Despite a recent proposal to ban internal combustion engines in the UK, a bill was signed which exempts over 293,000 classic cars from annual road testing.

What Monterey Car Week is all about

Petrol heads from around the world descend on the Monterey Peninsula every year to take part in one of the greatest automotive gatherings in California. Its a week full of events, rallies, forums, and car auctions. Then to finish things off, you have the world famous Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. We spent a week attending the events to bring you the best coverage we can. Here's a run down of what took place during the 2017 Monterey Car Week.

When Chevrolet participates in endurance racing it uses the Corvette C7.R race car which produces just under 500hp. Apparently the horsepower was not enough for the owner of this Corvette C7.R edition, because he had Borelli Motor Sports up that figure to over 900hp at the crank. The next step? Enter the 2016 Gumball 2016 rally in Europe.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

It's that time of the year again when thousands of incredibly special cars go on sale in California. Taking place each year, the Monterey Car Auctions attract buyers and sellers from around the world. This year is no different, with 6 auctions offering over 1,000 cars for sale. Everything from pre-war cars to modern super cars and youngtimers is available to all levels of buyers and collectors.

The UK government has announced a plan to ban the sale of new vehicles powered by internal combustion engines starting in 2040. They also plan to impose further taxes on high polluting vehicles, and possibly ban them from public roads all together. It's part of a global push to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. Does this mark the beginning of the end for the classic cars we have come to love?

There’s no better way to get an inside look at the classic car market than speaking with the people who have been involved for decades. In our new interview series, we travel the country speaking with people in the classic car industry and sharing their stories.

For our first story, we travel to sunny Los Angeles to speak with Neil Jaffe, the President of Chequered Flag International. Neil runs one of the best known classic car dealerships in California. He specializes in air-cooled Porsches. His dealership in California not only attracts nationwide buyers, but clientele from all parts of the world.

We recently had the opportunity to import a stunning 1939 Talbot-Lago Major Cabriolet from Europe. Coachbuilt by Carrosserie Talbot himself, this example was kept by a single family from 1971 until it was sold by RM Sotheby's in 2015 at their Villa Erba auction.

We at West Coast Shipping deliver thousands of cars from the United States all over the world. With the strength of the USD and the weakening global currencies, we began to see an influx of classic car imports into the US. I asked my team to look at the data to find the country from where there was a significant increase in automobile imports to the US. We decided to look at the UK market because of the tremendous drop in value of the GBP following the Brexit vote.

Seeing a BMW E30 M3 pull into our lot makes our car shipping team jump up and down with glee. This is the car many dream to own, and as time goes on, fewer are able to afford. Values on the E30 M3 have skyrocketed since 2012. You could previously buy a clean M3 for around $12,000, now you will have difficulty buying one for 3 to 4 times as much. Clean examples with detailed histories are getting harder to find as well. It is exactly why the buyer and importer of this clean BMW E30 M3 sourced the car all the way from California. Now into the container it goes, and onto its long journey home to Europe.

Sports cars of the early 20th century are things of wonder. Take this 1919 Model T Speedster for example, how did anyone in their right mind get them to the claimed 60mph top speed? There's not even a seatbelt to keep you from flying out on a tight turn. It is no surprise a collector from Europe purchased this very car (VIN 15037119) from a seller in Oregon. Now its on the way to Rotterdam.