The best cars at the world’s poshest motor show

Monterey Car Week, California’s annual luxury automotive showcase, brings together some of the rarest and most eye-wateringly expensive cars, from classics to hypercars, for the delight of collectors and enthusiasts. From classics to hypercars. Famous events throughout the week included the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering, at which manufacturers unveil new models, bespoke commissions and concepts.
Here's a roundup of our favourites.

Pagani’s Utopia Roadster is the convertible sister to the Utopia Coupe, featuring an 864 horsepower V12 engine paired to a manual seven-speed gearbox. Butterfly doors and a handcrafted interior reflect the distinctive Pagani styling. It disguises cutting-edge technology behind traditional buttons and switches and will cost you around €3.1 million to secure one of the 130 being built.

Yes, Gotham as in Batman’s home city. However, this car is not inspired by the cape-wearing vigilante, instead it’s an ode to Bruce Wayne, the fictional man behind the mask. Designed to be sleek, elegant, and powerful with a focus on technology, B95 Gotham is an electric car with 1,900 horsepower and a 0-62 mph time of under two seconds. Automobili Pininfarina was originally an Italian car design company best known for creating beauties such as the Ferrari 275 and it now builds limited-edition electric hypercars. This B95 Gotham will be one of four cars built in collaboration with Warner Bros: two Gotham cars embody Bruce Wayne’s suave daytime image while the other two Dark Knight cars emulate his alter ego, Batman.

The M5 Touring may be less extravagant than the other cars on this list, but it’s pretty wild for an estate and it is the car we are most excited about. If you are after a car with blinding performance figures but also have a family and a dog to cater for, a fast estate car could be just what you are after. While Audi and Mercedes have become the go-to for such things, BMW unveiled a treat at Monterey Car Week by reinstating its M5 Touring. Pairing a V8 petrol engine with an electric motor makes for an impressive 727-horsepower, plug-in hybrid which BMW claims it will even do 40 miles on electricity alone.

The Maserati GT2 Stradale is a road-legal version of the GT2 race car. The GT2 Stradale blends racing DNA with design elements from the MC20 and promises an impressive driving experience. It’s 60kg lighter than the MC20 and packs 10 more horsepower, resulting in 640 horsepower in total and a top speed of nearly 200mph making it a formidable beast both to drive and to behold.

The second car from Automobili Pininfarina is another bespoke creation. The customer who commissioned it even helped to decide on the model’s name. The Battista Targamerica is a hand-built electric hypercar featuring ludicrously extravagant personalisations. One of these is an aluminium and glass cigar holder between the two seats which even has its own ambient lighting. The Battista Targamerica shares the record with Automobili Pininfarina’s Battista for being the fastest road-legal car from Italy. Like the B95 Gotham it too has 1,900 horsepower, a sub two second 0-62 time and a top speed of over 180mph.

Another big launch from the week was the unveiling of the Lamborghini Temerario, the successor to the Huracan. This twin-turbo V8 hybrid joins the Revuelto and the Urus SE SUV to complete a fully hybridised line-up. With over 900 horsepower and a 0-62 mph time of 2.7 seconds the numbers are enticing; we’ll see whether it’s a worthy Huracan replacement.

Rimac specialises in electric hypercars. In addition to building its own cars, Rimac has also manufactured components for other brands such as Aston Martin, Porsche and Automobili Pininfarina and even joined forces with Bugatti to form Bugatti Rimac in 2021. Now after 15 years of the Rimac brand, it is showcasing the Nevera R. With 2,107 horsepower, a top speed of over 250mph, and a 0-62mph time of 1.81 seconds the Nevera R is off the scale in terms of its acceleration. It builds on the performance of the already impressive Nevera, to become an even more hard-core version, featuring the latest battery tech in a lighter and faster package.

Meanwhile Maybach revealed its sportiest model yet. The Mercedes-Benz SL has gained the Maybach treatment. Bestowed with Maybach emblems everywhere from the roof to the rose gold headlight inserts, this is two-seater convertible isn’t for the shy and retiring type. The interior has been designed to be quiet, comfortable and serine with Maybach’s signature seats, an optimised exhaust to reduce noise and floaty suspension. At launch it will be available in either red or white with chrome accents (Maybach clearly has yet to get the memo on banning chrome along with other OEMs in Europe) and an optional black bonnet sporting the Maybach monogram pattern. For those who want to fully buy into the lifestyle, a collection of coordinating items including a leather jacket, trainers and a dog bag is also available.