Concours Italiano
Carmel,
August 14, 1998
-
- The
youngest of the three events
- 172 Ferrari
- One owner
for the last 30 years
- Recently
reconstructed
- A reborn car
- Rare road cars
- Best of Show
- Etceteras
- The class
winners
-
- Every year in
mid-August, the area of Monterey in
California with its golf courses, palm
trees and scarcely wooded hills turns
into the Mecca for car- and oldtimer
enthusiasts.
 
- Each of the
three events taking place in just one
weekend are worth the trip. The longest
tradition does have the Pebble Beach
Concours d’Elégance that had been
hosted for the first time back in 1950.
The premier of the Monterey Historic
Automobile Races took place in 1974
– then still on the racetrack of
Pebble Beach. The youngest event of the
three is the Concours Italiano. The
gathering of Italian cars started its
life in 1981 when the Maserati Club
International (MCI) held their annual
Concours d’Elégance at the site of
the Quail Lodge Resort golf course in
Carmel Valley (where Clint Eastwood used
to be the mayor). The followers of the
"other marque from Modena" were
so impressed by the picturesque piece of
land they did host their annual event
there ever since. In 1987, the
Lamborghini and Bizzarini clubs joined
the MCI, and since 1991, members of the
Ferrari Club of America (FCA) take part
in the Concours Italiano as well. Since
then the organizers of the show usually
promote the Concours as "A
celebration of Italian style".
- Year by year,
the Concours Italiano has a particular
theme. In 1998, Alfa Romeo was the
featured marque, but this did not mean
that the other makes were forced into the
background. The turnout of Ferrari was
tremendous and included almost every
common model from the 212 Export to the
F50 and from the 550 Maranello to the 355
F1. The official list of participants
included 172 Ferrari entrants – many
of them had been invited by the regional
area groups "Pacific" and
"Southwest" of the FCA.
 
However, this
number did not include the cars brought to Quail
Lodge by commercial exhibitors. To name just one
among many, the Symbolic Motor Car Co. From La
Jolla, California turned up with some very rare
pieces from their stock, including the oldest
Ferrari present at Carmel, the 166 MM Berlinetta
Touring s/n 0060M.
- One of the
highlights was definitely the Dino 206 SP
s/n 018 – its participation in the
event was for sure a surprise even to
many experts.
  
- The
Drogo-bodied spyder had been owned since
1967 by the wealthy Italian privateer
racer Leandro Terra from the Pescara
area. Terra did enter the Dino in
countless races in the late 1960’s
prior to hiding it away in his garage for
years. For this reason, s/n 018 is
preserved in completely original
condition; even the stickers from the
scrutinizing sessions of the 1971 and
1973 editions of the Targa Florio are
still on the car! This sensational car
had been acquired by Symbolic some weeks
prior to the Concours Italiano.
 
- Another open
sports car that had come out of
Symbolic’s showroom was the 333 SP
s/n 019. This car took Giampiero Moretti
and his team to 1st in the
1998 24 Hours of Daytona and in the 12
Hours of Sebring. After his participation
in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Moretti sold
the car to Symbolic.
Another
undoubted highlight of the event was the 330 P3
s/n 0844, that might be designated as well as a
412 P. The mid-engined prototype looks back on an
eventful career: s/n 0844’s life started in
1966 as a works car of the Scuderia Ferrari.
Afterwards, Ferrari sold the car to Luigi
Chinetti’s N.A.R.T.; at that time, the works
cars differed in several aspects from the almost
identical cars built for customers.
  
 
For this reason,
the designation was changed from 330 P3 to 412 P
after the sale. The N.A.R.T. entered the car in
numerous races, and in 1967 s/m 0844 was part of
the legendary "photo finish" of the 24
Hours of Daytona. Late in the summer of the same
year, the roof of the car was chopped off during
a substantial conversion for racing in the CanAm
Series. The rare car kept the outfit of a
so-called "CanAm Spider" for three
decades. In spring of 1998, one decided to
convert s/n 0844 back to its original looks. At
the Concours Italiano, the freshly reconstructed
Berlinetta was shown to the public for the first
time.
Mike Sheehan
and Luigi Chinetti, Jr. Showed up with another
interesting car: 250 LM s/n 5149. Except the
history, there is not too much left on the car
that could be described as original. S/n 5149 is
the first of the 32 produced 250 LM, was shown at
the 1963 Paris Motor Show and was used for the
homologation of the type in motor racing.
 
In the hands of
various owners, the car had a quite
"exhausting" racing career that did end
with the almost total destruction of the car. In
the late 1980’s, the car was rebuilt in
Italy to the specifications of the 1963 Paris
Motor Show.
- An
interesting Ferrari road car present at
Quail Lodge was the 400 Superamerica
Coupé Aerodynamico of James Truitt. The
car, which was formerly owned by Enzo
Ferrari himself, has two serial numbers,
3097SA and 4031SA. The car had been
renumbered by the Factory, probably due
to exportation purposes.
 
- Another rare
Ferrari at the Concours Italiano: 250 GT
Cabriolet Series I s/n 0811GT, one of
just two right hand-driven examples
built.
- Many other
250 GTs, 275s, 330s, 365s, Dino and
Daytona were present as well – in
short, almost every single production
model since the 1960’s could be
seen.
- Several
owners did show up with their automotive
sweethearts on the podium to present it
to the jury. The majority of the Ferrari
were entered in the "1998 Vintage
Ferrari Concours"; only one of them
was eventually awarded with the Luigi
Chinetti Memorial Trophy – the lucky
winner was Arthur Zafiropoulo with his
365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider s/n 17069.
-
- Among the
other prizes of note were the Stan Nowak
Memorial Award for the most outstanding
GT Ferrari (275 GTB s/n 08225 of Ron
Busuttil) and the Phil Hill Award for the
Ferrari of exceptional historical merit
(250 GT Coupé Ellena s/n 0807GT of Cy
Yedor). Of course there was also a trophy
for the oldest Ferrari which was awarded
to Garry Roberts for his 212 Export
Berlinetta Tuboscocca s/n 0141T.
Another
important part of the Concours Italiano is a
large swap-meet where huge numbers of spare
parts, literature and memorabilia are on offer.
Definitely a place to spend many Dollars,
especially if one’s funds are not sufficient
to buy one of the historic race cars at
Symbolic’s display or a new Ferrari at the
display of Ferrari of San Francisco. Talking
about money: The entry fee for the Concours
Italiano per spectator is 35,-$. The price
includes a color program that helps to keep up
the appetite for next year’s Concours
Italiano during cold winter evenings.
Text Gregor Schulz
Translation
Andreas Birner
- Class 1
- 250 GT and EARLIER
- Platinum 1957
250 GT Ellena Coupe s/n 0807 Cy Yedor,
Beverly Hills, CA
- Platinum 1961
250 GT PF Cabriolet s/n 2145 Jeffrey
Fisher, Palm Beach, FL
- Platinum 1963
250 GT Berlinetta Lusso s/n 4459 Roger
Groves, Monarch Beach, CA
- Class 2
- 275
- Platinum 1965
275 GTB s/n 07887 Neil Afromsky, Los
Alamitos, CA
- Platinum 1966
275 GTB s/n 08225 Ron Busuttil, Los
Angeles, CA
- Gold 1967 275
GTB/4 s/n 10303 Tino Mingori, Los
Angeles, CA
- Silver 1967
275 GTB/4 s/n 11063 Jeff Elghanayan,
Laguna Beach, CA
Class 3 - 330/365 - Platinum 1967
330 GTS s/n N 9781 Glenn Burkett, Alamo,
CA
- Gold 1967 330
GTC s/n 10575 Tim Pearson, Alamo, CA
- Silver 1967
330 GTC s/n 10313 James Ferris, Crystal
Bay, CA
Class 4 - 365 GTB/4 - Platinum 1971
365 GTB/4 s/n 14303 Larry Carter, Los
Gatos, CA
- Platinum 1971
365 GTB/4 s/n 14453 Steve Mattes,
Oceanside, CA
- Platinum 1973
365 GTB/4 Spyder s/n 16903 Thierry De
Mascureau, West Hollywood, CA
- Platinum 1973
365 GTB/4 s/n 17005 Robert N. Blair, San
Jose, CA
- Platinum 1973
365 GTB/4 Spyder s/n 17069 Art
Zafiropoulo, Atherton, CA
- Gold 1970 365
GTB/4 s/n 13231 Garry Roberts, Costa
Mesa, CA
Class 5 - 365 GTC/4 - Platinum 1972
365 GTC/4 s/n 15645 Michael Yedor,
Beverly Hills, CA
- Gold 1972 365
GTC/4 s/n 15891 Peter Llama Walnut Creek,
CA
Class 6 - 246 - Platinum 1972
246 GT s/n 03670 Dick Nolind, Sylmar, CA
- Platinum 1974
246 GTS s/n 08326 Robert Schenk, Los
Angeles, CA
- Silver 1972
246 GT s/n 03716 Arthur Miller, Santa
Barbara, CA
Class 7 - SUPERAMERICA and 2+2
- Platinum 1965
330 GT 2+2 s/n 7761 E. Jeffrey Barney,
Los Angeles, CA
- Silver 1961
400 Superamerica Coupe s/n 3097 SA Jim
Truitt, Carmel, CA
Class 8 - 308 - Platinum 1984
308 GTS QV s/n 51119 Brian Cott,
Danville, CA
- Platinum 1984
308 GTS QV s/n 51383 Sandra Cairncross,
Escondido, CA
- Gold 1980 308
GTSi s/n 31385 Carlos Amato, Los Angeles,
CA
- Silver 1979
308 GT4 s/n 15126 Vinnie Mandzak, Redondo
Beach, CA
Class 9 - Mondial - Platinum 1987
3.2 Mondial Cabriolet s/n 70943 Jeff
Benzing, Saratoga, CA
- Gold 1982
Mondial 8 s/n 39271 Douglas Agnew, Los
Gatos, CA
- Silver 1987
3.2 Mondial Cabriolet s/n 71505 Joe
DiNucci, Saratoga, CA
Class 10 - 328 - Platinum 1986
328 GTS s/n 61967 Richard Lynch, Rancho
Palos Verdes, CA
- Platinum 1988
328 GTB s/n 75593 Jack Guenza, San
Rafael, CA
- Platinum 1988
328 GTS s/n 79231 Lillian Kellogg, Los
Altos, CA
- Gold 1988 328
GTS s/n 75371 Peter Noce, Encino, CA
- Silver 1986
328 GTB s/n 65045 Luis Ashelford,
Lawndale, CA
Class 11 - 512 and Testarossa - Gold 1986
Testarossa s/n 65499 Tolman Geffs,
Trabuco Canyon, CA
- Silver 1988
Testarossa s/n 77835 Mitch House Walnut
Creek, CA
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