Volume 8, Issue 2 - March/April 2001

President's Corner

by marvin landon

i am reporting to you on my recent trip to dallas to attend the fca national board meeting.  present were the presidents and the national directors of the club.  ron profili, president of the fca, presided over the meetings.  also in attendance was stuart robinson, president of fna, and his director of sales richard sherbet.

we heard from bob smith about the texas meet from may 30 to june 3rd of this year.  this event has been well planned and thought out.  if you can make it you will enjoy it profusely.  the hotel is very nice and the track, built as a private club, looks very interesting and professional.  the concours location is great.  they will have busses and you will feel pampered in texas style luxury. 

the board meeting is for us to see what is new at national and for each of the regional presidents to report on our region?s status.  all of the regions seemed very active and motivated.  .saturday night i presented our 2002 meet.  everyone shared in our enthusiasm for this event

on sunday i reported on the status of the southwest region.  as far as membership goes, we rank 3rd with 549 members, behind the pacific region with 578 and the central state region with 552 members. fca national has over 5000 members.

a push to start chapters is the call from the board and we have arizona and san diego formed.  several regions have started new chapters and a few were invited to attend the board meeting.  the chapters will bring events closer to our members.

stuart robinson could not have been more supportive of the club and stayed for most of the meetings.  he interacted and in many instances offered help from fna. 

ron profili talked about the f1 race in indy and how it will again be a huge success this year.  everyone i talked to said it was so well done and they had such a good time.

i think you can see the fca is alive and well and moving and shaking as a club.  it is growing and achieving new heights.  your region is also in good shape and looking forward to great events this year and focusing on 2002 to create a world class meet.

cordially yours,

marv landon

fca southwest regional president

Annual Ortega Run is Wet and Wild

article and photo by tom brockmiller

february 25, 2001

amidst the clap of thunder and downpour of rain a very hearty group of ferrari owners brought out their steeds in spite of the weather.  just to prove that ferraris really don?t melt.

when we said rain or shine, we meant it. there was a marvelous turn out of some 25 cars ranging from charles betzs? 250 swb to ron tonkins 512bbi, holger schuberts 355b and steven elworthy?s testarossa, only to mention a few.  it was great to see all you nice people bring out such an assortment of ferraris.  tony and laureen hart came all the way from ventura. rogers groves and his 330 gtc brought bill storey of orange county ferrari who had red ferrari tee-shirts to give away. thanks again bill.

in spite of the weather, we had a great drive over the ortega highway without a mishap. seeing the water spew from those big rear tires was unusual, at the least. some wipers hardly did their job.

                lunch in the vineyard view room of thornton winery is always a delight with exceptionally good food and a really congenial group of ferrari friends.

a number of our guests were invited over to the scorintinos after leaving the winery. a good time, for sure. while we did get a great turn out for such weather i must say we missed those of you who did not make it.  we regret eating your lunch, but, oh well, somebody has to.

thanks to all of you for your club support and the fun time.

First Formula One Race At Chuck Lamb's McLaren Race Car Shop

article and photos by wally clark

schumacher wins!

on saturday, march 3rd (sunday, march 4th down under in australia), about 40 of our club members and guests were able to see the first formula one victory of the year by ferrari at chuck lamb?s race car shop in brea.  even with the threat of rain, we still brought our cars out and there were among the ferraris a smart car and a couple of fiat dino spiders. 

as usual, chuck was the perfect host  and provided a great italian buffet and deserts.  the fun awards were passed out and then it was time to watch the race on several big screen tvs that were placed throughout the shop. this is turning out to be an annual event and everyone had fun!  our thanks to chuck for having the event. 

look for chuck?s mclaren m-20 can am car at the can am reunion later this year at elkhart lake to be driven by george follmer.

wally clark

A Ferrari Daytona Fish Tale

article by shin takei

there can be considerable discomfort driving a classic sports car from los angeles to monterey for the big weekend. one time i drove up with my brother koji in his land rover discovery in air-conditioned comfort.  but something was missing, and that was that i did not have one of my cars there to enjoy the weekend.

the best way is of course to have some one else transport your car or a fleet of your cars with your own transporter or by a first class carrier.  i once paid $360 to have my car flat bedded there. you can then fly up to monterey in your own plane or by commercial airline and be picked up at the airport.  then the weekend can be enjoyed by just appearing at the events in tiptop shape and have your crew take care of everything else. this is the optimum way and the way that many participants enjoy their weekend. but for the rest of us without a dedicated crew, we have to do it ourselves.  many times, families and close friends? valuable times are sacrificed to accommodate our dreams.  eventually there comes a time when one will ponder the idea of trailering your car up by yourself. 

it was in the latter part of the eighties and the collector car mania was at its peak.  the monterey weekend was bursting with festivities abounding and every hammer of the gavel by the auctioneer was setting a world record.  on monday following the weekend while the dust settled down on the peninsula, the ferrari owners club took over laguna seca to allow members some much needed track time... just so that they can unleash the potential of their prancing horses.  this was a wonderful treat, especially after watching vintage racing all weekend long.  the event was highly organized. groups were determined by experience and everyone had a great time with relatively few incidents. i was just one of them taking advantage of a great day at the track.

having just restored my ferrari daytona coupe, and eager to try it out, i reserved a spot for the f.o.c. track day. my daytona was blessed with the powerful and reliable engine that bruno borri had rebuilt at modena sportcars in hollywood.  having won first in class at the 24 hrs of daytona in 1979 with a ferrari daytona coupe, bruno?s knowledge of the car was legendary.  so i knew i had a bulletproof car.  i also paid molto lire for a pair of 9" borrani wire wheels for the rear and with the matching 7" fronts shod with fat michelin xwx tires, my car looked great on any concours lawn.

the old laguna seca track had a long straightaway leading from turn 2 to turn 4 that is now turn 6.  while i was driving in this area i noticed another daytona coupe hot on my tail and angrily passing me and leaving me in its wake.  i immediately got on his tail and tried to stay with him but i couldn?t keep up with him through turn four, let alone the corkscrew. after the session, i parked my car and went to see the other car.  it was wearing cromodora alloys with big meaty rubber.  a tall fellow dressed in a racing suit appeared from behind the car and introduced himself as "hi, i?m larry bloomer."  he told me i should get better tires and wheels go to racing school and come back next year and i might do better.  so i thanked the gentleman and went on to finish the session a lot more gingerly than before to make sure i would not "hurt" my borranis. 

during the off-season, i decided to enroll myself in the skip barber racing school at the now sorely missed riverside raceway.  the three-day course in a 1600cc open wheel car taught me a lot of things i didn?t know about driving a racing car and it was for sure the most fun i ever had in three days.  i just couldn?t stop grinning after each day.  about this time, i also acquired one of the new range rovers just arriving in america.  i also had more cars and a hard to pass up deal came by.  this was an enclosed 26? car tr

FCA Ferrari Swap Meet

article and photos by wally clark

on saturday, march 17th, the club sponsored a swap meet at ferrari of orange county.  about 20 members set up booths to sell stuff and people came by all morning long.  it was such a nice day that we saw lots of ferraris, too.  it felt good to get the cars out after all the rain we?ve had!  thanks to bill storey and the staff at ferrari of orange county for their hospitality!  we will do it again next year.