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2015 Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival

Considered the big kick off of the major festivities surrounding Monterey Car Week, this year's Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival certainly didn't disappoint. For those unable to make it to the California coast, our own Drew Phillips was on hand to snap some of the beautiful vehicles on display for this gorgeous gallery. Held annually at the Monterey Jet Center, the event is always a feast for the eyes by collecting planes, a gang of exotic supercars, and some the top cars crossing the auction block over the coming days, like a Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible. The Ford GT both new and old was a major attendee at this year's party. Among them, the Petersen Museum brought along an original racecar and a GT40 MKIII to promote an upcoming exhibit. The classics were complimented by the latest version that has continued to keep tongues wagging. The GT wasn't the only classic with a modern update there. Singer used the posh event for the North American debut of its stunning restoration of the Porsche 911 Targa. Shelby American was also at the revival for the public unveiling of the 50th Anniversary Daytona Coupe. On the more modern front, Honda was in attendance with the future NSX and one of the McLaren F1 cars that the company's engine powers. For further proof of the ritzy folks that attend this soiree, Pagani and Koenigsegg both had stands to show off their extremely quick wares.

Singer Porsche, Koenigsegg, NSX: Leno's life doesn't suck

Jay Leno had quite a productive trip this year during Monterey Car Week. Not only did he get to pal around with Ian Callum and check out the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, but the denim-clad comedian also headed to The Quail to talk to some prominent figures in the modern sports car scene. Capping off the fun, he got to take a drive in a Mercedes-AMG GT S, too Perhaps the highlight of this show is a nearly 10-minute interview with Christian von Koenigsegg. The founder of the Swedish hypercar company digs deep into the Agera One:1's engineering details, relating interesting facts about the aerodynamics and transmission. In addition, Leno chats with Rob Dickenson of Singer about its newly reimagined Porsche 911 Targa, and he gets the latest scoop on the Acura NSX's progress from newly promoted Acura Vice President and General Manager Jon Ikeda. If you like hearing about the nuts and bolts of sports car development, then this video can't be missed. Of course, we were there at Monterey, too, and we pointed our own cameras at some of the amazing machinery, both vintage and modern, at all the various car-focused events of the week. Take a look back at some of our own cool footage in the videos below. Related Video:

Koenigsegg Quark e-motor puts maxi power in a mini package

It seems that what Koenigsegg enjoys just as much as making internal-combustion-powered teleportation devices shaped like cars is creating neat new tech to go in those cars. The new hotness from the minds in Angelholm, Sweden is the Quark electric motor, David silicon carbide inverter, and Terrier EV drive unit. Engineering teams have developed the Quark e-motor for the Gemera sedan, the four-door hypercar, fitting three of them to supplement the three-cylinder, 600-horsepower internal combustion engine. The two major topologies, or designs, for electric motors are axial flux, which emphasizes power density, and radial flux, which emphasizes torque density. The Quark combines both topologies into a form Koenigsegg calls "Raxial flux," fashioned with cost-no-object materials like aerospace-grade steel and a carbon fiber rotor. The result is a 63-pound e-motor about the height of two energy drink cans that produces a steady 134 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. When prodded, maximum output leaps to 335 hp and 441 lb-ft for 20 seconds. The engineering lead said the three e-motors in the Gemera are "to bolster the low-speed" performance "where you need it, for brutal acceleration," after which the ICE will take charge for the run to 400 kilometers per hour (248 mph).  We will undoubtedly be seeing more of this kind of innovation, and in fact, we've already seen it. Two years ago, we interviewed the principals at the Texas-based company Linear Labs, who had created the Hunstable Electric Turbine. The HET is an e-motor that sandwiches a radial e-motor design between two axial e-motor ends. Creators Fred and Brad Hunstable had said that "[for] the same size, same weight, same volume, and the same amount of input energy into the [HET], we will always produce – at a minimum, sometimes more, but at a minimum – two to three times the torque output of any electric motor in the world, and it does this at high efficiency throughout the torque and speed range." Even better, for EV applications, the Hunstables said their motor could operate as a direct-drive unit, eliminating the need for a gearbox. Koenigsegg hasn't gone that far, yet. Before the Quark, the Swedes developed a six-phase silicon-carbide inverter they call David. When two Quarks meet one David and a planetary gearset, they add up to one Terrier, an EV drive unit with all the torque vectoring every electrified hypercar needs.