I attended the FCA meeting at the Sebring International Raceway yesterday as
a guest of Bob Mack and David Bobe (FCA chapter of Florida) and event
sponsor Ferrari of Central Florida (Orlando).
A very good turn out for the FCA Spring Sebring meeting as upwards of 75
Ferraris were expected and I'd estimate that to be correct.
The meet included a black F-50 from Louisiana which was the first exampleI've
ever seen in person. This was very exciting of course but the driver was
passing other cars in the turns which is strictly verboten under club rules and
he was constantly being black flagged. The F-50 driver was apparently also
giving rides to friends and would take one lap then pit which grew rather
frustrating. On the track though, the F-50 definitely was the goods and sounded
great, very impressive stuff!
The owner of the F-50 also had a pristine example of a race version Shelby
Cobra which was rumored to be purchased for $4M on good authority. The car
appeared in traditional American racing blue with white stripes and apparently
has a very good lineage.
A few racing Ferraris appeared most notably an example of the 1981 F-1 car
(Villeneuve) which took a few laps. A 333-SP which Mike Colucci brought up but
was experiencing a bad misfire. Of course the majority of the cars were street
Ferraris which included new models such as 555 Maranello's, 456 GT/GTA
and several of the outstanding new 360 Modenas (a couple of which were
being given a very good thrash around the track) and three F-40s (two of which
were F-40/LM models).
There were also many examples of 355's, 348's, 308's, Testarossa's, etc. and
a few vintage models which rounded out the field nicely.
The day was interrupted by a lunch time rain shower which delayed things a
bit. The trackdried quickly enough and the cars took to the track later in the
afternoon with very nastylooking clouds brewing up towards the south which
were quickly approaching. Indeed, justas the field was released by the track
officials, a funnel cloud appeared which wasvery impressive (and) was spotted
with the help of some ambulance drivers who were apparently listening to their
scanners. The tornado never threatened the track and disappeared back into
the clouds. The cell dumped at least two inches of rain on the track which
brought the day's proceedings to an end.
Naturally, everyone drifted into the new trackside hotel for drinks which was
quite nice. The concours de elegance is today (Sunday) which I passed on in
favor of seeing the cars on the track where they belong.
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