Sportscar Vacationland

Monterey Car Week is one of the greatest gatherings in the automotive world. But somewhere along the way, it became a spectator sport. Million-dollar machines on manicured lawns. Five-figure ticket prices. Hotels at a thousand a night.

We thought there should be a place for the rest of us. The people who fell in love with cars through chipped paint and late-night drives. The artists, the builders, the storytellers.

So we built one. On a working vineyard in the hills above Carmel Valley, we created Sportscar Vacationland. An event built around art, community, and the cars we actually drive. A place where a hand-painted 944 matters as much as any concours winner.

Sportscar Vacationland took over Tira Nanza Winery for a day of live art, curated cars, interactive installations, and an evening outdoor cinema powered by Petrolicious. They premiered their new film, One of None, under the Carmel Valley stars.

Artist Felix Holst suspended a Porsche from a crane and painted it live. We sat down with Felix on the Overcrest Podcast to talk art, design, and what drives him. The crew from 944Driver built a paint booth and handed out Super Soakers full of paint to anyone brave enough. Manual Focus set up a barn full of art and absolutely crushed it. They've built an incredible community of their own, and having them there meant a lot. Christopher Runge displayed his hand-built chrome creations. James Martin of Studio Cartoons Deluxe flew in from Oslo and stacked CRT televisions into an installation. Syd filled a Lamborghini Diablo with flowers and turned it into a living art piece. Sign painters lettered barns. Photographers showed prints.

None of it would have happened without the people who showed up. Not just as attendees, but as volunteers, collaborators, and believers. People drove across the country. People took time off work. People gave more of themselves than we had any right to ask for. That's the part that doesn't show up in the photos.

"It's a thousand percent the experience. Places people have never been before. Discovery."

- The Drive

One of the things we were most excited about was a collaboration with WheelPrice to build The Wheel Museum. We brought together some of the most legendary wheels of all time and put them on display. Old NASCAR legends. Rare BBS sets. Unreleased prototypes. Wheels you've only ever seen in photos, sitting right there in front of you.

It was one of those things where you'd watch people walk up, stop, and just stare. That was the whole point.

We wanted the whole thing to be accessible. So we built Camp Overcrest. A weeklong campsite on the winery grounds. While Monterey hotels were charging over a thousand dollars a night, our community slept under the stars for a fraction of that. Camp included access to Sportscar Vacationland, shared meals, coffee together in the mornings, and the kind of conversations that only happen when people actually have time to talk.

It was the home base for the week. And for a lot of people, it was the best part.

"Proof that authentic car culture still exists. If you're willing to seek it out."

- The Late Brake