Volume 6, Issue 2 - March/April 1999

A Ferrari Formula One Reunion Honoring Champion Phil Hill

beverly hills, ca - american world champion honored with comemmorative watch

on thursday, march 4th on rodeo drive, the largest collection of ferrari formula one cars ever to be assembled in north america united in tribute to american racing champion and californian, phil hill.

hill won the 1961 grand prix world driving championship, the ultimate competition for racecar drivers, in the ferrari 156. hill was the first american to ever win the championship and his impressive record was unchallenged for 17 years until it was won by the only other american to win, mario andretti.

the ferrari formula one reunion was sponsored by girard-perregaux, luxury swiss watch manufacturer, ferrari of beverly hills and hosted by the city of beverly hills. those in attendance were thrilled to see ferrari formula one cars spanning nearly 50 years drive down exclusive rodeo drive before the throng of shoppers appear at 8:30 in the morning.

gino macaluso personally presented phil hill with the first of girard-perregaux?s limited series 156 f.1 chronographs made in tribute to phil hill.

luminaries such as mayor les bronte of beverly hills, gian luigi buitoni, president ferrari north america; giacomo mattioli, president, ferrari of beverly hills; gino macaluso, owner of girard-perregaux; ronald jackson, president, girard-perregaux usa and of course, honored guest phil hill attended this special curbside ceremony.

phil was grateful for being honored with such a fabulous watch. upon taking the podium to say a few words, he proudly counted off the correct time to the audience.

it was great to see the largest gathering of ferrari formula one cars on display. a number of club members arrived early in anticipation of the event, watching as ferrari of beverly hills delivered a number of the cars to rodeo drive. this presentation on thursday preceeded the fna/fca track event that weekend at willow springs raceway for the f355 challenge series where the f1 cars of various eras were allowed to exercise their muscles.

President's Corner

by: wally clark

in the latest sempre there was a small notice that the club has a new office address and phone number. i want to expand on that a little - member demetri zafiris has volunteered his office in the san fernando valley to serve as the new club office. on behalf of the club, i'd like to thank judd goldfeder for providing the club office and a special thanks to tammy miller for acting as the club "secretary." the board made the decision to move the club office to the los angeles area which is more the center of our membership base.

i just attended the fca annual board meeting in orlando as your regional director and here are some up-dates. the club is strong nationwide with over 4300 members and 13 regions. the board voted to increase the national dues from $80. to $85. a year. as a region, we will keep our dues the same $35., so the yearly dues will be $120 with your renewals. ron profili was nominated for president, succeeding doug freeman who has served since 1995.

member jeff littrell is in the process of up-dating the club web site. we are changing the host to hostworks, which also handles the fca national and fna web sites. we will have a new fca-sw web address and will publish it soon.

don't forget the 1999 fca annual meet which is in atlanta at the chateau elan winery and resort. see the fca national monthly news bulletin for a sign up form or call (770) 217-2500.

Willow Springs Track Event

presented by ferrari north america and ferrari of beverly hills

by: tex otto, photos: marshal leib

the teaser of the ferrari formula one cars on rodeo drive only hinted of what was to come later that weekend. nearly every significant tipo of scudera gp cars were presented at blustery willow springs on march 5,6 & 7. flat-twelves, v-twelves, turbo-sixes and the added highlight of seeing, hearing (and cerebrally feeling) m. schumacher?s v-ten 1998 car were but a few of the highlights of a great weekend. other race activities included the f355 challenge races as well as the vintage challenge series.

saturday was a bright and sunny day, although the customary wintery desert breeze kept the not so brave searching for shelter from the crisp wind. among the colorful roster of race prepared f355 are steven earle and tommy hilfiger. the challenge cars practiced and then ran their race, which was won by matthew drendel.

as noontime arrived, the vintage ferraris made laps around the challenging course. the sights and sounds of a competition 206, 312p, 512, 308lm, 250 tdf, 550 gt1 and a daytona among others around willow inspired us all. many realized the significance of this gathering of cars and all cherished the opportunity to experience the weekend for themselves.

a few people in the paddock area (yours truly included) had an interesting and temporarily mind-altering moment while schumacher?s v-10 was being warmed up . the warm up procedure is quite extensive on exotic racing machinery. everything needs to at operating temperature so that designed specifications are met during the operation of the engine and transmission. those people that thrive on the sound of sophisticated machinery received a ear and brainful of perhaps the most intense man-made sound and feeling at the end of this warmup.

minutes go by while the engine builds heat in the drive train. a group of enthusiasts listened to the v-10?s constant rev idle. then unexpectedly, the technician takes the engine from the loud but sadistically comfortable scream of 6-8000 rpm, to a few of instantious quick blips of the throttle of cranium jelling intensity. the engine revs up and back to idle so rapidly, so fluidly, that by the time you know you are hurting you can?t move. speaking for myself, it felt a little like a needle point drill going in one side of my head and not quite out the other side. definitely cleans out the ol? sinus cavities. it was great though:) just what the doctor ordered.

we thank all of the teams who participate in the f355 challenge series for carrying on the ferrari torch in north america, the many people involved who brought their formula one cars from long distances to show our u.s. grand prix deprived members what the top level of international motorsports competition and its machinery are all about. thanks also to the dedicated groups of vintage racers, many who are friends of the fca-sw region that honor the heritage and passion of ferrari.

Chino Air Museum

?planes of fame?

by: wally clark

we had 8 cars and 15 people tour the chino air museum on saturday, march 27. our group was given a special guided tour of the entire museum complex which consisted of five buildings. the museum has many vintage flying airplanes and we were able to see the ?flying wing? taxi out and take off for an air show in riverside. the museum also has the only flying japanese zero left in the world.

for those of you that weren?t able to come check out the museum in person, visit their web site at www.planesoffame.org and see what you missed.

Grand Touring Cars Open House

article by: jim riff, photos by: christian roe

on march 27, the phoenix area held its second event of the season at gtc, grand touring cars of scottsdale arizona.

our host harley cluxton, graciously opened his shop and museum for the ferrari club?s dinner social. thirty one ferraris attended, ranging from a tdf to a new 355f1. dinner was held in gtc?s lavish service area and tables were nestled next to three cobra daytona coupes, p4, 275gtb/4s, swb california, and others. a grand italian dinner was provided by sharkos, a former chicago eatery now located in the valley. the gtc collection of gran prix and indy/cart open wheel cars were also on display, along with extensive automotive art work collection from lemans and the gran prixs of the world.