Celebration, Florida, 16 - 19 April 2009
The sixth annual Celebration Exotic Car Festival took place
between 16 - 19 April, in an expanded format over previous
running's, as it included two track days at the legendary Sebring
race circuit. The event is organised by a group of car enthusiast
volunteers headed by Jeff Ippoliti, a well known figure in the Ferrari
Club of America, to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since
its inception in 2004, the gathering has become one of the leading
fundraisers for the charity's Central and Northern Florida Chapter,
having raised close to half a million dollars prior to this year's
event.
The two track days proved very popular, and included a race on
the Friday for the Ferrari Challenge series of cars, from the 348
through to the F430, which attracted a field of eighteen cars.
Apart from the attraction of the Challenge car race, the
opportunity to drive the famous Sebring track was taken up by a
large number of participants in a variety of machinery. They were
predominantly modern Ferraris, but also included a couple of Ford
GTs, a Panoz Roadster, Lotus', a variety of Porsches ranging
from an early 911 to the latest 911 GT3, plus Lamborghinis in the
form of Gallardo and Murcielago.
After all the track action, Friday concluded with the Jetport Food
& Wine Festival in one of Signature Aviation's hangars at
Kissimmee Airport, which had been dressed up as a chic
nightclub for the event. There were ample food and wine stations
for all the guests, hosted by Les Chefs de France, and there was
also a display of private jets, an air display, a silent auction, a
fashion show, and a live art spectacular. Here two paintings, one
Ferrari and one Lamborghini were painted at a rapid rate of knots
on stage, as befits the cars they represented, and then auctioned
off before the paint dried, to further benefit the Make-A-Wish
charity.
Saturday was concours day, when around two hundred and fifty
exotic, luxury and sports cars gathered on the streets in the
centre of Celebration. The concours field was truly diverse,
ranging from a 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE, through a number of De
Loreans, an Indy Car, a F2002 Ferrari F1 car, chassis # 220, plus
numerous street models, a variety of Lamborghinis and De
Tomaso Panteras, a very rare Vector W12 (one of only eighteen
built), a Bugatti Veyron, through to a 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom
Drophead, finished in a lurid bright yellow with matching leather
interior. Another lurid study in yellow was a Ferrari 550 Barchetta,
chassis # 124420, with factory custom supplied red and yellow
interior trim, whilst another Ferrari in yellow was the F50, chassis
# 104798. A more subtle study in yellow was the beautiful 1961
Ferrari 400 SA Cabriolet, chassis # 2407 SA, finished in pale
yellow with a dark blue hardtop. If yellow wasn't your thing, then
how about a white 599 GTB Fiorano, chassis # 157830, with a full
white leather interior and red stitching. The "Best of Show" award
went to the Ex-Shah of Iran Lamborghini Miura SV, whilst Phil &
Martha Bachman's yellow Ferrari 550 Barchetta picked up the
"Best Ferrari 12 Cylinder" award.
Apart from the concours cars there was also a special display of
TV cars from the Barris Collection, including the original
Batmobile, the Pontiac GTO based Monkee Mobile and the
Munster Mobile, plus the original KITT from "Knight Rider" and
"General Lee" from the Dukes of Hazard. Still on the screen
theme, there were also a number of cars that had starred on the
big screen, including a Cannonball Run Lamborghini Countach,
the "Dumb & Dumber" Lamborghini Diablo and the "Back to the
Future" De Lorean. This display was accompanied by characters
in "Star Wars" costumes, which was a very popular photo
opportunity for the children present, as was the appearance of the
film's robot R2-D2.
On Saturday evening there was a sumptuous gala dinner at Sea
World, where there was a further live auction for some exclusive
items, including a trip to Los Angeles for a private visit to Jay
leno's garage, which houses well over a hundred cars and nearly
as many motorcycles, which raised $25000. Actually it raised
twice that, as two couples bid to the same amount, and they
were both given the opportunity to make the visit. There was also
music from New York party band "Prime Time", and stand-up
comedy from Gilbert Gottfried. The event concluded on the
Sunday with a competitive "Treasure Hunt" 100+ mile touring rally
in the morning, terminating at the Disney/Petty Raceway,
followed by a wind down poolside buffet lunch at the Mona Lisa
Hotel in Celebration.
David O'Neill
04/2009
|
