The Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has been one of the headliners of the Pebble Beach weekend for decades. For 2010 the organisation behind the event and the name has changed but the Monterey Motorsports Reunion will nevertheless feature all the familiar ingredients and exciting special themes. During this year's event Dan Gurney and his Eagles will be honoured and there will also a race exclusively for Bugattis. To warm you up, a week before the activities are scheduled to kick-off, we have taken a closer look at two of the cars that starred last year.
Making their debut in 2009 were the fantastic IMSA GTP cars that were originally raced in the 1980s and early 1990s. The race was won by Gunnar Jeannette in the Kremer K8 Porsche, which was one of the ultimate developments of the period. Built for the 1994 Le Mans, it was originally raced by the legendary Derek Bell in the even more famous Gulf livery. Bell grabbed the lead early on but eventually dropped down the order with technical issues. A sister car of the Porsche 962 based machine did manage to score an impressive win in the 1995 Daytona 24 Hours race. The featured K8 was raced up until the 1999 season. In recent years the car was restored to its original configuration and beautifully prepared by Gunnar Racing with a victory in the 2009 Monterey Historics as a result. At the bottom of the article you can find an on-board video of the K8 being driven around Moroso Park.
A few hours earlier, Robson Walton skillfully piloted his Scarab Mk I Chevrolet to victory as well and in spectacular fashion. His steed was the very first of the fabulous Scarabs, which were developed by Lance Reventlow and provided rare American opposition to the European exotica from the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Lister and Jaguar. Reventlow later used the car on the road before it was returned to racing order in the 1980s. Our 18-shot gallery includes photography from the 2005 and 2009 Historics.

Enjoy the links:

1994 - 1996 Kremer K8 Porsche - Images, Specifications and Information

1958 Scarab Mk I Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information