Marcel Massini - Ferrari Owners' Club

The first event of the Ferrari year, already becoming a tradition in its own right, is the famous Cavallino Classic, which was held between January 21st and 26th at Palm Beach in Florida. The event brought together thousands of Ferraristi.

Six days with Ferrari, its sports cars and customers. The 12th edition of the Cavallino Classic held at Palm Beach in Florida, once again saw a huge involvement of many Ferrari enthusiasts from all over the United States and even from several European countries, who came to watch a whole week of automotive beauty contests, shows and race trials.

From Tuesday to Sunday, the event arena was made up of the race circuit and Moroso motorsports park (with vintage car races and several days set aside for road tests), as well as the hotels, The Breakers and Donald Trump’s fabulous Mar-a-Lago. The Concorso d’Eleganza was the main attraction on Saturday 25th, while, still at The Breakers, Wednesday 23rd witnessed the Coppa Bella Macchina Competition (Beautiful Car Cup). For all Ferraristi it was possible to visit the car show throughout the week,as well as the memorabilia, accessories and models on display.

The main part of the event began on Wednesday evening with a huge kick-off party held at the Executive Terminal of Palm Beach International Airport. In the premises of Jet Aviation and sponsored by Show Boats International, a number of expensive private aircraft and helicopters were displayed amidst numerous rare Ferraris, from a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato to the latest 575 Maranello. Naturally the private jet preview included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. A wonderful chance for an interesting Ferrari chat, serious networking or simply to admire the extravagant planes, red cars or beautiful people.

Thursday was not only race day at Moroso Motorsports Park, but also saw the start of the Tour of Palm Beach in front of The Breakers. One could see several 288 GTOs, a genuine 275 GTS/4 Spider NART owned by a Mexican collector and one of the Daytona Prototypes of 1968. In between was a 1953 competition Ferrari 340 MM Spider with Vignale coachwork and painted in the American racing colors white and dark blue and the gorgeous 250 GT Zagato of a Beverly Hills collector. At The Breakers began the registration and an interesting Art Exhibit Preview. Thursday afternoon a series of classic lectures was held in the Flagler Boardroom with a concorso preparation lecture held by Ed Gilbertson, an automotive art lecture and then a most interesting restoration lecture held by top restorer Paul Russell.

On Friday all Ferraristi went to Moroso, the racetrack 15 miles north of Palm Beach. Overnight the weather had changed completely and highly unusual cold weather for Florida marred the whole day. It was extremely cold and the wind was blowing very strongly. Following the car inspection and the drivers' meeting the track was opened for the GT and sports cars and the Ferrari historic challenge qualifying began. A number of super-rare Ferraris, not seen in public for several decades, showed up.

Former Microsoft president Jon A. Shirley brought his French blue 500 Mondial Berlinetta Pinin Farina, a car which had been sitting in a secret French garage for 47 years. Totally unrestored, with a lovely patina and well preserved. New York banker Peter Sachs showed the ultralow 312 P Berlinetta of 1968, one of only two examples existing. This car was a great attraction at Moroso and it joined the 1957 type 335 S Spider Scaglietti of the same collection. Sachs also brought the 250 GTO Series II Berlinetta, a car well known throughout the Ferrari world. There were Ferrari 275 GTB/Cs, several genuine 275 NART Spiders and a number of competition Daytonas, not to forget the newer 360 Challenge cars or two 250 GT Tour de France Berlinettas. Lawrence Stroll brought his yellow 412 P Berlinetta, the silvergrey 250 TR Spider and a 1971 512 M Sunoco car.

Charles Arnott raced his 512 S Spider until a mishap stopped him from further activities and the car suffered left rear damage. A number of 512 BB Le Mans were on hand, while local Ed Davies raced several cars of his large stable: his 250 GTO, the 375 MM Spider, the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, the 250 Testa Rossa Spider and a 250 GT LWB TDF Berlinetta had all been transported to nearby Moroso. Wayne Obry’s team of Motion Products in Neenah/WI took care of several racing Ferraris including the extremely scarce and unrestored 196 SP Spider of Charles Wegner, a 166 MM Spider Vignale of Jim Fuchs and the darkblue 340 America Coupé Ghia of Jack Thomas. From Minnesota came two 250 GT SWB Berlinettas, while a number of 333 SPs were also observed on the track.

Local vintage car restorer Gerry Sutterfield brought his immaculate 1953 Ferrari 166 MM Spider Vignale to the Cavallino, along with a fascinating old (and very beat-up) set of bodywork that his 166 had worn earlier in its life. To tell the amazing story of the pair, Sutterfield put together an excellent storyboard, complete with period photos to illustrate the tale.

Among the VIPs seen at Moroso was Fiorenzo Fantuzzi from Modena, Italy, son of the legendary panelbeater Medardo Fantuzzi. He had come together with Adolfo Orsi, of Maserati fame. Also seen was Le Mans winner Jean Guichet from France who was accompanied by former Renault F1 team boss Jean Sage. Naturally race driver Brian Redman was on hand as well. Friday evening concluded with the Yacht Hop Reception at the famous Rybovich-Spencer Boatyards in Palm Beach and the Awards Dinner at The Breaker’s Ponce de Leon Ballroom.

Saturday was concours day on the always perfectly manicured lawn of The Breakers hotel. Clearly the centerpiece of the Concorso d'Eleganza was the appearance of a brand new red "Enzo" Ferrari (a US Version with serial number 130270), which was unveiled with much fanfare, if a bit too tightly corraled by barriers to get a proper perspective or decent photographs of the car amidst the crush of interested onlookers. Three California Spiders, several 275 GTB/4s including an alloy-bodied example, a one-off 250 GT Cabriolet, a 288 GTO, an F40 and a black F50, plus two 166 MM/53s, a 212 Inter Coupé Ghia and a beautiful 250 Mille Miglia Pinin Farina Berlinetta surrounded the new Italian supercar. At the entrance of the concours field was Chuck Wegner’s 196 Dino SP and the 1962 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 330 TRI Fantuzzi Spider, owned since August 2002 by Louisiana banker Jim Spiro.

There was a large vendor’s area and a Ferrari art exhibition. The concours field also included the spectacular 250 GT SWB Breadvan, a 500 Superfast, an off-white 400 Superamerica Coupé, a Series III 410 Superamerica, a number of 250 GT LWB TDF and 250 GT SWB Berlinettas. There were Dinos and Testarossa, Daytonas in all colors and even one of the prototype of that series.

Saturday night saw the awards dinner. This year a new system with two Best of Show Awards was introduced, to honor not only the historically important competition Ferraris but also the Gran Turismo cars. Best of show of the GT cars was Larry Carter’s nightblue 275 GTS/4 NART Spider with serial number 10691. This is the seventh of a total of only ten units built and was delivered new to Donald W. Rose of Briarcliff Manors. Larry Carter, CEO of Cisco and owner of a 35-car collection, owns this immaculate beauty since 3 years. In the competition car class Charles Wegner IV of West Chicago won Best of Show for his unrestored Dino 196 SP. Chassis number 0790 has been raced extensively by Phil Hill and other race aces. Wegner acquired the car in August 2002 from its only private owner for 38 years. This Ferrari is beautifully preserved and comes with an enormeous racing pedigree.

Sunday saw a charity luncheon and the voting for the Palm Beach Cup at real estate tycoon Donald Trump’s fabulous Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. It provided the perfect picturesque setting to end the weekend of the 12th Cavallino Classic.