Michael T. Lynch
Pictures copyright Michael T. Lynch
Quiet elegance at The Quail with people enjoying their luncheon at
proper tables. Every sportsman needs a Dino 206 for the road and a
helicopter when the traffic becomes too much.
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Every ten years, Steve Earle anoints Ferrari as the Honored Marque at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. This sets off a tumbling of dominos as other events cash in on Ferrari Fever. Monterey Week (formerly The Monterey Weekend) is always best attended when Ferrari is there. VeloceToday viewers will want to make their reservations early or they could risk spending their time commuting from somewhere as remote as the Swayback Inn in Hollister, which has Ivory soap in the shower and no espresso machine in the lobby. One should also prepare financially, since the prestige of the marque often affects the gouge factor on the Monterey Peninsula. Explain to the kids that they'll have to make do with public school just for the 2004-2005 school year.
While area roads and parking spaces will be overrun by growling cars carrying the prancing horse logo, here is a schedule with some suggestions as to where VeloceToday viewers can see Ferraris en masse.
There are few places where a field of pre-war cars of this
magnitude race. Monterey is one of them. Rob Walton's Maserati 8CL is
painted in the colors of Argentine Raul Riganti, who raced it at
Indianapolis in 1940.
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Thursday 12 August.
Pebble Beach Concours entrants will again be extended invitations for the Tour d’Elegance. This low-speed ramble will begin at the Polo Field at 9:00 AM and proceed through Monterey Peninsula communities. The turnout is good, because if two Concours entrants are tied on Sunday, taking part in the tour can be a tiebreaker. Because of additional Ferrari classes at the Concours this year, there will be more Ferraris on the Tour than usual. One of the best places to see the cars when they are stationary is on Ocean Avenue in Carmel. They are parked for several blocks on Carmel's main street while the drivers enjoy a sit down lunch in Devendorf Park around 1:00 PM. A fairly detailed description of the route of the Tour can be found at www.pebblebeachconcours.net
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Friday 13 August.
Two events will show Ferraris in different settings. The Concorso Italiano will have the Cavallino Classic for Ferraris within its larger show of all Italian Marques. This is a veritable festival for lovers of Italian cars, with some rare Italian motorcycles as well as opera performances and a fashion show thrown into the mix. Two of the event's themes are Dino Ferraris and the fiftieth anniversary of the Alfa Guilietta. The Ferrari turnout should be fabulous. The Dinos will be judged to Ferrari Club of America standards. This will allow their owners to hopefully catch any point-costing glitches in their preparation before the Ferrari Club of America International Concours held the following Tuesday as part if the FCA Annual Meet. The remainder of the Ferraris will be the subject of honorary judging by famous Ferrari personalities on the grounds, ranging from drivers to designers to bodybuilders. There will be six to ten awards decided upon by this distinguished panel. Concorso Italiano information is available at
www.concorso.com.
At the Concorso Italiano, the cars can be wild, wacky, weird or
wonderful, as long as they're Italian. This is one of the wonderful ones.
Larry Auriana's Maserati 300S scurries across the field on the way to
driving between the packed grandstands.
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Also on Friday, the second edition of The Quail, will take place at the Quail Lodge. Adjoining the grounds of The Quail, a large group of Ferrari owners will have their cars parked together on the field near the Bonham's and Butterfield's auction tent. This will be a low-key social event with no judging, which will allow the owners to enjoy each other's company and cars. It will also allow Quail attendees to see a wide selection of Ferraris and to engage the owners in conversation regarding the various models.
The Quail will continue its concept of a limited number of significant cars – about one hundred-fifty -- and its garden party, non-commercial atmosphere. This year’s admission is all-inclusive and attendees won't have to go into their pockets once they enter the grounds. Entry includes lunch and a catalog allowing admission to the Bonham’s tent to view the to-be-auctioned cars during the day and attend the auction Friday evening. The luncheon will be an elaborate affair with serving areas representing the cuisines of major sporting car producers, Germany, France, Italy. A fourth station will feature the Carmel's spin on California Cuisine. This is to celebrate the Monterey area’s grape and organic vegetable production which is contributing to the peninsula’s reputation as a culinary center rivaling the Napa Valley. Besides the wares of several prominent local chefs, there will be a premium selection of local wines and craftsman beers.
The Quail’s 2004 theme will be the Mille Miglia, the legendary open road race run from Brescia to Rome and back between 1927 and 1957. Since Ferrari won eight of the eleven Mille Miglias they entered, there should be some special Ferraris represented.
The Quail's judging standards will remain the same. Class entrants will choose the winner of their class and all entrants will vote for Best of Show. There may also be some other awards.
Quail information is available at
www.quaillodge.com/press.cfm
An offbeat Bugatti, the morning mist, gawkers and judges and the
bay in the background -- quintessential Pebble Beach.
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Saturday 14 August.
With Ferrari vintage racers from all over the world waiting for another Ferrari year at Monterey since 1994, the entry will be exceptional. Ferrari fans hope to see their favorite car win a race this year. If one does, it will be the first time since 1997 when Phil Hill won in Bruce McCaw’s 375 Mille Miglia, which Phil drove to second in the 1954 Carrera Panamericana. In the early years of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Ferraris were a potent force, but vintage racing has evolved. The value of a Ferrari lies in its originality while less expensive cars are modified to make them faster, and brilliant conceptions of the past that were never developed in their day now have hundreds of thousands invested to make them perform as their designer envisioned. Steve Earle does have a way with grids, so we should see some Ferraris at least in the leading group. In Earle’s vision of vintage racing, winning isn’t supposed to be as important, and just seeing so many historic Ferraris on the track will be reward enough for most Ferraristi.
One way to make sure there is a Ferrari win is to have an all-Ferrari race. After the critical and public success of the all-Bugatti race last year, an all-Ferrari event is being considered, but plans have not yet been finalized. The Monterey Historic Automobile races are a weekend event, and there is a full schedule of racing on both Saturday and Sunday. If you can pull yourself away from the track, there will be a designated Ferrari parking area in the infield. For more information, including entries when they are announced this summer, go to www.montereyhistoric.com.
Sunday 15 August.
The Grande Dame of the weekend, the Pebble Beach Concours, will have at least four Ferrari classes in 2004 as opposed to the street and competition classes of last year. How the classes will be arranged is yet to be determined, but one will be for competition cars with major victories. There will also be the usual special display of dream cars, styling exercises and prototypes on the pre-lawn, in front of the entry to the Lodge. Which Ferraris will be part of this display is still in the planning stage, but one can be sure there will be some commercial value for the men from Maranello. Whatever is decided, people at the highest levels of the Ferrari concours world assure me that this will be the most impressive display of Ferraris in the over-fifty-year history of Pebble Beach.
A Carmel pine shades a Bugatti, while the White Delahaye floats
like a spaceship in a pool of light. Other Bugattis are behind as the
owners have lunch along the Pebble Beach Tour.
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Monday 16 August.
Ferrari Club of America members will have a choice of activities on Monday. There will be a rally passing through many Monterey area communities. For the route, consult with some of the Ferrari owners you come across over the weekend. Monday will also be the first of three track days at Laguna Seca for the club. The focus will be a drivers' school to familiarize the participants with the track. The schedule for all FCA events during the week is available at
www.fca2004.com.
Tuesday 17 August.
The Ferrari Club will hold its Annual Meet Concours at the Quail Lodge. This, and the Cavallino Classic held in January in Palm Beach, are the two most prestigious Ferrari-only concours in the country. Because of the Ferrari year, this will be one of the greatest collections of significant Ferraris in history. The theme is Ferrari prototypes and many of these ultra-rare cars, some of which will have been raced at Laguna Seca, will be present.
Wednesday 18 August.
The FCA will be back at Laguna Seca for slow and high speed tours and practice and qualifying for the Ferrari 360 Challenge.
Thursday 19 August.
This will be the final track day and the end of the celebration. The finale will be the Ferrari 360 Challenge races, pitting gentleman drivers against each other in slightly modified versions of Ferrari's most popular street car.
The Auction Scene.
While Ferraris are a small percentage of the cars auctioned during Monterey Week, there will be more than usual this year and significant cars will engender some exciting bidding. A depressing aspect will be the all-time low value of the Dollar vs. the Euro. This makes American Ferraris cheap and you can expect the auctions to be jammed with English and Continental dealers hoping to cram containers full of cars to export. The auction schedule is jammed from Thursday the 12th through Sunday the 15th.
Thursday
Christie's at the Monterey Jet Center. One advantage of Christie's timing is that if you arrange your affairs properly, you can drive away the new toy you purchase at Christie's on Thursday night, and show it off during the biggest collector car week of the year. No matter what the weather, this auction will be snug in the tastefully decorated hanger at the Jetport.
Ferrari Touring for sale at a Bonham's Auction--there will be many
more up for bids at the Monterey weekend this year.
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Friday
Bonham's and Butterfield's at the Quail Lodge, Kruse at Concorso Italiano, RM Auctions at the Doubletree, Russo and Steele at the Marriott. Friday is really overkill, and although the hours don't all overlap, only the real auction junkies, like VeloceToday's auction guru Rick Carey, will make all four.
Saturday
RM at the Doubletree, Russo and Steele at the Marriott. Things are somewhat calmer on Saturday, but one must choose between muscle cars and more sporting machinery.
Sunday
Pebble Beach Auction (Gooding & Company) at the Polo Field. One of the prestige auctions of the weekend and David Gooding will be out to make an impression for his new company. This one comes on an evening after a week of road tours, racing, concours, private parties and auctions, and some of the patrons appear a bit glassy-eyed after their first glass of wine.
There will be more events than ever during Monterey Week 2004, and prospective attendees would be wise to plan well in advance and to carefully pace themselves, especially if they are expect to be alert for the four extra days of Ferrari goings-on this year, beginning the day after the Pebble Beach Concours. I’ll see you around the circuit, but I apologize in advance for not being able to chat for long. Gotta run to the next event. I hear there’s a Ferrari there that no one’s seen for over thirty years. Some dude drained his swimming pool and hid the car under the pool cover so his ex-wife couldn't find it. When he passed away, the kids pulled back the cover and put it up for auction.
