Part II, redux: Michael Lynch had contacted me for a photo of my Wednesday, August 14 "Motorworks Revival" event at the Monterey Airport. I was unable to respond quickly enough, and see that the article is already out. Attached is an overview shot from last year.. Hope you can still insert it into the story. Best, Gordon McCall

September 12, 2002
by Michael T. Lynch

Saturday
If you really hustle after the races on Saturday, you can make it to Lincoln’s reception at the Automotive Fine Arts Society tent on the lawn at Pebble Beach in the late afternoon. The AFAS was founded in 1983 and this was their 17th Annual show at Pebble and includes juried awards. You have to be invited to join the AFAS and there are a limited number of members, so this could one day lead to a murder mystery. If you’re invited to the reception, it’s a tremendous advantage, because by the time the tent is open to the public on Sunday, many of the best paintings have those pesky little sold stickers on them.

The American Bugatti Owners Club Dinner at the Stonepine Resort. Dusk descends on the new Bugatti Veyron as it sits in the courtyard of Chateau Noel. Credit: David Woodhouse

Just down the Carmel Valley Road from Bernardus, the Chateau Noel was built on a high overlook by San Francisco’s Crocker banking family in the 1920s. It is now the centerpiece of a 3,300 acre property, the Stonepine Resort, which offers multiple attractions but is heavy on equestrian activities. In the courtyard of this magnificent French villa, guests at an American Bugatti Owners Club dinner crowded around the new Bugatti Veryon, named for the winning French driver at the 1939 Le Mans. While proud Volkswagen executives looked on, the crowd oohed and aahed over the sixteen-cylinder, one thousand and one horsepower supercar, which featured a black and red dual tone paint job reminiscent of a prewar Bugatti Atalante coupe. Gaping was followed by a superb Alsatian dinner from the easternmost region of France, where German and French culinary traditions meet, fitting tribute to the revival of a great French marque by a German company.

When road racing began in California, the guy with the biggest stable of Ferraris and Maseratis was Tony Parravano, a Los Angeles real estate developer. Drivers like Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles, Phil Hill and Jack McAfee all posted wins for Parravano. Today, his son, Ron, is an attorney in Monterey who inherited his father’s love of cars and drives a vintage Alfa. He attends all the weekend’s events, and he and a group of friends always volunteer at Pebble Beach. This year, one hesitates to say appropriately, they ran the Martini tent. Ron’s birthday always falls within a few days of the Concours weekend.

Ron Parravano advise his wife, Michelle, how to place the ball to allow them to win another game of bocce. The competiton doesn't seem concerned as they sample the fruits of the family vineyard in the background. Credit: Parravano Family Collection

That calls for his wife, Michelle, to throw a party at their Carmel Valley home, where a bocce ball court and vineyard provide the perfect setting for an Italian family gathering. A few glasses of wine with characters as diverse as vintner and tie maker Robert Talbott and Ron’s uncle Curt Lappen, who accompanied Tony to the Ferrari factory back in the fifties, guarantees some great conversation. The food and wine are what one would expect from a family that succeeded in the New World, but never forgot their Italian roots. The only problem is getting up early enough the next day to get to Pebble Beach before the masses descend.

Sunday

	The ATR has it’s posters and jacket patches, as well as a private website.

After the Concours and the races on Sunday, Kansas City-based Age and Treachery Racing holds its Cool Off Lap party at a house in Pebble Beach. Dick Carlson began the organization back in the early eighties and ran his Lotus Elite at Monterey in 1985-86. He fell in love with the area and continued to return. ATR is now known as much for its high jinks as for its racing record. One of their practices is to award drinking establishments that meet their criteria with “ATR Approved Pub” plaques. They update the plaque every few years, assuring a constant calendar of installation ceremonies. ATR’s party is a wonderful place to wind down in an outside courtyard bordered by towering pines. Here the bent is literary. Writers present included Denise McCluggage, Tim Considine, Pete Lyons and Vintage Motorsport’s book reviewer, David Woodhouse. Burt Levy of “The Last Open Road” fame also had his mini-conglomerate of books, stickers, T-Shirts, etc. set up on the dining room table. ATR makes the Monterey Week their event of the year. To keep members on track, so to speak, they have a private web site that has their week’s schedule and over a dozen web cams including Point Lobos, the Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur, and the Monterey area weather radar.

Age and Treachery’s Sunday night Cool Off Lap Party in Pebble Beach. Denise McCluggage views Tim Considine as Considine views a laptop screen displaying images of the weekend's events. Credit: Dick Carlson Michael T. Lynch

Aftermath
Many domestic journalists remained in the area for the new Mercedes E-Class introduction, held in Monday/Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday waves at Bernardus. The journos had dinner at Bernardus on the first evening, then drove the cars the next day. The second evening’s dining was at Clint Eastwood’s amazing Tehama Golf Club, the clubhouse and course of which are built on one of the highest ridges in the coastal range. The views are forever and it’s best to be the guest of a member with a morning tee time, because it can get windy in the afternoon. Unprompted, Clint himself made an appearance and showed an amazing knowledge of various Mercedes and how they fit in their market segment.

With many visitors from overseas and back East, some weren’t ready to abandon California immediately after the Concours on Sunday. Some went North to the San Francisco Bay area where the Blackhawk Museum had a reception on Monday night. This year the museum displayed the work of Russian cabinet maker turned body-builder, Jacques Saoutchik. There were seven of his cars, built from 1926 to 1953. Also on view were twenty custom motorcycles by Arlen Ness.

Those who went south took in the Petersen Museum’s show of Million Dollar Automobiles. These included some of the greatest classics of all including a Teardrop Talbot, 8C2900B Alfa, Steve McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS, the Shah of Iran’s Bugatti 57C and a pre-war Mercedes W154/163 Grand Prix car.

Eleven days after the first wave of racers arrived for the Pre-Historics, enthusiasts were still returning to destinations around the world. The best part is that they can do it all over again next year and there will be a whole new set of cars to see and parties to attend. See you there.