The Ferrari Club of America held their 2002 National Meet in Los Angeles last week and there was something for everyone. On Wednesday, registration began at the Century Plaza Hotel, part of a huge 1960s development on the site of the old 20th Century Fox movie lot. Vendors were in place and each evening there were hors d'oeuvres and tasteful music in the Mercato area.

Thursday began early for the Concours Judges, but they didn't have far to go. Avenue of the Stars (this was Los Angeles, after all), right in front of the hotel was closed to traffic so Ferraris could be displayed in an urban setting, contrasting with the county club concours we have come to expect. The plantings and fountains of Avenue of the Stars made an impressive backdrop for over one hundred-fifty of Maranello's finest. The late fifties/early sixties open and closed classes were extremely well subscribed with Californias, Cabriolets and TDF and SWB coupes. Another group that caught the spectators' attention was the seven Super Americas, which included Peter Kalikow's spectacular Cabriolet. The crowds were large and enthusiastic, spilling out of the high-rise buildings nearby at lunch, after watching the goings-on from their office windows all morning.

John McCaw's 1957 Mille Miglia winning 315 S was given pride of place at the front door of the Century Plaza. The car went on to win Best Competition Ferrari and Best of Show.

The theme for this year's meet was 1950s competition cars and it was fitting that one of these won Best in Show. The winner was one of the most significant Ferrari competition cars of the 1950s, John McCaw's 315S. This car placed first at the last Mille Miglia in 1957 with Piero Taruffi driving. It then came to America where Phil Hill used it to win the Elkhart 500, the biggest U.S. sports car race of the day, except for Sebring.

Lee Herringon's 250 GT Pinin Farina Speciale was judged the Best GT and the Forza Award, for the best 1950s Ferrari went to Gordon Thomas' 340 America Ghia coupe. This car has a great California history. When owned by Tony Parravano, it was the first Lampredi-engined car to race in the Golden State and Jack and Ernie McAfee took it to a fifth in the 1952 Carrera Panamericana, an epic race run over five days from the Guatemalan border to Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

After scores were tallied, class awards were presented on the street. That evening, one had the choice of cocktails at the hotel or at the Barker Hanger at Santa Monica Airport, when RM Auctions hosted a preview of their Saturday sale. The evening's highlight was when the World War II Japanese Zero fighter plane was started up.

A plane takes off from the Santa Monica Airport as cars wait on the tarmac to take their turn on the block at the RM Auction at Barker Hanger. The Alfa 8C2300, "Nadine" and a Ginetta G4R are in the forground.

Friday's action began at Rancho Park, a few blocks from the hotel. Some Ferraristi were bound for Paramount Ranch, part of the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. This site served as a movie ranch back to the 1920s and was the scene of seven automobile races in 1956-7, two of which were won by Ferraris. While the rallyists pulled out, the judges remained, working on the Coppa Bella Macchina awards that recognize originality, authenticity and operability of the automobile. To qualify for this competition, a car must get a platinum award (minimum 95 points) in the Concours. Saturday morning was the second stage and the cars were checked while they were parked for operation of items such as the glove box latch and the ashtray covers. If they passed this inspection, the judge was taken for a ride so he/she could check the car in motion. Only three cars were able to win this award.

Tom Young is the Ranger from the National Park Service in charge of keeping the racing flame burning at the old Paramount Ranch, now part of the National Park system. Tom "recruited" some help from a juvenile detention center down the road and had them pull all the weeds from the section of track shown so the FCA rally participants could get a better feel for what the course was like. The car is John Mozart's 860 Monza.

Those taking part in the Rally went the length of Sunset Boulevard to the ocean and then proceeded along the Pacific Coast Highway until turning away from the water and onto roads leading into the mountains. The route included the Mulholland Highway, a long-time training ground for would-be racers. Upon arrival, the participants enjoyed a fine lunch at Paramount Ranch. The property is mostly used for hiking and horseback riding, but still has a Western town that is used for film work. Ranger Tom Young had arranged for part of the old track to be cleared of weeds and there was a display of pictures from Paramount's racing era.

Friday evening featured a dinner at the Petersen Automotive Museum in the mid-Wilshire district. Bruce Meyer had organized an auction to benefit the 11-99 Foundation that assists widows and orphans of members of the California Highway Patrol. Bruce really scored a coup when he secured a Ferrari 360 from Auto Gallery for the auction, so the night's take for this most worthy of enterprises was high. Rally and Coppa Bella Macchina awards were then presented. After that, former World Champion Phil Hill gave an insider's view of European racing in the 1950s with a wonderful slide presentation that went into the late hours.

Bruce Meyer's ex-von Neumann TRC was having some work done, but came to the Concours anyway. It got as much attention as most of the completed cars.

One had to choose between competing events on Saturday. The contestants in the Coppa GT competition, having won Coppa Bella Macchina awards, faced a third hurdle. They had to drive their cars on the road race course at Fontana Speedway, accompanied by an SCCA driving instructor, who passed judgment on their speed and smoothness. Only one car qualified for this highest of awards, Peter McCoy's 275 GTS.

Not all the cars at the auction were in concours condition. This Boano went for over $30,000 with buyer's premium and taxes.

Others were back at the Barker Hanger for the RM Auction. First came over one hundred lots of Ferrari parts. There was spirited bidding with prices ranging from a Dino dash pod for $25 and a SWB engine at $55,000. The bidders moved on to what the wags described as "Donor's Row", a group of down-on-their-heels Ferraris that included a Boano, PF coupe, two GTEs and a 330 GT. These ranged from below $20,000 to the mid-thirties. The star of the show, "Nadine", an 8C2300 Alfa was bid to $300,000 that didn't approach the reserve. Another choice piece was "Woz", the Fiat 642 transporter that had performed its duties for both the Maserati and Scarab teams in the 1950s. A European Maserati collector took it home for just over $60,000. I hope I'm around when it arrives at a race meeting restored and disgorges some good Maserati competition cars. The auction ran from ten in the morning until late afternoon, allowing one of the few times in a hectic schedule for old friends to visit.

The event's keystone event was a banquet at the Century Plaza Hotel. The flower arrangements at each table told you when you sat down that this would be a memorable evening. A swing band added to the atmosphere. The major awards of the weekend were given, couples danced and adieus were said until the next time.

Seen in the auction line, the underhood details of this Alfa 6C 2500SS are just as beautiful as its Pinin Farina cabriolet body.

For those who hadn't had enough, there was more track time on Sunday. As the participants scattered worldwide, they knew they had been part of an imaginative program, flawlessly executed. One hates to mention names because of those who are left out, but the Executive Committee of Marv Landon, Chairman, Tom Brockmiller, Wally Clark, Bill Inglis and the late Marshall Leib did an outstanding job. Others who went the extra mile were Carlos Amato and Tino Mingori, the Rallymasters and Earl Gandel, Walter Meyer and Tex Otto, the "Graphics Police", who created a superb program and corporate identity for the meet. The Southwest Region, where so much Ferrari history has been made, did itself proud.