Volume 6, Issue 6 - November/December 1999

17th Annual Newport Beach Concours d?Elegance

article and photos by wally clark

it was a beautiful day along the newport coast, where over 200 cars graced the pelican hill golf club driving range for this years version of the newport concours. a fine display of ferraris glittered in the sunshine. the featured marque was packard and their 100th anniversary. the surprise of the day was a fly-by of an authentic wwii p-51 mustang, which is powered by a packard built merlin v-12 engine. needless to say, this brought the large crowd to a standstill!

honorary co-chairmen (and announcers) were phil hill and ken vaughn, who for many years owned hill & vaughn, the prestigious restoration shop. phil, while no stranger to ferrari, is also an avid packard admirer.

also on the field was a display of vintage and contemporary hot rods, led by fca member dave sydorick?s boyd-built alumacoupe. the race car class was to be seen and heard-fca member chuck lamb had his mclaren m8d can-am car there which was fired up at regular intervals throughout the day.

winner of the race car class was the 1949 ferrari 166 formula libre car of symbolic motors brought by bill noon. overall best of show went to the 1939 packard 1708 sport phaeton of general william lyon.

the ferrari class winners were:

President's Corner

by marv landon

the club is in good standing with membership at 537 as of october 1, 1999. at our last couple of board meetings we adopted new policies, some of which are:

the newsletter will have an absolute mailing date that will not be altered for any reason. in the past we have adjusted the publishing date for any number of reasons which now will not happen.

we have created new financial reports to include budgets for all expense areas.

an endowment fund with the interest income being donated to charity is now in place.

we will show our calendar for a rolling 12 months, allowing for better membership planning.

we are working to raise a fund to acquire a trailer that will act as our club center for display at all events. if you would like to help us with this project, call fred bogardus at 310-410-1022.

the 2002 national is to be hosted by the fca southwest region and chaired by michael yedor. the event is getting in full swing and he needs help. so if you can volunteer, we can use your participation.

walter meyer and carlos amato are creating our vision statement to connect to our mission statement, look for this soon.

we continue to have board meetings on saturday, the second of each month, and invite you to come and participate in planning the future of the fca southwest region.

marv landon

Hot Fun in the Desert

article and photos by tino mingori

it seems that each fall the early weeks of october bring at least one unseasonable heat wave to southern california. this year three digit temperatures were predicted for october 8-10, 1999, the weekend of the 1999 fca death valley drive. nevertheless, the early hours of october 8 found a number of ferrari owners from southern california, central california and nevada slipping into their driving shoes and filling up their water bottles in preparation for a three-day excursion into the desert heat.

most of us began the tour with a 150-mile freeway drive from ontario to baker, home of the world's largest thermometer. most, but not all: right at the start, the computer gremlins were cruel to stan walch when his pretty yellow 355 spider had to be flatbedded back to beverly hills ferrari for the security system to be reprogrammed. ken float and ron singer waited for the flatbed with stan and tried to help diagnose the problem. seeing that everything possible was being done, the rest of us motored on to baker. ken and ron followed in due course, but stan was sidelined for the weekend.

the best part of the drive to death valley is the segment between baker and the furnace creek inn. this year's trip was trouble free and exhilarating. it provided ample opportunity for everyone to experience the true meaning of grand touring. the slanting rays of the afternoon sun illuminated the multicolored hills and canyons that guided our approach to death valley and the historic furnace creek inn. upon our arrival we were directed to reserved parking in what may be the lowest ferrari parking lot in the known world. after the engines fell silent, we moved into some of the warmest luxury hotel rooms to be found anywhere. earlier that day electric power to the inn had been accidentally cut while repairing a water line. this allowed hotel guests to experience what desert life was like in the days before air conditioning. the bar area had emergency power (good thinking), so cold beer could be had for a price.

as dusk approached, our freshly showered crowd of city dudes boarded a horse drawn hay wagon that carried us down tamarisk-lined lanes to our outdoor barbecue in the date grove. there was still a bit of daylight when we arrived to the sounds of charlie broten and fiddlin' pete sawin' away on their fiddles. yahoo! everyone had a chance to cure his or her thirst at the bar, and then we enjoyed a tasty barbecued meal cooked over an open fire. charlie and pete continued to weave their magic by singing and playing with considerable skill on guitar, mandolin and fiddle. as a special treat, they performed for the very first time their original composition entitled ferrari. this song was written two days previously using phrases picked up on the web. the words were read off their palm pilot as they sang. after acknowledging our cheers and whoops, pete and charlie returned to their traditional cowboy repertoire as the evening wound down. a few choruses of "goodnight irene" brought this memorable evening to a pleasant conclusion.

nighttime at the inn is one of the most magical times. the air is still warm, and as you move away from the lights you can view a display of stars not available to those of us living in the city. the only sounds that break the absolute quiet are those of the natural creek burbling through the hotel grounds and the palm fronds rustling in the breeze. once in your room you can drift off to restful sleep with charlie and pete's rendition of ferrari repeating softly in your mind.

under blue skies on october 23-24, 1999, 225 classic racing and touring cars hit the pavement at the naval air station, north island in coronado on an 11-turn, 1.6 mile track in front of a reported 20,000 spectators. with almost more sponsors than entrants - the culligan holiday bowl, chrysler-jeep, thrifty car rental, and a separate sponsor for each of the 8 group winners - the event was a typical southern california happening, with the ocean in the background and f-18's in formation playing overhead. from the looks of things, everyone had a good time.

Santa Barbara Airshow/Vintage Auto Races at Goleta

article by steven tillack photos by pete vanlaw

following is a steve tillack reminiscence, prompted by his participation in the air show and commemorative sports car races at goleta airport near santa barbara on october 17.

this little vignette has to begin with my dad, the electronics wizard. now known for their computers, packard bell was one of the first companies to begin manufacturing televisions in the late 40's. in 1950 my dad became the head of engineering at packard bell. in 1951 he set up the transmitter for santa barbara's new channel 3 television station and became the packard bell distributor for the broadcast area serviced by channel 3. in '52, we moved to a small citrus ranch in goleta.

he did a lot of traveling, so for as long as i can remember i have been in and out of airports and always had a passion for airplanes. but in 1953, what i thought was going to be a routine "drop dad off at the airport run" proved to be one of the most significant events of my then five and a half year old life.

that morning is as clear in my mind now, as the day it happened. we backed the new chevy station wagon up against a row of hay bales, flopped the tail gate down and spread out a blanket in the back of the wagon. i took up position on the tailgate and much to my surprise, delight and everlasting corruption, watched my first sports car race.

orwin middleton a long time s.b. resident developed a plan to stage a re-creation of the santa barbara road races during the air show this year. when he called to ask me if i could bring a few old race cars, there was no hesitation. from the first lap i don't think i stopped grinning for the rest of the day. the only thing that could make this day better for me would have been to persuade cy yedor into driving one of my cars. you see, cy won the main event in '53.

(editors note: steve possibly stopped grinning for a moment during a little "twilight zone" experience early in the day when he and several other drivers went out for practice. the course wasn't marked as well as it might have been, and 5 or 6 drivers got lost looking for it. as steve looked to his left, he saw an airplane coming in for a landing on the active runway the cars were now crossing! "ferrari hits plane, or vice-versa" was not a headline steve and the others would have wanted to experience first hand. thankfully no harm was done, as everyone got back and eventually found the course.)

South Coast Botanical Gardens Picnic and Show

article by don west

on september 26th, 1999, the ferrari club of america and the south bay pantera club got together at the lush green lawns provided by the beautiful south coast botanical gardens. twenty ferraris and as many panteras were on display which made for a great outing to have a car show and picnic.

as before, all of the cars were commingled in order of arrival so that we didn't have a "them and us" mentality. the ferrari owners all seemed to strive for originality whereas the panteras were all equipped with various modifications and upgrades resulting in some very interesting cars. all of the cars were immaculate in appearance and made a fine display. red was the predominant color as befitting their italian heritage.

the clubs provided complimentary iced soft drinks and water with many members bringing their own beverage of choice that originated in california and italy. as there was no judging, this kept the tension of the owners to a minimum.

look for the date of this event next fall and plan not to miss a relaxing afternoon with friends.

Guess Who's Santa

if you know who our mystery santa is, send your guess to our club office, and a prize from the fca-sw region will be awarded to the first correct answer.