Cavallino Classic XVII

For Ferrari aficionados the place to be in January is southern Florida,  where Cavallino magazine hosts the Cavallino Classic gathering, this, the seventeenth running, drew an eclectic mix of Ferraris to Palm Beach between the 22nd and 27th of January. The featured models this year were the 250 GT LWB (Tour de France) Berlinetta, and the 365 GTB/4 “Daytona”, with five examples of the former and at least fifteen of the latter in attendance. For entrants and guests the format followed the well established and widely appreciated format of track activity at Moroso Motorsports Park, which also hosted the inaugural rounds of the Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge races, the Concours d’Elegance on the croquet lawn and golf links of the Breakers Hotel, together with the ever popular Jet Reception, the return of the Yacht Hop, together with the charity benefit luncheon at Donald Trump’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago Club,  plus a new multi-marque car show, Classic Car Sunday at the Hilton Hotel adjacent to Palm Beach International Airport, and all the peripheral social activity.

Event registration took part in the elegant Gold Room at the Breakers Hotel, starting on the afternoon of Wednesday 23rd of January, where there was also a display of wide range of original artwork from international artists of renown like Dennis Brown, KenDalison, Dennis Hoyt, Jay Koka, John Francis Marsh, Bill Neale, Enzo Naso from Italy, Yahn Janou from France and Barry Rowe from England. During the course of the evening there was a complimentary buffet reception in the registration room, which allowed people to catch up with friends and acquaintances after the winter break.

Prior to the official start of the general track days on the 24th of January, there were two test days for owners who wanted additional time to exercise their “Cavallino Rampante”, in less crowded surroundings, the popularity of this opportunity being confirmed by the limited availability being sold out well in advance. The Historic Challenge races were held on a hot and sunny Friday. The drum brake category race had seven Maseratis, one pre-war Alfa Romeo and a sextet of Ferraris on the entry list, and was a walkover for Peter Giddings in his Maserati 250 F, winning from the 300S sports racing model of Jon Shirley and the Ferrari 375 MM of Ed Davies. The story was different in the disc brake category race, which had an all Ferrari entry list. This featured a trio each of 250 GT “passo corto” berlinettas and 512 BB/LMs, plus a quartet of 250 GTOs, The race was dominated convincingly by the trio of 512 BB/LMs, with Tod Morici taking victory from Jim Fuchs and Chuck Wegner. One of the best battles of the race was between the 250 GT “passo corto” Berlinetta of Ed Davies and the 412 MI of Chris Cox, the latter getting the jump at the start, with the former establishing status quo as the race progressed. Apart from a wide range of Ferraris at the track, there was also a pair of Maserati MC12s, and a rare McLaren F1 GT on New York registration.

The Jet Party at Palm Beach International Airport, hosted by Jet Aviation, attracted a fine selection of Ferraris to the tarmac amidst the splendid private jets on display, together with a classic Mustang fighter plane, which provided a spectacular backdrop to the proceedings. Guests are invited to vote for their favourite car, which when counted resulted in the People’s Choice Award going to the 250 Europa GT, chassis # 0397 GT of Bob and Marianne Anderson. After its initial US showings at the Detroit and Los Angeles Shows earlier in the month, the 430 Scuderia was unveiled to guests by Maurizio Parlato, the President and CEO of Ferrari North America, attracting a great deal of interest from attendees.

The highlight of the gathering is the Concours d’Elegance on the Saturday at The Breakers Hotel, and each year you think that it can’t get any better, and each year you are surprised by the incredibly high quality and diversity of the entry. At the entrance to the field was a white 612 Scaglietti featuring a full white interior with red stitching, what can one say – “Interesting?” On the other side of the entrance were a 250 GTO, chassis # 3445 GT, and a 330 LM Berlinetta, chassis # 4725 SA, much more in keeping with the “Classic” part of the event title! Although the number of competition cars was down in number compared to last year, this was offset by a fine array of 400 and 410 Superamerica models, the star of which was undoubtedly the yellow 400 SA Cabriolet with blue hardtop, chassis # 2407 SA, of Wayne Nelson. There was also one of the two 342 America cabriolet models produced, chassis # 0248 AL, a 250 GT “Interim” berlinetta, chassis # 1521 GT, an attractive line-up of 250 GT Californias, and a pair of 250 GT Lussos, one of which was finished in an unusual shade of green, to name but a few of the gems displayed on the top part of the concours field.

On the adjacent golf links the cars stretched away in virtually chronological order, with an impressive Ferrari Classiche display featuring a 365 GTB/4, on the pathway between the two. The award for the Best of Show GT car went to the elegant 250 GT Series1 Pinin Farina Cabriolet, chassis # 0813 GT, of Peter Kalokow, whilst the recipient of the Best of Show Competition car award was the stunning 166 MM Touring Berlinetta, chassis # 0026 M, belonging to Jack Croul, which had made its post restoration debut at Pebble Beach last August. These awards, along with the various class awards were kept secret until presented at a gala dinner in the evening, thus keeping the nervous owners in suspense until then.

The dual finale to the event was the charity luncheon at Mar-a-Lago, together with the new event, the multi-marque Classic Car Sunday at the Hilton Hotel adjacent to Palm Beach International Airport. As at the Airport Party, the Mar-a- Lago gathering featured “Peoples Choice” awards, where the “Best of Show” choice went to the 166 MM Berlinetta, chassis # 0026 M, of Jack Croul, whilst the 400 SA Cabriolet of Wayne Nelson was voted the car that most people wanted to take home. The turn-out for Classic Car Sunday was affected by early morning rain and a chill wind, but still attracted a varied selection of cars, including an old Allard, a BMW 507, a Lea Francis, a Lola T70, a Chevron B16, an Innocenti 850, a Toyota 2000 GT, home spun iron in the form of Corvettes, Mustangs and Vipers, plus a pair of Ford GTs, and a Lamborghini Gallardo with one-off “Tattoo” paintwork, to name but a few.

Historic Challenge Race Results

Drum Brake Category

Race #  Model

31

6

5

23

33

7

41

1

11

2

4

133

53

26

Disc Brake Category

Race #

1

447

72

33

22

12

4

3

9

19

8

10

6

Keith Bluemel

01/2008

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