Volume 7, Issue 2 - March/April 2000

FCA Ortega Run

by tom brockmiller

on saturday, february 26th, our group of forty ferraris met on a side street in san juan capistrano, much to the pleasant surprise of the local residents. we were blessed with a bright and sunny day, and the promise of a good run over "the hill" to temecula and thornton winery. with this many cars ranging from 330gt's to 550's and a "one day new" 360-f1 of the ekbergs, it's always difficult sending off so many cars on the open highway. i had a casual drivers meeting to inform the uninitiated of the reputation of highway 74 and its "collection of brothers." few heeded my remarks but all got over safely in groups of five without a mishap due in part to "civilian" traffic. the view coming down to beautiful lake elsinore was slightly impaired by a surreal mist; not to be enjoyed by the busy drivers as the road winds precipitously downhill. this highway offers reminders of the virginia city hill climb in reverse.

after joining the 15 freeway, it was an easy 70 mph cruise to the thornton winery where they had prepared their entire lower parking lot for our assemblage of ferraris. what a great sight this presented with the multi-colors of so many models sitting in front of the edifice of the winery. i wish i had a helicopter to take in the view.

we had arranged for our group to have a sit down buffet luncheon in the vineyard view room atop the winery. eighty good ferrari friends, intimately squeezed together enjoying a sumptuous selection of thornton's really great food. we apologize to those who sat in the patio but know they had a good time as well.

after lunch, some of the group went on the winery tour and others took a drive south to palma valley and julian. next year i will provide a specific run for after lunch that will still get most of you home before dark.

in fact, we have learned a lot about what most of you seem to enjoy. that is, saturday events that do not start too early, include a specific destination and lunch with three or four hours of interesting driving. i believe we can continue to offer these kinds of events. if any one of you would like to create your own event please contact me.

thanks to you all for coming and making it a great day. see you at the next one.

President's Corner

by marvin landon

i received a call from f.c.a. national about ways to better serve our members. the call came from judd goldfeder, one of the founding fathers of the f.c.a. southwest region, who is active on a national level with the f.c.a. at our february board meeting, judd explained his mission, which included bringing more events to local and regional members. creating local chapters in areas where large groups of members live, would accomplish this goal.

as you all know, we cover arizona, nevada, hawaii and southern california. we would like to encourage chapters in nevada, hawaii, and possibly south orange county to organize local events. we have chapters in arizona and san diego that are becoming very active in their local areas. if you would like to participate in developing a chapter in one of the areas i mentioned above, please contact me.

however, i do believe we have a very exciting event calendar and i hope to see many of you over the next few months. please join us at the ramada plaza hotel on el segundo boulevard near lax for our march 12th meeting.

Ferraris at a McLaren Race Shop?

article by wally clark

photos by roger groves and the author.

on saturday, march 11, we gathered a bunch of ferraris and people at chuck lamb's mclaren race car shop in brea to watch the f-1 race from australia and have a good time. chuck put out a great buffet and the ambiance of his shop is just super. he has 3 (yes 3) mclaren m20 can am cars and all the right hardware that goes with them--the donovan big block chevrolet motors, the wild hilborn fuel injection staggered stacks, the whole works! he has a complete can am big block motor in his lobby! his model and photo collections are something to see, the entire office area is covered with cases of model race cars (lots of ferraris) and the walls are covered with great photos. in attendance to help with the "judging" of the ferraris on hand, was george follmer, who sometimes drives chuck's black mclaren m20 in vintage events. there were about 15 ferraris in attendance and between 30 and 40 people.

oh yes, there was a race! of course, chuck had to eat crow when the two mclaren f-1 cars went out of the race before half way, which let the ferrari's win without much competition. by the way chuck, the ferraris finished first and second! just before the race, the awards were handed out. best of show went to a 330gts and beater of the meet went to your authors 330 gt 2+2. everyone in attendance received a plaque. we want to thank chuck and his wife for their generous hospitality.

everyone had a great time!