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2000 Cavallino Classic
Pirro.com

10/6/2021, 6:33:54 AM cet

Driving School
The first day of the event was a special driving school at Moroso Motorsports Park for a limited number of participants, with tuition by Derek Bell, Justin Bell, Brian Redman, and Bill Adams. After this event registration commenced at the magnificent Breakers Hotel on the Atlantic Ocean in West Palm Beach. The Moroso Motorsports Park was the main venue for the next two days, with free laps for the entrants, interspersed with practise periods and races for the first Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series gathering of the new century. It attracted the largest entry for the USA series too date, although there were a few non starters, mainly in the drum brake cars race. In this 11 lap race, there was an initial battle for the lead between Peter Sachs in his Ferrari 335S and the pre-war single seater Maserati 8CM of Peter Giddings. These two swopped places frequently in the opening laps until the 335S was into its stride, whereafter Peter Sachs pulled away to a comfortable victory, with Ed Davies in his 375 MM spider taking the third place on the podium, ahead of John Devine in his 500 Testa Rossa, and Leslie Davies in her 250 GT LWB TdF berlinetta. Further down the field, Stephen Dudley put in a sterling drive in his beautifully scruffy 166/195 Inter Vignale coupe to lead home more modern and larger engined machinery.

Historic Challenge
The 14 lap disc brake race brought out a large field that included five 512 BB/LMs and a 365 GT/4 BB NART variant, to do battle with Brian Redman in the 712 CanAm, and Mike Colucci in Leslie and Ed Davies 512M. Add in a 308 GTB/M, a 365 GTB/4C, a trio of 250 GT SWB Comp. berlinettas, a pair of 250 Testa Rossas, a 250 LM, and a 250 GTO, and you had a very broad and interesting span of nearly twenty five years of Ferrari sports racing and GT heritage. Throughout the race it was the duo of Brian Redman and Mike Colucci, in 712 CanAm and 512M respectively, that headed the field, swopping the lead continuously throughout the race to provide a great spectacle for the crowds, with the 712 CanAm eventually taking the chequered flag 0.265 seconds ahead of the 512M. These were chased home by a quartet of Le Mans Boxers, with the 512 example of Ed Davies taking third ahead of Tod Morici's similar car, followed by Bob Coates in his 365 GT/4 BB NART model, and Dominick Dobson's 512. Having seen these awesome, noisy and colourful Le Mans contenders of yesteryear in action, it occurs that unfortunately at present there is no suitable category for them to race in Europe. They provide such a great spectacle, that we can only hope that they may eventually be allowed to participate in the European Historic Challenge series, as their performance appears in keeping with the sports prototypes that currently participate. For those who wanted a respite from circuit activity, there was a tour of Palm Beach road rally on Friday morning, that proved very popular, and also contributed to the concours judging points. The rally ended with lunch at the circuit, so participants were there in time to catch the two Historic Challenge races, and get more track driving in, if the morning run hadn't provided enough. A bonus at the circuit was the chance to see Derek Bell putting in some quick demonstration laps in Todd Morici's 1968 312 F1, a car that he had originally driven for the factory thirty two years earlier.

Concours on the Croquet Lawn
After the circuit activity and noise, calm and quiet returned to the meeting on Saturday, for the concours on the croquet lawn and part of the Breakers golf course. With around one hundred and fifty cars in the concours and on display, it was a full day in the beautiful sunshine to take everything in, and that was without taking the general parking areas into account, where even more Ferraris abounded. As a guest judge, my time was even more limited, due to the pre concours judges meeting, and the morning spent as part of the judging team for the 275 - 330 class. However, it was an extremely interesting and worthwhile experience, as you look at a car in a completely different and much more intense way than as a casual observer. At the end of the day, with the general presentation to a very high standard, I am convinced that we made the right decision in giving a platinum award to the 275 GTB/4 of James Page. Refreshingly this was not painted red, but finished in its original hue of pale metallic blue. A gala awards dinner was held in the evening in the Ponce de Leon ballroom at The Breakers, with the Cavallino Cup for the overall Best of Show going to Jon and Mary Shirley's 166 MM barchetta, resplendent in its 1948 Spa 24 Hours winning livery. This car had also seen plenty of track activity in the preceding two days. Another award winner worthy of mention was the 250 GT SWB berlinetta of Charles Betz and Fred Peters, that picked up a Coppa SWB award after being driven all the way from California, and that was taking the same way home, a real endurance run in the true spirit of Ferrari.

Funds for Charity
The final day of the meeting took place at the exclusive Mar-a-Lago club a little way down the coast in West Palm Beach. This exotically decorated and architecturally extravagant building is owned by Donald Trump, who attended the champagne lunch held in a marquee in the grounds adjacent to the main house. After lunch an art auction was held to raise funds for charity, with a varied selection of original works from renowned motoring artists. One of the most bizarre items was a pair of "Ferrari" clogs, donated by Dutch brothers Edvar and Arvid van Daalen, that raised a surprising and welcome 550 dollars.
So the event drew to a close as the final participants drove off the manicured lawns of Mar-a-Lago, to wend their way home in the warmth of the beautiful January Florida sunshine. For those of us who had travelled from Europe, and those from the northern part of the USA, it had been a welcome respite from the winter months, with the Ferrari appetite satiated by an eclectic array of fine examples of the marque, to keep us going until our summer arrives.

375 MM Pinin Farina Spyder s/n 0372AM
335 S s/n 0700
500 TR Spider Scaglietti s/n 0622MDTR
712 CanAm s/n 1010
365 BB/NART s/n 18139
512 BB/LM s/n 35527
512 BB/LM s/n 31589
2000 Cavallino Classic
166 MM Barchetta Touring s/n 0010M
250 GT SWB Berlinetta s/n 2985GT
Mar-A-Lago

Palm Beach, 23 January 2000

Driving School
Historic Challenge
Concours on the Croquet Lawn
Funds for Charity

The Cavallino Classic, now in its ninth year, has grown in stature and size to become one of the major annual Ferrari gatherings worldwide. It provides a sunny haven for Ferrari owners and enthusiasts during the bleak winter in the northern states, and also attracts a strong European contingent for a winter sun break. With around three hundred Ferraris in attendance, spanning virtually the complete production period, there was something for every taste.

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Text Keith G. Bluemel
Photo Andreas Birner

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