By alley - Aug 19, 2016, 4:01 PM ET

REUNION: BMW, Can-Am, Trans-Am celebrated

Above: Mario Andretti pilots the 1976 Lotus 77 at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Three milestone motorsport anniversaries will highlight this year's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion from now until Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca: the 100th anniversary of BMW and the 50th anniversaries of Can-Am and Trans-Am.

There were more than 900 entry requests submitted for the 550-car grid, which celebrates the best from pre-war to the 1980s.

The featured

marque celebration

will mark BMW's illustrious racing history and 100th anniversary of its founding with 64 BMW entries, from a 1937 BMW 328 to a 2001 BMW M3 GTR, accepted into one of the 15 corresponding race groups. It's the largest BMW celebration this year outside of Munich. BMW of North America President and CEO Ludwig Willisch will get behind the wheel of the 12 Hours of Sebring-winning 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL that was originally driven by Brian Redman, Sam Posey, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Allan Moffat.

BMW Motorrad will also showcase motorcycles from its history, from its first – a 1923 R32 – to the latest S1000 RR, as well as one of the most beautiful bikes ever produced, the 1937 R7 prototype.

A thundering herd of 36 historic Trans-Am cars, which were coined Pony cars after the original Mustang, will assemble to celebrate the Trans-Am races that first began in 1966 and featured near showroom-looking Mustangs, Camaros, Barracudas, Firebirds, Challengers, Cougars and Javelins.

And the Can-Am Series will celebrate its 50th anniversary by taking to the track through Saturday, with two separate grids of historic cars that competed in the series. In one group will be USRRC and Can-Am cars that raced from 1963-68; the second group features those who raced from 1968-74.

Among the group highlights:

Group 1A will feature 48 cars from the pre-1951 era – including the oldest, a pair of 1911 Nationals, and the "newest" – a 1950 Talbot Type 26.

Group 7B features historic Formula 1 cars, including Chris Locke's 1976 Lotus 77 driven by Mario Andretti.

Here are the 15 groups:

Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Pre-1940 Sports Racing and Touring and 1927 – 1951 Racing
1955 – 1962 GT Cars
1955 – 1961 Sports Racing over 2000cc
1973 – 1981 FIA, IMSA, GT, GTX, AAGT, GTU
1963 – 1968 USRRC & Can-Am
1970 – 1984 Sports Racing under 2100cc
1966 – 1972 Trans-Am
1968 – 1974 Can-Am (50th anniversary celebration)

Thursday, Friday and Sunday

1947 – 1955 Sports Racing and GT
1961 – 1966 GT under 2500cc
1955 – 1961 Sports Racing under 2000cc
1963 – 1973 FIA Manufacturers Championship
1963 – 1966 GT over 2500cc
1981 – 1991 FIA Manufacturers Championship; IMSA GTO/GTP
1967 – 1984 Formula One

A complete

entry list

can be found here; a schedule can be found

here