car Week was fantastic. Again. And you should go.

Early morning calm greets Legends of the Autobahn registrants as they prep their cars.

Monterey Car Week 2025 continues to receive more than its fair share of comments about its eminent demise. Too many people. Too many automotive shenanigans.  Too many fanboys (and girls) running into streets to get “the first” photos of “that car.” Too much traffic. And the comment leading in hyperbole: every event is overrun.

Southern California residents Dawson Graf, Sam Keys and friends made the road trip to Legends of the Autobahn.

Hence the calls for gatekeeping Legends of the Autobahn. If you’re looking for events that hold true to what some consider the old school Car Week vibes, Legends of the Autobahn is a leader in those effort. Concorso, The Quail, and Pebble Beach are high on that list, too, but Legends entry ticket—costing zero for spectators—reaffirms its place among these other stalwarts.

Crowds, but not crowded. Cars and sponsors, like Legends’ presenting sponsor, Continental, saw throngs of attendees all day.

Was Legends crowded? Pleasantly so. As in, it was securely in the “active” level, well short of shoulder-to-shoulder. This year saw record number of cars, sponsors, and people. Yet at no point were there cars doing donuts on the finely manicured fairways of the host Pacific Grove Golf Links. At no point were the surrounding roads teeming with high-rev pulls. And the only time an intersection was blocked was when a family of five deer appeared equally as intrigued by all the automotive eye candy.

CMS Motorsports revealed their amazing, new restomod at Legends

That eye candy included cars from members of the Audi Club of North America, the Mercedes Benz Club of America, and the BMW Car Club of America.  More than 300 registered cars spanned hundreds of yards and multiple fairways. The fickle weather near the coast ran from cool to moderate, even with precipitation ranging from “that’s just mist,” to “OK, roll up the windows,” to “do you have any extra towels, please?”

It’s rarely been called a Legend, but this Trabant captured some attention near the Audi Club’s cars.

The Audi Club had a number of great cars, including older NSU/Auto Union examples and others crossing into other aspects of the Volkswagen Automotive Group. The Mercedes-Benz Club saw a record number of cars wearing the three-pointed star. BMW CCA members brought cars that spanned more than 65 years of BMW metal.

Representing the oldest cars on display this year, the BMW 600 and 700 were positioned in the middle of the BMW section, adjacent to an M1 and surrounded by judged and display cars, in addition to the many vendors and sponsors.  Two of the finest emcees anywhere, Kenn Sparks and Eddy Funahashi, certainly got their daily steps count in as they visited with the vendors, sponsors, and what seemed like every aspect of the show. They learned and shared unique insight about many of the cars on site, sharing their discoveries and knowledge throughout the event.

Kenn Sparks interviews Matt Russell with Erik Ploss and Carina Bovensiepen of ALPINA.

One of the highlights was the ALPINA corral, with thirteen ALPINA cars representing most of the 60 years of the specialty manufacturer’s history. Some of the cars were local but some had been driven thousands of miles to get to Pacific Grove. It wasn’t just the cars that commanded interest. The event drew Bovensiepen founding family members and others from ALPINA in Germany and the US.

Another highlight had to be five BMW E36 M3 Lightweight examples lined up next to each other, joined by two E36 M3 GTs. That’s more Lightweights and GTs than most US-resident fans see in a lifetime and here they were all lined up for everyone to enjoy. The Lightweight was a 1995-only model made exclusively for the US market. There were only 126 units 30 years ago, leaving Legends attendees feeling fortunate to witness five parked in a row.

Conversely, the M3 GT was made only for the European market—Germany, to be exact.  Some of the 356 units made their way to other countries but it’s only been recently since a scattered few of these 1995 and 1996 model year cars have shown up in the US.  It took a bit to get any E36 M3s to the US. This 30 year anniversary of its arrival was emphatically punctuated with these two unique examples at the top of the E36 M3 hierarchy.

What’s rarer, two of 356 GTs that were never imported to the US, or those five LTWs of the 126 that were only in the US?

Thirty years is certainly something to celebrate, but 2025 also marked the 50 year anniversary of the 3-series. Appropriately, the judged and display cars represented fine examples of each generation: E21, E30, E36, E46, E9X, F-series, and G-series. Some of these were as close to stock as you could imagine, especially for the older chasses. Others were modified with anything from new wheel choices to compete transmission and engine swaps.

While the seven generations of the 3-series brought us up to the current year, BMW North America once again brought out examples that pull us forward into future years. A trio of beautiful new cars—and in one case, newer than new—caught the attention of everyone who walked past. It might have been the bold colors, but it might have been the selection, too.

The three cars BMW NA brought to Legends were definitely attention getters.

Even though the G99 M5 Touring has been released, the example here in Sepia Brown popped. Similarly, the Riviera Blue G82 M4 CS with gold wheels stood out. And making its North American debut, the Velvet Blue G87 M2 CS had crowds around it all day.

Many of the owners of the more than 100 judged cars spent considerable time before and during the event’s early hours to get their cars ready for judging. Special BMW classes included Preservation, Tuner, M Class Early and Late, E9/Coupe Class, and 2002 class. There were also classes for Clean, Super Clean, and Concours.

Legends of the Autobahn checks many boxes for Monterey Car Week activities.  It remains one of the many great events during the week for owners and fans alike. It’s structured, but not awkward, with simple ingress, flow, and egress. While it’s not a rev-fest for the latest supercars, there are definitely super cars there representing many manufacturers. So this might have spoiled it, but if you’re looking for that old-school, traditional Monterey Car Week feel, you’ll be very comfortable at Legends of the Autobahn.

Tags: Legends Monterey old school