2026 Velocity Invitational

Jun 17

After taking a year off, the Velocity Invitational was back on for 2026, and we were excited to get it back on our calendars and excited to have the event at Sonoma raceway in California’s beautiful wine country. The Invitational has been held at both Sonoma and Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca over the years, and events at both venues have delivered a “drinking things through a firehose” experience for us. It’s part race, part lifestyle event, and part car show, all wrapped into one. More than any other event we attend every year this event brings out the most diverse crowd of people, by far, telling us that whatever they’re doing, it’s working.

First things first. Sung and Larry hosted a thing…
One of those “things” Velocity offered this year was a Friday night meet at the track that offered the opportunity to meet Sung Kang, Han from Fast & Furious, and photographer, and car culture ambassador Larry Chen, to celebrate all things JDM (and more) as well as a Q&A session and preview screening of Kang’s new film, DRIFTER. The weather was prefect, the crowd had a great vibe and hundreds of the Bay Area’s finest JDM cars, tuner creations, and oddball (25-year import rule) imports filled the Turn 7 parking lot, and then some as Kang, Chen, and other associated personalities took selfies, signed autographs, and Q&A’d into the evening.

Before we left the track, only to return the next day for the whole day, we popped into the track paddock to see what was in store as all of the first day’s action was over and things were wrapping up. What was in the mostly vacant paddock was good….very good…so we drove the hour and a half back to Sacramento to get a good night’s sleep in order to attack the event in full a few hours later. It was a restless night’s sleep.

We were up and at em bright and early on Saturday morning, fortified by caffeine and protein bars and got to the track at about 7. It was overcast and cool and for about an hour, we had the run of the place before the hoards showed up. Greeting us was an array of Ford road and racing cars that stopped us in our tracks. The 5 abreast first and second generation GTs along with several other late model variants was staggering, but along with those was an absolutely stunning red 1967 Mk. 1 sporting a set of perfectly polished Borani spoked wheels. It was hard to walk away from that one, throwing off strong Ferrari 250 LM vibes, but we wiped the drool off of our chins, and made our way into the heart of the paddock.

The McLaren Garage

The Invitational is all about the discovery of what's around every corner. A row of vintage racing Ferraris and Porsches here, a row of hypercars there. Every corner, nook and row utilized in a automotive history scavenger hunt. One such area was a garage where two McLaren F1s were tucked away, which felt less like a display and more like stumbling into a bank vault that had been irresponsibly filled with Gordon Murray’s greatest idea. Velocity already had plenty of outrageous machinery on track, but the sight of multiple McLaren F1s sitting together in the paddock gave the event a different kind of gravity. McLaren F1 chassis 042, described by the event as one of only seven F1s officially imported to the United States when new, coupled with the McLaren F1 HDK / LM-spec chassis 018. Roughly $40 million in value between the two cars based on the last time they were sold at auction. These two heavyweights were joined throughout the day by a couple of special McLaren P1s. One was a brilliant Verde Hermes HDK (High Downforce Kit) Lanzante commission and a 1 of 5 P1 Carbon Series, sporting exposed carbon fiber on almost every square inch of the exterior and interior. Later in the day, we saw on the socials that these cars were joined by another F1 that we saw elsewhere at the event, a 1997 Fina liveried F1 GTR.

Gordon Murray Automotive / McLaren Adjacent

Just outside the garage was a line up of five Gordon Murray Automotive T.50s (we think probbly his second best idea). The Gordon Murray T.50 is a natural bridge between Velocity’s McLaren F1 display and the future of analog performance. If the F1 was the original supercar thesis — central driving position, featherweight construction, naturally aspirated V12, and absolute driver focus — then the T.50 is Gordon Murray returning to the same idea with three decades of unfinished business to get out of his system. It doesn’t try to win the modern hypercar arms race with hybrid boost, vulgar horsepower, or visual aggression. Instead, it goes the other direction: lighter, smaller, sharper, and more mechanical. Its 4.0-liter Cosworth V12 revs to 12,100 rpm, its six-speed manual gearbox keeps the driver fully involved, and its rear fan gives the car genuine aerodynamic sophistication without turning it into a winged caricature.

Noodling around the old internets, we read that these modern marvels start at just over $3 million when new. On the secondary market, with low miles, you can add another million plus for the privilege of obtaining an example you didn’t get to spec. In auctions over the last year or so, versions have gone from about $5.5 million and at a Broad Arrow auction in April, chassis number 9 went for a whopping $8,035,000! Between this display and the McLarens just inside the adjacent garage, we think we might have been surrounded by nearly $100,000,000 dollars in hardware…simply staggering….

Cars and Bids takes center stage…

THIS! Is the portion of this report where we tell you about the Cars & Bids contribution to the Invitational. Cars & Bids is an online auction platform focused on modern enthusiast vehicles, especially cars from the 1980s to today. It was founded by @DougDemuro, of Quirks and Features fame. The platform emphasizes transparent 7‑day auctions, detailed listings, and low seller costs (sellers list for free, while buyers pay a 5% fee). In their largest to date public event, attendees got to get up close and personal with the cars they’d mostly seen in thumbnails.

In what seemed to be the biggest by far vendor display, was essentially another car show within the Invitational, and also their first live and in person auction featuring 17 fantastic and diverse selections. The amazing array of vehicles they brought was a perfect centerpiece for the paddock and a great place for spectators and the small army of C&B staff could engage and inform both lookey-loos and potential buyers alike.

We weren’t surprised to learn in the following days that the display and associated auction was a monumental success for C&B. The majority of the cars on offer seemed targeted right at those of us who’ve achieved middle age, so kudos to them for hitting us right in the feels.

Racing and The Racing Groups

The Invitational brought a sweeping mix of motorsport history to Sonoma Raceway, with racing groups spanning from the pre war Rag Time Racers Group to 1950s and 1960s production and GT cars to Formula Junior, Formula B, historic SCCA sedans, IMSA GT and GTX machines, NASCAR stock cars, and modern Le Mans, IMSA, and ALMS prototypes. The weekend’s action shifted constantly in tone and speed, beginning with early sports cars and open-wheel racers before moving into louder, more aggressive sedan and GT battles from the 1960s and 1970s. Historic NASCAR stock cars relived their glory days on the Sonoma road course, while the later prototype and GT groups connected the event to the modern endurance-racing era with high-downforce, high-speed machinery. One of the most entertaining formats was the 1960s Mini vs. Muscle Enduro, which paired small, nimble cars like the Mini Cooper against larger V8-powered machines like the Ford Mustang in a fun contrast of racing philosophies. Altogether, Velocity delivered more than a static celebration of historic cars; it put each era under load and at speed, giving fans a living, breathing tour through decades of racing evolution.

It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane, it’s….uh, a Pivotal Helix eVTOL!?

I think we’ve all heard about and dreamed of personal flying transportation at some point, and most of us have heard the pitch since we were kids. That concept has occupied the realm of fantasy despite the elusive promise always being tantalizingly just out of reach, or just beyond the horizon.

Well, we’ve just seen the future and to some extent, definately it’s here! On the way in, we’d passed by the modest display of a company called Pivotal featuring a static display model of their Helix eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off & Landing) aircraft. We assumed the craft and the company were probably some sort of vaporware pipe dream. As we were walking around the paddock later in the day, we were sobered to see two of them doing demo flights over the track, emitting only a dull humming/buzzing noise, and maneuvering around like some odd combination of helicopter and small plane. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any spectacular video of the demos, but we did capture some marginal footage to show you.

This thing certainly wasn’t in any way a reason we wanted to go to the Invitational, but we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t one of the most memorable moments of our afternoon.

The Ragtime Racers

Speaking of airplanes. A pre-1920 racing group with cars inspired and in some cases built with airplane parts. At the vintage end of Velocity were the cars of the Ragtime Racers. This group is constituted of cars made BEFORE 1920! There’s no carbon fiber in their display, more like wooden spokes, bicycle pumps, steam, leaking oil, linen racing suits, and period correct facial hair! This traveling troupe brings pre-World War I race cars back to life, showcasing machines over a century old that once competed on dirt tracks and speedways. With open cockpits, exposed engine internals, and chain-driven wheels, these cars embody the raw spirit of racing’s beginnings. Analog goodness and always a fan favorite. We don’t care how cute your kid is, they’re never going to sit in the Koenigsegg, but they can always get some seat time in the Ragtime corral!

Hypercar Row

Probably the most popular fixture of the Invitational was a tidy row of some of the most impressive, exotic, rare and valuable modern machines we’ve ever seen. The group ebbed and waned over the day, but no matter when we walked by, the pinch me factor was intense. Reviewing our images we saw 2, yes 2, Ferrari Daytona SP 3s, a La Ferrari, a Ferrari Enzo, a 1 of 20 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, 3 Aston Martin Valhallas, a Pagani Huayra BC, and a Koenigsegg Agera RS, and a NIO EP9 lovingly mechanically “enhanced” by Bisi Ezeroiha and hand painted by artist Nicolai Sclater. It was a lot to take in, and it was driving all the fanboys and girls crazy all day long.

Ferrari 250 Row

There was another row of cars that was even more impressive, exclusive, expensive than those we just highlighted. Under one of the paddock tents were the cars of racing group 01 featuring 1956-62 production and GT cars up to 5 liters. Not to slight any of the other 25 or cars in that racing group, there were a few that stood out from the rest. Among the Austin Healeys, Corvettes, Porsche, Alfas and Jags were 6 Ferrari 250 models in the GTO, SWB, and Testarossa flavors. The opportunity to see any one of them would be rare and special. The opportunity to see 6, and see them on the track was unreal.

All 250s were powered by variants of Gioacchino Colombo's legendary 3.0-liter V12, one of the greatest engines ever designed. Its combination of power, sound, and reliability was transformative. The Colombo engine defined what a sports car engine could be and influenced Ferrari's DNA for decades. The 250 series variants achieved extraordinary success in motorsport throughout the late 1950s and 1960s. Cars like the 250 Testa Rossa won Le Mans multiple times, and the 250 GTO became one of the most celebrated GT racing cars ever built, dominating its class in events like the Tour de France Automobile and the World Sportscar Championship.

Wrapping up….

The Invitational gave Northern California racing fans a show of sight and sound well worth the time and expense of attending. Add in the open paddock, the hypercars, the wine-country setting, and the general sense that every corner contained something rare, expensive, or dangerously loud, and the result was not just a celebration of motorsport history, but a reminder that cars are at their best when they are not being explained — they are being used. If there was a roped off vehicle at the Invitational, we didn’t see it. Rather than sealed away behind museum glass is exactly what makes Velocity work. You could go from watching historic race cars being driven hard on Sonoma’s hills to standing a few feet from one of the most important road cars ever made, quietly sitting there as if it were just another weekend toy. It was absurd, magnificent, and slightly maddening — because at an event full of racing cars making all the right noises, some of the most powerful moments came from the cars that were simply parked, waiting, and looking impossibly perfect.

-The Loud Pedal

As usual, because we don’t write too good, we’ve prepared an event mega gallery below with some pretty pictures we took at the invitational.