McLaren, Bugatti and Aston are turning Pebble Beach into a motorshow

There's no doubt that the annual Pebble Beach Concours looks and feels like an all-American affair.

The main event takes place on an exclusive golf course, near to Monterey, California, and it's famous for showing off hyper-primped and preened classic cars.

Quite a few of them are even more pristine than when they originally left the factory or workshop. And most of them fabulously pricey, and often with equally fabulously wealthy collectors showing them off.

But as well as the Concours d'Elegance there are a host of equally well known satellite events and high-end classic car auctions. In fact, Monterey Car Week as it's known locally, can legitimately claim to be one of the world's foremost automotive events.

Yet, rather like our own equally lustrous Goodwood Festival of Speed, Pebble is fast becoming a place for new car launches too. In past years I've attended for the launches of the Bugatti Veyron GranSport, as well as the Bentley Mulsanne.

But this year it's really going bananas: McLaren, Aston and Land Rover are all displaying significant new models, while Jaguar is showing a significant old one in the shape of the £1 million lightweight E-type revival. Bugatti and Lamborghini also have new things on display.

So, yes, even the new car action is top-endy but no less interesting for it. And who can blame these makers from showing their wares in the state that remains the world's largest luxury sports car market.