Given the Choice, Here's What I Would Take Home from Monterey Car Week's 2023 Edition

August was an excellent month for the automotive industry – and it's not even over yet, as we still await to see on August 31 the first Alfa Romeo supercar of the last decade and a half. Early on, it all started with the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser – dubbed 250 at home in Japan to avoid confusion with the J300 Land Cruiser launched two years ago.

In other regions – such as parts of Europe or Australia it's labeled as the Land Cruiser Prado to remind everyone this is the 'light duty' series premiered in 1990 by the J70 Land Cruiser. But although it shares the same underpinnings (TNGA-F body-on-frame platform) with the J250 Lexus GX 550, it was dubbed simply the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser for its return to North America.

The United States also witnessed first-hand the boxy 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe premieres in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ in Times Square, New York City. And then the stratosphere of ritzy automotive fashion simply descended from Mount Olympus to act like gods among mere mortals on the Californian coast.

That's because the Monterey Car Week 2023 had ten days of automotive greatness at its disposal, and this year was more prosperous than ever before. Virtually everyone wanted to be part of the big string of events culminating during the final weekend with The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It didn't matter if the automaker was small or big, OEM or from the aftermarket realm; everyone – read that with capital letters – took part in the festivities.

As such, it's pretty hard to choose a favorite from among the many premieres, especially when we saw exotics like the gold-specced Bugattis, that crazy Zenco Aurora, the crazier Czinger 21C Blackbird Edition, the Pininfarina B95 Barchetta, Ford Mustang GTD, Lamborghini Lanzador Concept, Maserati MCXtrema, Mercedes-Benz AMG GT, or the gorgeous Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail Coachbuild. And that's just the cream of the crop, frankly.

However, since I don't have millions to spare and not even $300 to $330k in my pockets, let's get down to Earth from cloud number nine and choose our favorites a little wisely. Sure, I would love a RUF Tribute in the garage; I would go to the track in a $300k Ford Mustang GTD to pay my roaring supercharged V8 respects to the dusk of the ICE-powered muscle car era and then go for a sip in the club while lying in the back of the 2024 Land Rover Range Rover SV Carmel Edition.

But, although we dream about these rides, how many of us can really afford them during a lifetime of hard work and passion? Only a few, for sure, because some of us are way past the tipping point of thinking that stupid little videos can bring back millions on Chinese social media apps. Yeah, TikTok is a way of life for some nowadays, but I'm growing too old for that. Instead, I could still connect to the latest industry trends and have some fun with something that doesn't need to be as exotic as an Aston Martin DB12 Volante.

As such, my choice for going home in a vehicle launched during the 2023 edition of Monterey Car Week is simple – Acura's ZDX fully electric crossover. Sure, some might say that both Honda (Prologue) and Acura (ZDX) are just two Japanese automakers that are late to the all-electric vehicle sector's party and don't bring anything original. However, I heard they were ready to switch to the NACS connector to gain Supercharger access, and over the years, I learned that I don't want to be an early adopter swimming against the current in a Beta vehicle.

So, thank you. I will take an Acura ZDX or a Type S with me because it looks better than the Honda Prologue and Chevy Blazer EV. I don't even mind that some diehard automotive fans might make a little fun of me because Acura also sold a first-gen ZDX in the form of a horrible, failed BMW X6 coupe-SUV competitor. What I do care about is General Motors ironing out all the Ultium technology issues with its stable of EVs and giving Honda and Acura access to a clean sheet of EV greatness.

And if I'm careful enough, maybe I can even get away with shopping for the 500-hp Acura ZDX Type S if the Japanese automaker respects its credo and indeed comes with the model to the market in the $70k range – the low part of it, hopefully. Otherwise, I wouldn't complain about the A-Spec either if they deliver the promised 325-mile (523 km) range – anxiety about recharging is slowly fading, and now it's OK to go about your business in an EV if you're still careful with planning.