The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco — the most extraordinary motorsport event you have probably never heard of

The event that stopped me in my tracks

I have been to the Monaco Grand Prix. I have stood in Port Hercule as modern Formula One cars screamed through the tunnel at 180 miles per hour. I have watched qualifying from a terrace above the harbour with a glass of champagne and the Mediterranean stretching out behind the circuit. It is extraordinary. It is one of the greatest sporting weekends in the world.

And yet, the Monaco event that I think about most — the one that produced the most vivid and unlikely memories — is not the Formula One race. It is the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco. And I am willing to bet that most people reading this have never heard of it.

If you love motorsport, cars, history, or simply extraordinary things happening in extraordinary places — you will want to read about the Monaco Grand Prix too. But first, let me tell you about this one.

What it actually is

The Monaco Historic Grand Prix is held every two years on the same circuit as the Formula One Grand Prix. All participating cars are authentic collector's items, ranging from pre-war models to vehicles from the 1980s, each having competed in international races. Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, Lotus — the starting grid features the most prestigious names in motorsport history, presented in an extraordinary retrospective. Far from a static display, each car competes within its own category.

What that description does not quite capture is what it feels like to stand at the barriers in Monte-Carlo and watch a 1967 Lotus race through the chicane, or hear a Maserati from 1955 accelerate out of the tunnel. These are not replicas. They are not carefully preserved museum pieces trundling around a track for show. They are the real cars, driven hard, on the circuit that made them famous.

It is, genuinely, one of the most extraordinary things I have ever witnessed.

Why it is different from the Formula One weekend

The Historic Grand Prix has a completely different atmosphere to the modern race — and in some ways, a more intimate and more special one. The crowds are passionate but not overwhelming. The paddock is more accessible. The cars are conversation pieces that draw people together in a way that modern Formula One, for all its spectacle, does not quite manage.

The vehicles are divided into seven or eight series, classified according to year of manufacture and technical specifications. Pre-war cars, front-engine Grand Prix cars, rear-engine Grand Prix cars, sports cars, Formula One, Formula Two. Each series produces its own race, so across the weekend you watch the entire history of Grand Prix racing compressed into three days on the same streets.

The 2026 edition — the 15th in the event's history — even drew Bradley Cooper to the paddock, where he spent the weekend photographing the vintage cars up close, lying on the circuit itself to capture them from below. He was there because he is directing a film set at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix. But the fact that a filmmaker came to study this event as a reference for how motorsport looked and felt in its golden age tells you something about what the Historic Grand Prix preserves that nowhere else does.

The history behind it

The first edition of the Historic Grand Prix was created in 1997 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi Dynasty. The event returned in 2000 to mark the new millennium, before becoming a regular biennial fixture. Originally featuring around thirty racing cars, it now showcases more than 200 vehicles at each edition.

Remarkably, the circuit has retained almost the same layout since its inauguration in 1929. When you watch a pre-war Bugatti navigate the same corners that Fangio, Senna and Schumacher have used, the sense of motorsport history is tangible in a way that you simply cannot manufacture.

When is the next one and how to plan for it

The Historic Grand Prix runs every two years in even-numbered years. The 2026 edition was just held in April — and the next one will be in April 2028. The 2028 dates are Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd April.

Two years feels like a long time. It is not. The accommodation story in Monaco for the Historic Grand Prix follows the same pattern as the Formula One race — the best hotels and the best viewing positions sell out well in advance. If you want to be there for 2028 and you want to do it properly, the planning conversation starts considerably before you might expect.

The ideal way to experience the Historic Grand Prix is as part of a broader Riviera itinerary. A few days in Nice or Antibes before the race. Monaco for the weekend itself. Perhaps a day in Eze or a boat trip along the coast afterward. The event sits in late April when the Riviera is at its most beautiful — warm, uncrowded, and not yet overrun by the summer season.

Who this weekend is for?

The Historic Grand Prix attracts a specific kind of person — someone who cares about the craft and the history of things, not just the spectacle. Car collectors, motorsport historians, architects, designers, anyone with a deep appreciation for beautiful machines doing what they were designed to do. It is also, in my experience, one of the most unexpectedly moving sporting events you can attend, because the cars carry the weight of decades, and watching them race on the circuit where they made their names is genuinely affecting.

For clients who love cars but find the modern Formula One weekend slightly overwhelming, the Historic Grand Prix is a revelation. Quieter, more personal, more historically rich. And still Monaco, which means the setting, the dining, and the evenings are as extraordinary as ever.

Interested in attending in 2028?

This is exactly the kind of trip I love to design. The Historic Grand Prix as the centrepiece, built into a week on the French Riviera that does justice to both the event and the destination. If you are curious, get in touch now and let's start planning your trip.