Is Less More? The Quail says yes and offers solitude among the madness.(News)(The Quail Lodge)

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering started last year as a replacement for Concorso Italiano. Concorso outgrew the golf course in front of Carmel Valley's luxurious Quail Lodge and moved to bigger greenery. The Quail is a much smaller event than the vast, crazy sprawl of Concorso-fewer cars, far fewer people, and not a single booth selling Fiat intake manifolds. There is so much room that you could now, if it wasn't seen as so declasse by the new hosts, play frisbee there.

The Quail was a vintage event with a vintage-sized crowd, and it was refreshingly pleasant.

There were 115 cars on the lawn this year, along with only 2600 people, and all the food you could eat for $150. Those who supersize everything will say that, on a cool-car-per-dollar ratio, you'll get more than 10 times your money's worth at the Concorso Italiano or at the Historic Races-especially if you compare the more than 200 race cars at the Historics or the 1700 displayed at Concorso. And with so few cars on hand, it was The Quail that chose which ones it thought you would like-not you. At those larger car functions you pick, push and auger through the sea of red and yellow to choose favorites.

Here, supersize is not important, but size does matter.

"The whole idea is to have an oasis without too much crowding, pretty good food, and plenty of great cars,'' said Michael D. Kadoorie, the ...