Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California, 12 August, 2014
The Beverly Hills were alive with the sound of music on Sunday
12 October! Not the voice of Julie Andrews from the musical, but
the music of close to a thousand Ferrari V6, V8 and V12 engines
as they congregated on and around Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills,
to celebrate 60 years of Ferrari in the USA. The location of
Beverly Hills in the northern suburbs of Los Angles was chosen,
not only for its chic location amidst all the boutiques of the
world’s major fashion names, but because California is the largest
Ferrari market in the USA. It was to have been Luca di
Montezemolo’s last public appearance before he handed over the
reigns of the “Cavallino Rampante” to Sergio Marchionne, after 23
years of leadership. However, for unbeknown reasons he was
unable to attend, and so the factory was represented by the
Vice-President, Piero Ferrari, incoming Chairman Sergio
Marchionne and CEO Amadeo Felisa.
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For participants, the event started with a gala dinner on the
Saturday evening in the grounds of the municipal buildings hosted
by the Mayoress of Beverly Hills, with live music spanning
orchestral works to the singing of R&B songstress Mary J Blige,
culminating with a spectacular firework display. Whilst they were
carousing the night away, the erection teams were busy
transforming Rodeo Drive into a vast Ferrari theatre, with an
impressive stage at the Wilshire Boulevard end, which would be
the scene of the unveiling of the limited edition of 10 cars, Ferrari
F60 America, at lunchtime on Sunday.
The F60 America is a barchetta built specifically for the US
market, and is based on the F12 berlinetta, which boasts similar
performance to the model upon which it is based. The suggested
colour was the presentation colour, Blu NART, although clients
have free choice, whilst the driver’s side of the cockpit is a study
in red, with a red dash face, centre console, door panels and
seat. A further special feature is a unique to the model,
rectangular enamel shield on each of the front wings. The car sat
under a red shroud during the Sunday morning, although those
who arrived early could catch glimpses of the form, whilst
sections of the shroud were lifted to carry out last minute cleaning
and detailing. The car was unveiled after a speech by Sergio
Marchionne, in the presence of Piero Ferrari and Amadeo Felissa,
and once the stage was opened to the VIP pass holders, it was
mobbed by those wishing to get a closer look at the latest jewel
from Maranello. Once the hullabaloo had died down and the
dignitaries had left the stage, there followed a question and
answer session with four drivers who had driven Ferraris during
their racing career. They were American drivers Bob Bondurant
and Dan Gurney, together with Didier Theys, who was heavily
involved in the 333 SP programme during the nineties, and
ex-Ferrari F1 driver Stefan Johannsen.
The sixty Ferraris for sixty years (I didn’t actually count them)
were lined along the kerbs and either side of the central divide of
Rodeo Drive, and made a great spectacle, both in the quality and
variety of offerings, spanning the whole of the Ferrari production
period, their locations being determined by classes, i.e. cars from
films and film stars, racing tribute, Le Mans tribute and Supercar
etc. Even for hardened enthusiasts who attend events worldwide,
this was a spectacular assembly of models, whilst to the general
public, who had free access, it must have been a mind blowing
experience. It would be easier to list what significant competition
Ferraris and classic road cars weren’t there than to list what were
there. On that note, there were no four or six cylinder models in
the feature displays, although there was an example of the 250
Monza, which is better known with a 3 litre four cylinder engine,
as the 750 Monza, and similarly a 625 TRC, another four cylinder
model, but the example on show was fitted with a V12 engine in
period.
Being so close to Hollywood, naturally there were cars from films,
and these included a 308 GTSi used in the Magnum P.I. TV
series, a Mondial t Cabriolet used in Al Pacino’s film The Scent of
a Woman, and the white Testarossa used in the Miami Vice TV
series. There was also other cars with film connections, notably a
275 GTB4 once owned by Steve McQueen, and the 2014 Pebble
Beach Concours winning 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe, once owned
by film director Robert Rossellini. The competition cars were truly
spectacular, with the only remaining original 330 P4, a pair of 250
GTOs in 1962 and 1964 body configurations, a 250 LM, 250 Testa
Rossas, including the 1960 Le Mans winning car, together with
the 1957 315 S which won the final edition of the Mille Miglia in
1957, and the 166 MM Barchetta that took Ferrari’s first Le Mans
win in 1959. Add in more modern examples, like the 333 SP from
the nineties and the modern GT racing variants in 360 GT, 430 GT
and 458 GT forms, and it can be seen that there was a rich vein of
Ferrari racing heritage, and that is without considering the great
array of classic and modern road cars that accompanied them on
display, together with the hundreds assembled in the adjacent
streets. Congratulations to Ferrari SpA, Ferrari North America for
putting on a tremendous event, and to all the owners who brought
a wonderful selection of Ferrari’s finest for everybody to enjoy and
appreciate.
... Ferraris on Display >>>
Keith Bluemel
10/2014
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