Volume 7, Issue 4 - July/August 2000

President's Corner

i just returned from the fca annual meet in colorado springs. the hotel accommodations were fantastic and the track facilities, which included an oval and infield road course, were of the highest standards. i had the great pleasure of accompanying the national judges as they evaluated some of the many cars at the d?elegance. at the pre-judges meetings, the fca chief judge, ed gilbertson, instructed the judges on fca rules and touched on some major points, which may interest you.

ed gilbertson is very committed to the philosophy that a ferrari is meant to be driven, not stored. as a result, it appeared that more "driven cars" were being shown, more than i expected. a considerable amount of latitude was given to owners whose cars were driven on a daily or weekly basis. one point i found very interesting is how contemporary cars are judged, versus the older vintage automobiles. older cars, having very few systems and technologies, are very difficult to maintain. due to this fact, newer cars are not considered easier to judge because more systems and accessories must be in working order. there were no deductions for cars that had road dirt on the wheels and under carriages. even rock chips that were appropriate for a driven car were over-looked and no points deducted. a well-maintained look was considered more important than a little wear and tear. the basic rules for judging was originality, bolts and nuts, clamps, wheels, tires, interior appointments, paint chrome, etc. at the end of the day, unanimous votes from the head judges determined the class winners.

all in all, considering this was my first time attending an annual meet, i was deeply impressed and take my hat off to the colorado organizers.

as ed gilbertson says, "ferraris are meant to be driven!" so drive your car, show it, take it to the track. i'll see you there!

cordially yours,

marv landon

fca southwest regional president

Open Road to Mineral Springs - Ride and Drive

article by carlos amato photos author and pat davis

i get real pleasure out of getting up very early in the morning on a driving event day. knowing i will be driving the ferrari 500 miles in a very short period of time gets me out of bed very fast. actually i slept very little the night before.

on may 28 - 29, a group of 20 ferraris tuned in for the mineral springs drive and weekend in the santa ynez valley near san luis obispo, ca. for those who have not participated in this event before and are considering it for next year, i have to say it could be the best drive you've ever had in your ferrari. this event will challenge your driving skills until you get tired of it or the ladies start to turn purple and threaten to jump out of the car.

the event took the group through some of the best and most isolated back roads in southern california. this year's drive brought back several participants from last year as well as several foc and new club members.

starting in valencia we headed north and soon got down to business travelling inland. i had just fitted my car a week earlier with brand new tires. i don't want to get technical here, but i have to admit that what i like about the xwx michelin tires is that they lower the limit of the car in such a way that you get to drive it sideways very often. add to this a stretch of 30 miles of newly paved desolated strips of winding asphalt with a gazillion elevation changes, banked curves, the absence of guardrails and you get the idea. i have to keep reminding myself that gravity and the laws of physics usually win.

the group included an amazing range of cars: from the hatakeyama's fabulous gto (288), a daytona coupe, a 275 gtb4,365, 308, 328, 348 series speciale, testarossa, mondial coupe, mondial t, 355, 550 maranello, and more. wesley, who with his wife tracy showed up with two ferraris and an enclosed trailer, asked why there wasn't a 360 modena. (?!)

we arrived at the restaurant around noon and sat down to eat lunch and give our adrenaline levels a chance to return to normal. the steak sandwiches were pretty good? well, we guys like them. then it was back in the cars for a scenic drive led by richard cole (this year we went through pismo beach) to the resort.

the sycamore mineral springs has it all: private spas in each room with hot mineral spring water from the resort well, private masseuse, wonderful grounds to walk around, a great bar, hot tubs scattered up the hillside and there are even some suites with private garages.

a cocktail party and dinner were hosted in the resort's private dining room, where everyone shared the day's adventures and stories. after dinner a really entertaining gift game for all participants took place. there were some ferrari items and some gag gifts--it turned out to be a hoot.

the next morning we got our wake-up calls and a light breakfast delivered to each room. we then met for our morning drivers' meeting where the instructions for the drive to our brunch destination were discussed. richard and joanie cole led the group to the rancho sisquoc winery, after the mandatory fill up at his very own chevron gas station.

Ferrari Club of America Annual Meet

colorado springs hosted by the rocky mountain region

july 5th - 9th 2000

article and photos by tom brockmiller

our stalwart leaders tino & lyn mingori with their 275, guided gene & susan zettle (center) and author halfway across america to participate at the fca annual meet in colorado springs.

to say that there is beauty in them thar hills is a gross understatement. three cars participated in a drive from southern california to colorado springs. our leaders tino and lyn mingori (275 four cam), gene and susan zettle (tr), and yours truly, tom brockmiller (512tr), left on a four day tour covering 1200 miles through the most beautiful southwest territory. we saw the grand canyon, monument valley, durango, continental divide, crested butte and into colorado springs on the 5th of july to participate in all the festivities created by the rocky mountain region at the historic broadmoor hotel.

what a trip and what a location! truly exhilarating - and it wasn't the altitude, but they did warn us. only the cars complained for lack of oxygen.

just a quick review for those of you who have not attended a fca national event. wednesday is pre-registration and the mercado opens with lots of vendors selling ferrari related items. there is a pre-concours seminar as well as a welcoming cocktail party. on thursday morning the concours begins at 9am and trophies are awarded by 3pm. silent auction and cocktail party from 6 'til 8pm. on friday the drivers meeting commences and school starts at the track at 9am.

those participating in the road rally meet in front of the hotel. judging starts for the participants in the coppa bella macchina competition. mercado and silent auction continues and there is a cocktail party from 6 'til 8. saturday finds us at pikes peak international raceway viewing many vintage and contemporary ferraris doing their laps. the mercado has moved to the track and the prices keep getting better. lunch is served as well. ferrari of denver is a jewel for supplying technical support for the entire weekend. there are no incidences at the track. just a lot of fun driving a ferrari on a professional track at your own pace.

saturday night is our gala awards banquet at the broadmoor. there are beautiful cars, the silent auction, handsome people and great food. bob smith tells us about his annual event 2001 outside dallas. sure to be a great one. the awards are given for the winners of the concours, the coppa bella macchina and the coppa bella gt. platinum, gold and silver and other special awards for significant recognition. sunday is track day again and a kind of last day blues for it being all over but for the smell of exhaust and the roar of engines.

it's time to head<

FCA/SW Region Annual Election Meeting at NHRA

article by wally clark photos by the author

the fca sw region annual election meeting was held at the national hot rod association motorsports museum on saturday, june 3rd in pomona. about 35 members attended and some even brought their ferraris. we were able to park the cars near the entrance, so it was a nice display.

lunch was served by c&c concessions and we ate outside in the "redwood" area. it was forcast to be really warm that day, but it was actually very nice! the museum was kind enough to set up chairs in a meeting area for us inside. after lunch, we convened inside and president marv landon presided over the counting of the ballots.

the newly elected board members are demetri zafiris and kevork hazarian. bill ingliss was also re-elected. still serving another term are president marv landon, and directors carlos amato, marshall leib, murray cogan, walter meyer and michael yedor. new officers will be elected from this group by this group at the next board meeting in july. the voting was real close, i might add! on behalf of the club, i want to thank the board members who have served us, but were not re-elected - tino mingori and alan woodard.

about the museum - if you have not had a chance to see this facility and you are a fan of drag racing, you need to go! some of the more famous cars are on display there - from the early 50's cars to the rear engine top fuel cars of a few years ago. among them are the "glass slipper" streamliner from the 50's, the stone, woods, and cook '41 willys a/gas car, tv tommy ivo's famous "t" street rod and his four engined dragster, and a great group of drag cars from every era. mickey thompson's four engined pontiac powered bonneville car is there, as is the most famous twin engine car of all, the nye/frank "freight train" aa/gas dragster.

surrounding the displays of cars are glass cases full of historical items and mementos from the early days of drag racing. this is a great place to have a meeting! our thanks to steve gibbs of the museum for helping to set up the event for us.