Massini FCA - Ferrari Owners' Club

21.6.06

Francesco Baracca with the original "Il Cavallino Rampante"

The Ferrari Club of America is one of the oldest Ferrari clubs in the world. It was founded in 1962 and the first annual meeting was held in November that year in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since the 1960s the FCA annual meeting has been organised by a different region every year. This year the annual meeting and concours was organised again by the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) and took place from 31st May to 4th June 2006 in the historic countryside just outside of Washington, D.C. The Mid-Atlantic region includes Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia and was chartered in 1972, ten years after the FCA was formed. The region has about 350 members. This year was the 42nd edition of the annual meeting and a big celebration of The Prancing Horse. Generously supporting the event were Pirelli, Grand Touring Inc., Algar, Poltrona Frau, Meguiar’s, Putnam Leasing and Bentley of Bethesda in nearby Maryland.

MAR Regional director Dave Born, Doug Teague, the Ebert family, Fred and Betsy True, Chris and Pam Current, Jay Weitzel, FCA President Rick Race and many other enthusiastic Ferraristi worked very hard to make this annual meeting another huge success. The theme this year was "Il Cavallino Rampante", The original Prancing Horse. Honorary guests were two members of the Baracca family, Avv. Giovanni and Paola Baracca, descendents of the family of Francesco Baracca, the World War I flying ace whose logo on his fighter plane became Ferrari’s prancing horse. Dave Born was even able to find a 7/8-scale replica of the airplane made famous using the Italian Baracca family crest. The FCA organisation team produced a beautiful event program which also included articles telling about the origins of the Ferrari prancing horse. Among the guests of honor was also John Marriott III, son of J. Willard Marriott, the American hotel king.

Host hotel was the splendid Westfields Marriott at Chantilly, Virginia, just seven miles south of Washington-Dulles airport. The 2006 FCA annual meet schedule began on Wednesday with a gathering at Wellington’s pub in the hotel for social hours. Registration started at the same time in the hotel lobby. Thursday was Concours day and this took place at Great Meadow, about 45 minutes west of the hotel in the stunningly beautiful Piedmont countryside, a natural refuge for Washingtonians as well as wildlife. It was an extremely hot day with temperatures in the mid-90s (Fahrenheit) or around 36 degrees Celsius. Placement on the concours field started early and a lunch buffet was provided for the participants. The class awards were handed out early afternoon. Thursday afternoon a reception was held at the official dealership Ferrari of Washington, the fabulous company owned by historic race driver Allie Ash. This also included a technical seminar.

Friday was a full day driver’s school at Summit Point Raceway Park, about one hour west of the Westfields Marriott. At the same time the long-awaited Ferrari rallye began at the hotel. Around noon a delicious luncheon was provided at Chuck Wray’s Grand Touring Inc., a brand new service and restoration facility in Sterling, VA. This was particularly interesting because there were about one dozen of interesting older Ferraris in various stages of restoration. All of Chuck Wray’s staff were available to explain the work in great detail. The entire company is clearly a state-of-the-art operation equipped with the latest machinery.

A wide range of early Ferraris was observed this year during the Ferrari Club of America national meeting and concours. Extremely rare is the 166 Dino Formula Two which is currently being overhauled by Grand Touring. This is the ex-Chris Amon and Tino Brambilla monoposto. Oldest Ferrari at the meeting was a black 375 America Coupé with Pinin Farina coachwork, unrestored and with a lovely patina. Displayed at Grand Touring Inc. was the ex-Masten Gregory 375 MM Spider, painted white with two black stripes and full race ready. They also had a recently located “barn find”, a 1959 250 GT Cabriolet Series I which is now awaiting restoration.

There was also a Boano and Battista Pininfarina’s personal 250 GT Lusso in the shop of Chuck Wray. Bill Marriott showed several of his rare Ferraris including the ex-Pierre Dumay Tour de France Berlinetta and a blue 410 Superamerica of the 3rd Series, originally sold to race driver John “Buck” Fulp in South Carolina. Marriott’s 500 TRC Spider was displayed in the hotel’s entrance and he also had a 288 GTO and the LWB California Spider on hand. Rear Admiral Robert Phillips of nearby Arlington showed his unpainted and partially dismantled 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Scaglietti Series II. He bought this fascinating race car in 1960 for US$ 2,500 only and still owns it today! 46 years already and clearly a world record. No fewer than five Lussos and ten 275 GTBs and 275 GTB/4s were observed throughout the meeting. But there were also the latest cars from Modena, the F430 in both Berlinetta and Spider version and the 612 Scaglietti.

Friday evening saw a charity auction at the hotel and then the international buffet dinner with the rally awards and entertainment. Saturday was track day at Summit Point which basically consisted of three different tracks at one and the same location, the Summit Point Track for Ferraris only, the Shenandoah Circuit for non-Ferraris and the Jefferson Circuit for novice school instructions in BSR cars. Lunch for the participants on all three tracks was provided by Tubistyle, the legendary exhaust manufacturers from Italy. The track day ended shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday evening then saw the major awards banquet at the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly. Sunday was again a track day at Summit Point for those that hadn’t been driving around enough. Best of Show was awarded to Peter S. Kalikow’s darkblue Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, featuring a red leather interior and perfectly restored by specialist David Carte’s Classic & Sport Auto. The trophy for the best competition Ferrari went to Brian Ross for his spectacular 1956 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider, a real race monster painted in light yellow and restored by Wayne Obry’s Motion Products Inc. in Wisconsin.

Besides Ferraris the greater Washington area offers a dizzying variety of things to do. One could visit the White House, visiting one of the national monuments or museums (the Air & Space museum is very highly recommended!) , attending the ballet or opera or catching a professional sports game. Maryland is home to the wonderful port city of Baltimore and the ever-so-charming Annapolis, where the U.S. Naval Academy is located. The Chesapeake Bay is a great place to sail or go crabbing while further out, the Maryland, Virginia and Delaware shores have great beaches. History buffs find Colonial Williamsburg and Civil War battlefields interesting to explore. The region offers some of the finest touring, scenic and twisty country roads in America that are great fun to drive with your Ferrari. The FCA Mid-Atlantic Region this year produced again a perfect meeting for all Ferrari enthusiasts, having already hosted with great enthusiasm and spirit three previous Annual Meetings in 1987, 1991 and 1997. Always remember, Ferraris are meant to be driven!