Gunther Werks Showcase
Monterey Car Week
August 17, 2024
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Gunther Werks’ Showcase at Folktale Winery landed in that rare, quiet pocket of Monterey Car Week—invitation-only, but with a broad guest list: industry folks, media, customers, and the simply curious. I’d photographed GWR at The Quail the day before, where the crowds were three-deep and every angle was contested. Here, the pace exhaled. You could step back, let the setting breathe, and then move in again without fighting a sea of phones. Conversations formed naturally—specs turning into stories, stories turning into second looks.
I centered my time on the emerald-green Turbo/Tornado because it’s the arc I’m personally on. The diamond-effect metallic is subtle until you walk; then the sparkle wakes with each step without drowning the shape. In this light the surfacing reads cleanly—width carried through the sills, aero that looks earned rather than added, and a stance that promises traction more than theater. The engineering story was literal, too: this was the first time the Turbo engine sat on a stand in truly good light. It’s a Rothsport-built 4.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six with a race-style flat fan, liquid-to-air charge cooling, and packaging aimed at short intake paths and disciplined heat management. Power goes through a six-speed manual to the rear wheels, with output mode-dependent in the ~600–700+ hp range. Earlier in the week I’d seen it indoors under spotlights at a dinner; here the daylight clarified everything the photos try to show—how the system breathes and how the components relate.
GWR played counterpoint—fresh from its Quail debut, high-rev and carbon-fiber forward. I gave it a lighter touch here, saving the deep dive for my Quail gallery, but the thesis is obvious even at a glance: naturally aspirated 4.0, 9,000 rpm, 500-plus hp, lightweight and precise. As afternoon slid toward evening, the Showcase shifted into a cocktail event on site—more time, more comparisons, same unhurried tone. That’s the value of this stop: craft and community in close quarters, with the light and space to let the work speak for itself.
