At the Ferrari Owners Club’s third annual Concours Carmel, Maranello’s most recognizable shapes take over Ocean Avenue
There are few places where a Ferrari feels more naturally at home than Carmel-by-the-Sea.
On a summer morning during Monterey Car Week, Ocean Avenue trades its usual rhythm of cafés, boutiques and galleries for something altogether more theatrical. The sound of Italian engines fills the streets, polished bodywork catches the California light, and some of Maranello’s most celebrated creations take their place among Carmel’s architecture.
Today, that scene belongs to the Ferrari Owners Club’s third annual Concours Carmel, an increasingly anticipated fixture of Car Week and one of the few events that brings the Ferrari experience directly into the heart of the village.
The 2025 edition carries particular significance. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ferrari 308, the mid-engine V8 that became one of Ferrari’s defining designs of the 1970s and 1980s, and gained an entirely different kind of fame through Magnum, P.I. The anniversary gives this year’s concours a natural centerpiece, celebrating a car whose wedge-shaped profile has become inseparable from the visual language of the Ferrari era. But the 308 is only part of the story.
The Ferrari Owners Club expanded this year’s footprint to approximately seven blocks of downtown Carmel, with cars displayed along Ocean Avenue, Dolores Street and Lincoln Street. The result is less a traditional car show than an open-air automotive promenade, allowing visitors to move from one Ferrari to the next while experiencing the restaurants, galleries and boutiques that make Carmel such a distinctive Car Week setting.
More than 100 cars were expected for the expanded 2025 field, joined by Italian motorcycles and a special display honoring Maserati as this year’s guest marque.
For enthusiasts, that combination makes the event particularly compelling. Ferraris from different generations sit within walking distance of one another, offering an unusually intimate look at the evolution of the marque, from the elegant proportions of earlier grand tourers to the sharper, more aggressive language of later models.
And unlike a concours staged behind barriers or across a sprawling golf course, Concours Carmel places the cars directly into the fabric of the town. It is easy to pause beside a Ferrari, study the details, then turn a corner and find another. Owners and enthusiasts mingle around the cars, conversations develop naturally, and the event maintains a social character alongside its concours credentials. Music, a strolling emcee, owner and guest interviews, and an awards presentation add to the atmosphere throughout the day.
There is even a playful nod to the 308’s television legacy, with a Tom Selleck look-alike contest celebrating the car’s association with Magnum, P.I., a reminder that some Ferraris become cultural icons far beyond the world of collectors and concours judges.
That sense of accessibility is part of the event’s appeal. While the cars themselves represent some of the most coveted machinery in automotive history, public viewing is free, allowing anyone strolling through Carmel to experience the spectacle. There is also a charitable dimension to the gathering, with event support extending to local organizations including the Carmel Harrison Memorial Library, The Carmel Foundation, First Tee Monterey and Rancho Cielo Youth Campus.
Still, the real attraction remains the cars, and the people who care for them. Ferrari has always sold more than speed. Its most enduring models represent a particular Italian interpretation of performance: engineering balanced with sculpture, competition DNA softened by elegance, and mechanical purpose transformed into something emotional.
In Carmel, that philosophy feels particularly appropriate. The town has long attracted collectors, designers, artists and travelers who appreciate craftsmanship and restraint. During Car Week, that sensibility simply shifts from architecture and fashion to automotive design.
For one day, Ocean Avenue becomes a gallery of Italian motoring. And at the center of it all, turning 50, is the Ferrari 308, a car whose proportions, sound and cultural legacy continue to resonate half a century after its debut. For the Ferrari Owners Club, the third Concours Carmel is a significant step forward for an event that is quickly becoming part of Carmel’s Car Week identity. For everyone walking Ocean Avenue today, it is something simpler: a chance to experience a remarkable collection of Ferraris exactly where they seem most at home, on the streets of Carmel, with the Pacific just beyond them.
