Once again, the state of California has survived Monterey Car Week. While the formal event may be constrained to the Monterey Peninsula at the top of the Central Coast, it starts on the roads that lead to it and ends on the roads after it. That covers the whole state.
As I constantly mention, I live in Santa Barbara. We’re about 240 miles south of Monterey, and the 101 freeway that goes through here is the direct route to Car Week from Southern California. Last Wednesday and Thursday, the northbound lanes seemed like an unending parade of Porsche 911 GT3s and Lamborghini Huracans, with a few Rolls-Royce Cullinans trailing behind to carry the family and luggage. It’s rolling conspicuous consumption.
It’s also a thrill for those of us who can’t get up to Monterey. It’s always spectacular to see great machinery on the road.
And yet it gets to the point where GT3s, Huracans, and Cullinans seem ordinary. Particularly in Santa Barbara, where it’s likely one or all three will be parked at Target on a Saturday afternoon. More impressive are older cars that take passion to put on the freeway. Ferrari Daytonas and Lamborghini Miuras are stunning when parked, but better when they’re moving. And going 300 miles or more north in a torture device like a Lotus 11 or MG-TC takes epic commitment. Over the years, I’ve seen them all come through town on their way up or way down. Last year I saw a Duesenberg on the freeway — I assume on its way to Monterey — and practically gagged at the awesomeness. Of course I don’t have photos of these things. I’m never that well prepared.
But this past Thursday I decided to change that. I’d head down to a spot along the 101 in Ventura County where I could unobtrusively slink around close to traffic. I parked at the lot for the Pier Shoals beach, clambered over some dirt mounds past the end of the road, and was next to the Armco that lined the 101. Stood there for about a half hour and… nothing. No Porsches. No Astons. Just Teslas, Camrys, and all sorts of ordinary trucks. My plan plain sucked.
I was not, however, the only one with a plan. “We had an SEU,” explains Officer Jonathan Gutierrez, the public information officer for the California Highway Patrol’s Santa Barbara area office. SEU is CHP talk for Special Enforcement Unit; when the Patrol goes high-profile, presence is big for an event. Monterey Car Week is just such an event. And that covered the entire CHP Coastal Division — a total of 11 CHP offices from Ventura County all the way north to Santa Cruz.
California Highway Patrol — I believe that’s a McLaren 570S. I’m sure what’s behind it is a Dodge Durango with a star on its front doors.
“It was all hands on deck,” Gutierrez explains. “We had all the available officers out there. It was one guy in the office and everyone else out on the road.” And the CHP wasn’t being shy about it, announcing it on social media.
“As thousands of car enthusiasts and some of the world’s most incredible vehicles make their way to the Central Coast,” the Coastal Division announced on Facebook, “the California Highway Patrol Coastal Division will be increasing patrols and enforcement efforts to help keep our roadways safe.”
Those of us who have known CHP officers also know that they don’t hate cars. And there’s always someone doing something stupid during the run-up to and run-down from Car Week. Whether that’s along the 101 or tributaries like the languid CA-166 east of Santa Maria and the glorious CA-33 from Cuyama to Ojai.
Law enforcement doesn’t try to shut down Car Week, but it is aware of it. And it tempers the excesses with impressive professionalism. They have a job to do, and we have a passion to pursue.
California Highway Patrol — One officer in a Durango stopped a McLaren and a BMW M2 together allegedly going 115 mph.
The Santa Barbara office snagged two big fish this year during a double stop on the 101 — a McLaren and what looks like a BMW M2 clocked at 115 mph through the town of Carpinteria south of Santa Barbara. Surely both the McLaren and M2 are capable of such sustained velocities, but my wife and daughter both drive out there and aren’t necessarily ready to have their doors sucked off by maniacs doing 50 over the speed limit.
They were stopped by officers driving one of the CHP’s 100 sneaky, specially painted Dodge Durangos. These low-profile, Hemi V-8-powered “Specially Marked Patrol Vehicles” don’t sit idly by the side of the road, but blend into traffic. When introduced back in May 2025, CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee explained the Durangos’ mission. “They will allow us to identify and stop drivers who are putting others at risk, while still showing a professional and visible presence once enforcement action is needed.”
California Highway Patrol — The CHP’s special Durangos are painted various factory colors.
California Highway Patrol
Up on the Monterey Peninsula, according to KSBW TV, the five local police agencies made 257 traffic stops, issued 158 tickets, and made five arrests. Yes, there is a sort of arms race between law enforcement and those of us who love to drive — and sometimes love to drive too fast. But there’s a particular insanity to driving stupidly when the profile of the car-loving community is at its summit. And nothing is higher profile than Car Week.
I haven’t been to Car Week myself since about 1994. For most of my career, I’ve been a freelancer, and being the 800th journalist there isn’t the best way to generate fresh content. But as a Californian, I know that Car Week has become bigger than cars parked on the lawns at Pebble Beach. It starts the moment all those Angeles Crest survivor 911 GT3s, every Ferrari taken out of hibernation at Westside Collector Car Storage, and all the exotics we love start heading to the event. It’s joyous to see them on the road — and the California Highway Patrol will be right there watching when they do.
