In the resplendent setting of the Quail Lodge and Golf Club, a 1964 ATS 2500 GTS was welcomed into the Rolex Circle of Champions at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2017. Voted the best car in its own class, this lightweight combination street/track car, chassis #2006, received the ‘Rolex Best of Show’ Award, as the California sunshine lit up this spectacular event. Rolex has been the Official Timepiece of The Quail since 2005, given the values the leading brand of the Swiss watch industry shares with this exceptional celebration of motoring heritage and elegance
The owner of this year’s award-winning automobile and recipient of the sought-after Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, Bruce Milner, said: ”I am so delighted to have won at The Quail – it is such a magnificent event and I came here today without any expectations. The car hasn’t been shown for 16 years, when it won at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, so the award is completely unexpected. I feel so fortunate to win a Rolex watch; my wife thinks she is going to get her hands on it but I’m not so sure!”
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering is a standout event during the Monterey Classic Car Week, taking the form of a very grand private garden party against the stunning backdrop of the Santa Lucia mountain range in Carmel, California. Now in its fifteenth year, ‘The Quail’ combines exquisite international cuisine with the finest classic race and road vehicles whose exemplary standards echo those of Rolex’s world-renowned timepieces. Enthusiasts, brought together by their shared appreciation for the excellence and elegance of the automobile, roamed the fairway and putting greens in front of the Quail Lodge and Golf Club, while admiring the assembled collection which this year featured displays of Originals and Mid-Engine Marvels among many others.
Attending this year’s event was Rolex Testimonee and three-time Formula One Drivers’ World Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart, who said: “The Quail is very special. It’s intimate, it has style and the collection of cars is more diverse than even Pebble Beach. Every year I see cars that I have never seen before, and in such a relaxed and spacious setting, you really are able to admire them up close alongside true motoring enthusiasts and specialists. Rolex’s involvement just adds to the event’s unique charm. Everybody wants to be here.”
