The Quail — Gunther Werks
Monterey Car Week

My course drew me directly to the Gunther Werks stage —GWR front and center for its public debut at The Quail, with the Turbo (“Project Tornado”) close by and, further down, a fully exposed carbon-fiber Speedster in a rich brown tint. The placement made sense: analog, high-rev GWR against the force-fed Turbo, with the open-weave Speedster showing the construction in plain sight. In Quail’s midday light, the differences read instantly—two solutions, same thesis: response and precision over spectacle.

I began with GWR because the numbers tell you what your ears can’t at idle: a Gunther Werks—Rothsport 4.0-liter NA flat-six that spins to 9,000 rpm and makes 500+ hp / 340 lb-ft in a roughly 2,400-lb shell—an edit of weight, airflow, and feel. Then the Turbo: a Rothsport 4.0-liter twin-turbo with a race-style flat fan, liquid-to-air charge cooling, and six-speed manual—output mode-dependent, ~600–700 hp. The brown exposed-carbon Speedster served as an x-ray of the program, the weave and joints visible where most cars hide their work. I shot wide for stance, then tight for the packaging story.

Seen together, the three cars bracket GW’s current range: the high-rev, naturally aspirated GWR; the torque-rich Turbo; and a Speedster that turns materials into design language. Quail is a tough stage—crowded sightlines, constant motion—but it suits this kind of work. The stand was a steady draw amid the hypercar noise, not because it shouted loudest but because the intent came through at a glance. I saved a deeper dive on GWR for my dedicated Quail gallery images; here, the goal was simpler: set the scene, show the contrasts, and let the light do the talking.