Dallas, Texas, 30 May – 3 June
Lone Star State Hosts Annual Meet
In Texas they say everything is BIG, and first impressions upon arrival at Dallas Fort
Worth airport confirmed this. The airport complex is vast, with two planes landing and
others taking off at the same time, on different runways of course. The host hotel was
the five star Omni Mandalay, a fifteen minute drive to the north east of the airport at Las
Colinas in the suburb of Irving. Fittingly the Las Colinas symbol is a stallion’s head,
and just around the corner from the hotel was the incredibly lifelike ”Mustangs” bronze
sculpture featuring nine stallions, mares and foals running through a water feature
imitating a river crossing. The flagpoles in the hotel driveway carried the flags of Las
Colinas, the national meet flag, the stars and stripes and the tricolour of Italy.
Registration was held at the hotel on Wedneday 30 May, and the BIG theme continued
with registrants staggering away from the registration table laden with event
memorabilia. This included a folding chair, numbered event poster, a cool bag (very
useful in the high 30Cs and low 40Cs temperatures that prevailed throughout), car
polish, a beautifully crafted programme and various other items. Within the same
room was the ”Trading Post” which had vendors offering a wide range of Ferrari
related items from books, clothing, and accessories, to hand built scale models. This
was also the venue for the silent auction with lots donated by members and
sponsors, with the proceeds going to charity. In the room next to this was a splendid
AFAS art exhibition, featuring works in a variety of styles by a number of well known
automobile artists, including Ken Dallison, Jay Koka and Barry Rowe.
”Lone Star Guests”
The meet had three star guests, two home grown and one flown in from Italy. The
home products were Denise McCluggage, noted race driver and journalist, together
with America’s first F1 World Champion (already forty years ago!), the ever young Phil
Hill. The Italian element was a real coup for the club, as they had enticed no less a
person than Sergio Scaglietti, in his 81st year, to forsake his daily routine, and fly with
his grandson Stefano from Modena. His attendance was greatly appreciated by all
present and he took to the role with gusto, donning the obligatory ten gallon hat, which
he wore with great pride. No doubt the brim also gave him some respite from the
fierce sun. Also present later in the week was the President of Ferrari North America,
Stuart Robinson, with his wife Ruth.
Cowboy Concours
The Thursday concours was held at the Circle R Ranch about a half hour drive from
the hotel, and produced a magnificent and diverse array of Ferrari models both in the
concours and display sections, as can be seen from the list of models of particular
note. Ferrari of Houston had lassoed a F1 2000 for display, and this proved a
tremendously popular attraction, perhaps a sign that F1 is regaining popularity in the
United States. Although it bore chassis number 200, the slave steering wheel carried
a chassis plate bearing the number 203, although they probably just picked up the
nearest available wheel to replace the high tech and monstrously expensive original,
which with its quick release mechanism would be easy prey for souvenir hunters. The
major concours awards were presented on the field at the end of the afternoon, by the
guests of honour, and the chief class judges, with chief judge Ed Gilbertson
presiding. The Best of Show award went to the freshly restored 290 MM of Jon & Mary
Shirley, with the car proclaimed by Sergio Scaglietti to be his favourite creation, the
pontoon fender 250 Testa Rossa of Charles Betz and Fred Peters taking the Best
Competition Car award. The 212 Export Vignale Spider of Jeff & Frances Fisher added
to its impressive concours tally this year, with the Classic Ferrari Award, whilst the
Strada Automobili award for the car that is driven regularly went to the 250 GT Lusso
of Bud Lyon. The day ended with a Texas wine tasting at the ”Trading Post” back at the
hotel, where a fine selection of red, white and rose varieties could be imbibed,
followed by a live auction with fast talking Texas style auctioneer and the results of the
silent auction.
Track Time
The final three days of the event provided plenty of opportunity for participants to
indulge in track activity at the Motorsports Ranch facility to the south west of Fort Worth.
This private modern facility provides a demanding course for the drivers, but
unfortunately doesn’t really cater for spectators, who could see little of the action from
the paddock area, whilst there was no access to the perimeter. Art Zafiropoulo put in a
large number of laps in his awesome F50 GT1, before handing it to Johnny
Rutherford Jnr to get his impressions of the Ferrari racer that was stillborn as far as
international competition was concerned. During his time out in the car a 308 GTS
decided to blow a coolant hose in a fast turn, with the liquid quickly depositing itself on
the rear tyres, resulting in a lurid gyration just in front of the flying Rutherford. From the
marshalling area it looked frighteningly close, but he radioed back to say that it wasn’t
as close as it looked, and continued for another lap to cool things down. For the ”other
halves” who couldn’t face a day wandering around the paddock trying to escape the
searing sun, tourist trips were arranged to Dallas on Friday, and Fort Worth on
Saturday.
Western Evening
The finale to the Friday was a coach trip to ”Storybook” a cowboy theme town, where
fancy dress was optional, and was a theme to which a surprising number of
attendees got into the spirit, with some wild and colourful costumes worn by both the
”guys and the gals”. Dinner was a buffet taken in the dirt main street, whilst the
authentic saloon served drinks. The gala dinner at the Omni Mandalay was in
complete contrast, with place settings and more formal attire, but it was optional, the
whole event being very casual. The evening ended with live music from a local band,
which proved very popular with a hard core of ”boppers” who shall remain nameless,
with the music long overrunning its scheduled midnight shutdown.
Congratulations to Bob & Beverly Smith and their hard working team for putting on a
superb 2001 Annual Meet, with a real Texas flavour that will be remembered by
participants for years to come.
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