Laguna Seca Golf Range, 17th of August
Last we reported on this year´s Motorsport Gathering at the Quail
but this was not the only event held on Friday the 17th of August.
Even with more tradition and earlier in its life located at the same
venue before it moved the Concorso Italiano shares the same
date. During lunch time we made our way from the Carmel Valley
to Laguna Seca to visit the meeting of Italian cars near the race
track.
Although sharing the same passion for classic cars the approach
to the subject is completely different from the Quail. Whereas the
cars are just one aspect of the Motorsport Gathering they are the
main reason for a visit at the Concorso. The event looks very
much like a car club meeting held by several different marque
clubs at the same time. Endless rows of cars sorted by type gave
an impressive view for enthusiasts of Ferrari, Lamborghini,
Maserati, Fiat, Alfa Romeo or Lancia. Owners of the cars meet to
discuss their cars, the supply of parts or the best addresses of
specialized restorers, families walk the lines comparing cars they
rarely see alone in the traffic, not to mention the amount shown
here.
The first marque to be seen when entering the event was
Lamborghini. Dominant were the newer cars from the Gallardo
and Murcielago range with the typical fresh colors of yellow,
orange or green. But not just the new cars were displayed,
several of the 1980s icon Countach, a few Espadas or 400 Gts
were presented but also the rarely seen Islero, Jalpa or a Jamara
that was just built in 327 units. Surprisingly few Miura were there
this year, just an orange S at the center display and a silver one
at the booth of Symbolic Motor cars.
Alfa Romeo was presented by numerous Duettos, 2000 GT
Veloce and GT Junior, furthermore the beautiful Giulia and
Giulietta Spiders.
Very popular in the US are the De Tomaso Pantera featuring
Italian design with an American engine, a concept that was
already popular with the Iso Grifo. Built especially for the
American market the Pantera was distributed by the Lincoln-
dealership, many cars at the Concorso were restored with love to
the details including polished engine or rims. Rarely seen is the
Vallelunga that is completely different from the Pantera. Whereas
the later model featured a big engine with 5 litre displacement the
Vallelunga is a small and nimble car weighting less than 500 kg
with a 1.5 litre engine, the body was designed by Fissore and
built by Ghia in less than 50 units.
Maserati was featured further back on the field, the most popular
models of the Ghibli and Bora were lined up, older models of the
Sebring, Mistral and 3500 GT were there in smaller numbers.
The most popular marque at the Concorso is without doubt
Ferrari. The oldest Ferrari displayed was the 166 Corsa with
Scaglietti Spider bodywork in fabulous unrestored condition. The
car with chassis number 014I was built in 1948 and entered by
the Scuderia Ferrari before it was sold and later rebodied with the
current coachwork in the style of the 500 TR. The car drew much
attention and was parked at the central display aside the beautiful
white 250 GT Europa with green roof. The car (0419GT) was
restored by Ferrari Classiche and was displayed at Pebble Beach
and the Villa d´Este in previous years, at the Concorso it was
voted Best of Show.
A few more of the 250 series could be seen including the last 14-
louvre TdF (0707gt), s 250 GT Lusso and several 250 GTE. The
later 365 Series was represented by a larger number of Daytona,
all in red and a few GTC/4, the 2+2 version of the series. More
colorful was the range of 246 GT Dino.
But not just pure sports cars were displayed at the Concorso, the
Fiat 500 celebrated its 55th anniversary. Several versions of the
crowd favorite were admired by the visitors alongside the new
version of the Cinquecento, the display was under the patronage
of Fiat USA.
Lancia had a small area but some interesting cars, the Lambda
was one of the few pre-war cars on show, the Lancia Aprilia
Zagato just finished its recreation at Zagato and was displayed by
Andrea Zagato himself. The Lancia B24 Aurelia Spyder finished in
a wonderful dark-green metallic color with red interior was without
doubt one of the best looking cars of the entire event.
Beside the marque displays this year Concorso featured the work
of Bertone. The Italian carrozzeria showed a few design studies
including the new Nuccio and the BAT 11 of 2008 but also older
ones like the Jaguar Pirana of 1967. But not just design studies
but also production models like the Fiat X 1/9 and the
Lamborghini models were displayed at the center of the lawn.
Last year BoS, the beautiful small Stanguellini Bertone Coupé
was back at the place of last year's success.
This year's Concorso benefited just like the Quail from the
weather that Friday. In perfect sunshine many owners sat in
camping chairs behind their cars chatting with other owners or
interested visitors, a lot of picnic baskets and blankets were laid
out making this a very relaxed meeting. A fashion show at the
center stage and several sponsor tents entertained the visitors
throughout the day. Maybe the special highlights seen at the
Quail or Pebble Beach were missing this year but a great
ambience made the Concorso well worth a visit. Unfortunately
time is very limited if one wants the visit all events but one could
easily spent the entire day talking with like-minded here and the
sound heard from the nearby race track added to the atmosphere.
Text & images ... Peter Singhof ...
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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