As the event’s name suggests, Monterey Car Week is an annual auto-centric week-long event, and the 2023 edition had just wrapped up. And like every year in recent memory, this is around the time that everyone is settling down from the rush and bustle, reeling from the flurry of news about new models announcements, special edition debuts, and auction sales results of the latest and greatest cars that have just come to light. Serving as the premier car show in the United States, attracting thousands to a multitude of events centered on cars, brands, and businesses, Monterey Car Week has long been considered one of the best car events in the world.

The staple events in this year’s Car Week like the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion held in the equally historic Laguna Seca Raceway. The “Legends of the Autobahn” showcases the best from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering that always delivers, celebrating its 20th year and of course the even glamorous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. There was a lot to see and experience, but for now, as the Peninsula winds down, let's take a look at some of the new cars that stood out above the rest at the 2023 Monterey Car Week.

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10 Infinity QX Monograph Concept

The QX Monograph seemingly serves as the brand’s redesign. Featuring an all-new design language that almost definitely hints at a completely new QX80, their luxury seven-seater SUV offering has been due for an update for some time now. The design on the QX Monograph is undoubtedly aggressively luxurious yet emphasizes a clean opulent design.

A tall and wide grill showcasing a unique texture in a glossy piano black finish with the automaker’s new 3-D redesigned logo at the center takes the majority of the front end. The grill is then framed by a row of creatively in-laid LED lighting just at the edge of the grill connecting a pair of DRLs on either side. The concept car displays headlights just below these DRLs flanking the prominent grill and tapering downward into vent openings.

The rear carries the same lighting treatment that spans its entire width where individual letters spell out the brand name just below the clean yet prominent tail light design. With barely any unreasonable design tricks, we could see the QX Monograph debut as the QX80 as early as 2025.

9 Pininfarina B95 Barchetta

Towards the opposite end of the spectrum from the Infiniti, is the Pininfarina B95 Barchetta. A 1,877-horsepower all-electric open-top “hyper barchetta” as its Pininfarina coined. Styled as an open-top roadster much in-line with the Ferrari Monza SP2, Mclaren Elva and Aston Martin Speedster, the Italian design house proposes a unique driving experience with its B95; definitely made unique by its electric propulsion.

Specifications

Built on the same borrowed platform as its Battista stable-mate, the Rimac technology provides the same amount of power in a more deliberate and purposeful garb. With the same four electric motors behind each wheel, the B95s 120-kWh lithium-ion battery is kept in a T-shaped carbon fiber cell almost surely, located centrally. The performance figures of the Rimac platform are well-known now.

1,877 horsepower, over 260 MPH top speed, and the sprint to sixty in just 2.0 seconds, but what is exciting in the new B95 is its bodywork and the experience it avails that is clearly designed for the pure enjoyment of driving. Pininfarina will only produce ten of the B95 Barchetta with nearly endless personalization options and to the figure of $4,800,000 each, all of which are expected to already be spoken for by the mega-wealthy.

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8 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Golden Era

Unlike many of the cars that are revealed during Monterey Car Week, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport “Golden Era” is a commissioned one-off project instead of a new limited number special edition. And unique in its own right, this Chiron Super Sport is as much a supercar as it is a canvass for commemorating the Bugatti W-16 engine as the luxury car manufacturer retires their record-breaking motor and moves into electric power.

Specifications

The “Golden Era” does that by offering its long-tail bodywork from the Super Sport 300+ version, as a base for a hand-painted mural of historic depictions from Bugatti’s storied history. The deep black on its nose gently fades into the hand-drawn images of iconic Bugattis from previous eras like the Type 41 Royale and Type 57 SC Atlantic and the Bugatti HQ in Molsheim is also sketched with the signatures of two famous people that carry the Bugatti surname.

That’s just on its passenger side; on its driver’s side, more recent Bugattis like the Centodieci, Divo, the La Voiture Noire, and of course the EB110 and interestingly, the W-16 engine, sketched over a distinct hue of almost-copper-like gold that Bugatti has called “Dore”, the Chiron Super Sport is an exquisite ode to the Bugattis of the past and the magnificent W-16 engine.

7 Lamborghini Lanzador

The push into electric vehicles is clear even within Lamborghini, a brand that has always been associated with high-strung V-12-powered supercars. Their latest concept vehicle unveiled at The Quail event in this year's Monterey Car Week is the high-ground clearance, all-electric super coupe named the Lanzador.

The new concept car clearly bridges the current Lamborghini design language to where they see themselves in the next few years. The Lanzador displays its design roots, keeping with the sharp, aggressive lines and triangular shapes of the modern supercars from Sant’Agata, and reminds strongly of the Urus at the same time.

Specifications

Slated for 2028, the Lamborghini Lanzador is fully electric and will receive more than a megawatt of power, that’s nearly 1,350 horsepower, from two electric motors. Along with the hexagonal shapes that make it instantly recognizable as a Lamborghini, the Lanzador also carries a similar roof line to the rest of the mid-engined Lamborghinis but with the lack of a V-12, the coupe concept affords a 2+2 cabin configuration offering more breadth in the Italian sports car manufacturer’s product line up.

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6 Lotus Type 66

With the number of million-dollar hypercars steadily increasing over the years, it's hard to stand out with something truly unique. Leave it to Lotus, of course, to come up with something no other automaker would even consider. Lotus, who has been on a roll these past few months with the Emira, their last gasoline-powered sports car, and the Eletre, the manufacturer’s first dive into the SUV segment, shows that they have not forgotten where they had come from, by announcing the limited-run Type 66 track-toy.

Specifications

Uncovered from their archives, the Type 66 was very obviously designed as a Group 7 regulation race car to compete in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup but was never built and campaigned in the series. Infamous for loose technical regulations, participating cars would eventually find themselves with horsepower figures regularly flirting with 1000 and continuously decreasing weights.

In the spirit of the Can-Am racers of the period, Lotus has gone on to say that power will be from a pushrod V-8 similar to a period of the 1970s surely to be equipped with the eight glorious velocity stacks and targeting performance close to a GT3 race car by way of over 800-horsepower at a lofty 8800-rpm and 550-pound feet of torque at 7400-rpm. Just like the B95 Barchetta, only ten will be made at a cost of around $1,300,000.

5 Maserati MCXtrema

Extreme is definitely the right name for this track-only special edition of Maserati’s MC20 sports car. The MCXtrema is powered by the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 Nettuno engine that’s found in the MC20 and features the same carbon-fiber monocoque tub, and the similarities seem to end there. With a bespoke body and even altered suspension components optimized for the track, this is not the MC20 with an aggressive body kit.

Specifications

First, its V-6 engine is heavily tuned to make 730 horsepower and 530-pound feet of torque versus the MC20’s 620 and then mated to a six-speed paddle-operated sequential transaxle with limited-slip differential. Most noticeable is the completely redesigned full carbon fiber bodywork on the Xtrema that drops its weight to around 2,800 pounds.

It features a central spine that Maserati says helps with in-corner stability and efficiency of its adjustable rear wing, Xtrema-only side air scoops serve up air into the intercoolers and rear brake cooling ducts. The interior is equally track-focused where a yoke is specified over a traditional steering wheel along with a fixed racing bucket seat and a full FIA-certified roll-cage. As extreme as the MCXtrema is, all 62 units have been spoken for.

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4 Aston Martin DB12 Volante

An automaker rooted deep in its tradition, Aston Martin revealed its “super tourer” in convertible form just a month after it released its new DB12 Coupe. Remaining mechanically unchanged from its coupe counterpart, the new DB12 Volante, is expectedly elegant in topless form and is hooded by an eight-layer fabric top that tucks away behind the seats in fourteen seconds while taking a little longer, at sixteen seconds, to close.

Specifications

Powered by the same AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and providing the same 671 horsepower and 590-pound feet of torque, the Volante is said to sprint to sixty in 3.6 seconds, which is fractionally slower than the coupe due to its 240-pound weight penalty from trading its fixed roof with the heavier power-operated soft-top.

Luckily, it retains its top speed figure of 202-MPH as long as the fabric roof is closed. In true tourer form though, Aston Martin has disclosed that the Volante will be softer sprung than the DB12 coupe and the same intuitive eight-speed ZF automatic transaxle found in its coupe sibling is paired to its German V-8.

3 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

The new AMG GT for 2024 seemingly packs performance, practicality, and tech in its now signature curvaceous two-door coupe shape. With a redesigned front end that presents itself more elegantly while retaining subtle aggressive cues, the new look for the Mercedes is refreshingly beautiful. Going on sale early next year with two trim levels, the Mercedes Grand Tourer will come as either the 469-horsepower “GT55” or 577-horsepower “GT63” from the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 albeit in different states of tune.

Specifications

Borrowing a lot from their current SL platform, the new GT offers more to potential owners. The 2024 AMG GT comes with variable all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering as standard. Shifting is now via a nine-speed automatic with a clutch pack, doing away with the torque converter from the previous generation.

Tech continues with under-side active aerodynamics as well as an active rear wing. AMG Dynamic Select is available, of course, to provide several drive modes to suit the occasion. In true Mercedes-Benz fashion, the inside is more spacious and luxurious. Highly styled and covered in leather and an 11.9 touchscreen can be found front-and-center that will definitely be loaded with features.

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2 Zenvo Aurora

Dansk boutique supercar builder, Zenvo brought not one, but two versions of its new supercar which it calls the Aurora. Following the trend set by the Holy Trinity-Ferrari LaFerrari, Mclaren P1, and Porche 918 some years ago, the Zenvo Aurora is a gasoline-hybrid supercar. It pairs a quad-turbocharged 6.6 liter V-12 that produces 1250-horsepower with either a single 200-horsepower electric motor or three.

Specifications

The “Tur” is the road-going version that gets three 200-horsepower electric motors which totals 1,850 combined horsepower and a sleeker more traditional bodywork. The track-focused “Agil” version gets the “hot V-12” with a single electric motor, in tandem, making 1,450 horsepower and the more aggressive aerodynamic package for the race track. The hybrid horsepower is delivered to a seven-speed gearbox where the single electric motor is located.

Torque-vectoring technology is available via the front electric motors, as well as an electronic limited-slip differential. The Tur being the road-oriented of the two is tailored in leather and with all the luxuries accelerates to sixty in 2.3 seconds and reportedly tops out at 280 MPH. Handicapped by its aero, the track-rat Agil does the sprint in 2.5 seconds and is maxed out at 227 MPH. Zenvo says it will build fifty units of each version but has not disclosed a price, but given the complexity and capabilities, it will most definitely be eye-watering.

1 Acura ZDX

The ZDX is Acura’s first full EV vehicle, sharing its platform with the Cadillac Lyriq and using a recycled nameplate from its failed coupe SUV in 2009. Thankfully, the 2024 ZDX is a more traditionally shaped SUV and if the Cadillac Lyriq is anything to go by, the 2024 ZDX should be just as comfortable and quiet at the very least. The design of the ZDX carries Acura’s current design logically into their first full EV SUV. Similarly shaped headlights and grill panels, to their current line up, are offset by its blacked-out pillars outlined by a chrome trim that gives the effect of a floating roof.

Specifications

Trim-wise, the Acura ZDX will be available in A-spec and Type S levels. Single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive are the available configurations with a 102.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack that supports 190-kilowatt peak charging rates.

The Type S trim will have a 500-horsepower and all-wheel drive and 288-miles of range, while the A-spec would do with 340 horsepower and an increased estimated range of 325 miles, but regardless of trim, both trims will be capable of a 3500-pound towing capacity. The inside of the ZDX is a relief, still using a combination of screens and buttons where others have completely ditched the latter. That said, starting at a reasonable $60,000, Acura may have a winner in the 2024 ZDX.