Concorso Italiano–Opening Shots

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by Petya Elitch

Twenty five years ago, Francis “Frank” Mandarano began what has become known as the “Concorso Italiano.” Mandarano had previously started a club for Maserati owners, and a company to sell Maserati parts, and even a restoration shop, located outside of Seattle.
He published a high quality, collectible magazine, called “Viale Ciro Menotti,” having understood the truism that most car collectors will join a club mainly to get the magazine, but will seldom attend a club event. Despite this, he had the idea to host an event for Maserati owners, which was certainly not as obvious then as it might seem today. He chose Monterey, and the weekend of the Pebble Beach concours and the historic car racing event at the nearby Laguna Seca track (founded in 1973 by Steve Earle, who set the pace for everyone else that followed). At first, it was a small event, just for Maserati owners. After a few years at the Carmel Mission Inn, he moved to the prestigious Quail Lodge, between Monterey and Salinas, in Carmel Valley. This was a Mobil Four Star resort, and it was a Great Leap Forward. He opened up the event to other Italian car owners, but not initially to Ferrari owners, possibly apprehensive that they would dominate the event in any number of ways (and of course, this came to pass as time went by.)

From the beginning he was careful to choose a guest celebrity and a variety of themes around Italian cars. He also provided a fashion show for the spouses, opera singers, and other Italian-oriented themes which resonated with the audience. But there were more changes afoot.

Quail Lodge was bought by Peninsula Hotels from Ed Heber, the original developer. By then, Concorso Italiano entries and attendance had become so large that the show was inconveniencing the homeowners on the property. Concorso was on a year-to-year lease; it was not renewed. Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman of the company that owns Peninsula Hotels and a noted collector, formed a committee with Gordon McCall as the lead consultant, to start a new event more in keeping with a Peninsula Hotels property. The new event at Quail Lodge was named The Quail Motorsports Gathering and almost immediately established itself as the most sophisticated event of the week, but was limited to 3000 spectators and 100 cars and constitutes yet another major event for the Peninsula.

With Quail out of the picture, Mandarano moved CI to a golf course on the former Fort Ord, where the event continued. Mandarano ultimately sold to a new owner and because of constant construction traffic problems persisted. In 2008, the new owners relocated to a nearby airport originally built as Fritzche Army Air Field in the 1960s. This provided a different kind of ambience: a strong wind which blew dirt all over the cars, parked as though they were, well, in an airport parking lot. There was a backlash from the understandingly enraged exhibitors. CI reappeared under the ownership of Tom McDowell and was revitalized by a move to Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in 2009, where it was also held this year.

Concorso is bigger than ever. And big is the operative word here – it is clearly the largest Italian car show in the US, and probably in the world. This year there were at least nine themes, including 45 years of Bizzarrini, a Ferrari F40 reunion, a new Zagato prototype, and special guests Leonardo Fioravanti, Valentino Balboni, Tom Tjarda, Lili Bertone, and Michael Robinson, to name a few. Seven manufacturers were featured, and another seven designers. There were dozens of vendors, and special tents for individual car clubs. Yes, there were legions of Alfa Spiders and Ferrari 308’s, but there were also many, many rare and more obscure models. This year is the Alfa Centenary, and almost every postwar model was represented. There were so many Alfas that they may have out-numbered the Ferraris for the first time! Frank Mandarano has since gone on to other things, notably Mandarano Balsamic Vinegar Glaze and Sauce. But it must be said that Frank deserves full marks for his original vision.

The meet is very inclusive, and this means that non-Italian marques with Italian coachwork are welcomed. One of the most interesting sections of the show included the following: a wonderful 1965 Imperial limousine, handmade out of a convertible frame and coupe body by Ghia (one of ten), a Morgan with a Fiat 2 litre motor (Morgan subsequently made 100 of this version after they saw how successful it was), a Pegaso, a Citroen SM (with the same motor as a Maserati Merak) and a Triumph Italia, which was much more striking in person than in a photo. One of my favorites was a reproduction Alfa race car from around 1953; normally I am not tolerant of fakes, but this was built to such a high standard it was breathtaking. There was a special area for the Cadillac Allante, which did not seem out of place and other areas for BMW, Porsche, and Corvette, which smacked of revenue enhancement and did. But to use a phrase that one of my friends uses on women with a singular appearance, “as a package, it works.”

If you are visiting the Monterey Peninsula for what was once called the Monterey Historics (now called Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion…Steven Earle retains the rights to the name Monterey Historic Automobile Races) or the Pebble Beach show, then it would be logical to attend the Concorso. In fact, there are so many car activities that fill out the week that it is impossible to attend them all, even if you could somehow compress time, and could afford them. This last point is worth noting. If you attended all three shows with your significant other, and stayed for the week, you would be hard pressed to get out of there without your wallet being at least $2000 lighter not including any air or car fare.

The Monterey Peninsula is one of the more expensive venues in the US. This puts “going to a car show” in a whole new category than say, attending Hershey or Iola, but truly if you are a real car guy, it is something you must do at least once in your life.