What Is The Quail Rally? An Editor Shares Her Experience Visiting The Prestigious Motorsport Event
When money is no object, what do the uber-wealthy do for fun? For diehard car collectors, the answer is The Quail Rally. Jessica Michault slips into the driver’s seat to discover what life is like in the seven-figure fast lane
Before this summer, if you had asked me what kind of car I drove, my honest answer would probably have been “a white one”. I have worked in the luxury space my entire career, covering the worlds of fashion, watchmaking and travel. But in all that time I never had the opportunity to access the rarified air that is the close-knit car community. The idea of owning an automobile that costs more than a starter home or being the steward of a unique or limited-edition car was hard to get my head around. Let alone the idea of driving said automobile on public highways and byways where, let’s face it, anything could happen.
But when The Peninsula Hotels reached out and asked me if I would like to join them at one of their signature events, a division dedicated to the world of luxury automobiles and bespoke experiences, I jumped at the chance. Finally, I would get a peek at what the one per cent of the one per cent do for fun. So I flew halfway across the globe to Carmel, California to take part in the 25th edition of The Quail Rally, a three-day driving tour of some of northern California’s most picturesque locations.
Upon arriving at the kick-off breakfast on the first day, the line-up of vintage and exceptional cars said a lot about the calibre of collectors who return year after year – many of them travelling internationally along with their prized automobiles – to take part in the rally, (which has a price tag of Dhs59,000 for returning participants and Dhs66,100 for first timers). I spotted everything from a 1953 Porsche 356, a 2023 Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica and a 1966 Ford Mustang GT 350 to a 1997 Porsche 993, a 1967 Meyers Manx Dune Buggy, and a 2021 Pagani Huayra Roadster BC sitting side by side waiting for the ceremonial firing of a potato cannon that marks the kick-off. Why a potato cannon? No one could give me a straight answer for that.
As a visiting journalist, I got my pick of a few cars to drive over the three days and I started things off inside the soothing embrace of a Bentley Continental (yes the back massage feature was used on loop). Part of the fun of the rally is to try and stay off Waze or Google Maps and instead avail yourself of a handy turn-by-turn guide the hosts provide. It’s also where all the participant’s names, alongside a photo of their car, can be perused (which is how I was able to namecheck the aforementioned automobiles). I left the directions to my charming co-pilot and hopped in the driver’s seat ready to hit the road as the Bentley worked out the many kinks in my post-transatlantic flight lumbar and the car’s neck warmer feature fought off the nippy Northern California morning.
Right away the rally began to break into two distinct groups, those with a ‘need for speed’ and those looking to take their time and enjoy the ever-changing coastal scenery. But I soon discovered that it doesn’t matter your style of driving, the most important part is to make sure you have someone wonderful to share the road with. The great conversations I had with other participants as we took in the foggy coastal view driving up Highway 1, cornered hairpin turns in the hills above San Francisco or gunned it down the open back roads of Sonoma with Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ blasting out the speakers, are what stick with me.
But the pleasure of driving a beautiful car in an equally beautiful setting is just the baseline for The Quail Rally. At each stop along the way, The Peninsula Hotels team came up with a bucket-list experience for participants to bond over. The shared delights of a falconry session, a quick pit stop for some gourmet cheese-tasting and lunch under the rotunda of San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts made for great icebreakers on the first day.
Considering that the car world is still predominantly male it was surprising to see so many women participating in the rally. Ariane Dart, the owner of the Pagani Huayra Roadster BC was doing the tour with her daughter who was just about to go off to college. Ashley Vieira asked her friend Chris Cook to tag along and be the co-pilot as she drove her McLaren G75LT Spider like a bat out of hell. While Jessica McGraw and Leslie Sweet might have been attending the rally with their husbands, but were both clearly car enthusiasts in their own right.
And even if they weren’t, there was plenty to experience during The Quail Rally that had nothing to do with driving. While staying at the Bardessono Hotel in Yountville, spa treatments were an option for those who didn’t want to take an early morning hot air balloon ride to watch the sun ascend over the Napa Valley mountains. Other memorable moments included a private lunch among the ancient redwoods in Muir Woods and a tour of the vast Donum Estate. It features an impressive sculpture garden of over 50 works of art from famed artists like Ai Weiwei, Ghada Amer, Louise Bourgeois, Keith Haring and Doug Aitken, all of them woven effortlessly into the winery’s landscape. And to finish off day two in style, everyone hopped into party vans to go to a private VIP dinner inside the members-only Napa Valley Reserve, which has one of the larger caves in the area, clocking in at 4,180 square metres. With transportation provided, the group was able to sit back and enjoy some of the best vintages from the region along with fine dining under the stars.
By day three of the rally, I was ready to try my hand at one of the more sporty cars available to me and took a turn behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Urus Performante. That decision might have had something to do with the fact that the big-ticket event of the day was a private visit to the famed Sonoma Raceway. First up, an autocross challenge that saw the group break into teams for a high-speed timed relay-race driving challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed (from the backseat). Then it was time for me to put the pedal to the metal on the iconic raceway. My co-pilot cranked up Lizzo’s About Damn Time, we rolled down the windows and set off, wind in our hair. It was a thrilling ‘pinch me’ moment. I could get used to this luxury car aficionado lifestyle.
By this point in the rally, the entire group had bonded over shared loves – of cars of course, but other things as well. Phone numbers were being shared, Instagram feeds followed and future rally meetups were planned. After one final stop at the famed Canepa Motorsports Museum, which has a curated collection of cars from multiple disciplines, from NASCAR and Indy to Le Mans and a working garage that caters to the world’s most priceless automobiles, it was time to head back to the Quail Lodge to rest up for the trip’s big finale – Peninsula’s The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.
It is the centrepiece of car week, which takes place each August in Carmel. This invitation-only event is where car lovers –wearing sun hats or sporting mini parasols and sipping on flutes of champagne – stroll the lush green grounds of The Quail to appreciate first-hand exceptional automobiles of the past (often singular ‘one of one’ models) that are on show and part of the event’s vintage car competition. Also of interest are the many splashy car debuts from companies like Bugatti, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Pininfarina and McLaren. This combo of honouring the industry’s past as well as celebrating its future is what makes The Quail such a hot ticket for car devotees. It also is the perfect well-rounded finish to the first lesson in my automobile education.
But perhaps the best indicator of The Quail Rally’s success comes with a bit of distance. Now, three months later, I am still in touch with many of the people I met during the event. We initially clicked over great cars, impressive art, fine dining and unforgettable experiences, but now it looks as if these nascent connections have an open road ahead, filled with endless possibilities. peninsula.com
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2023 issue.