The yearly event held by the American Cavallino Magazine starts off with private test and racing days at the Palm Beach International Raceway (formerly Moroso Raceway), and ends on Saturday with the prestigious Cavallino Classic Concorso d’Eleganza.
As for the past few years, our week-end “pilgrimage” started with race day at the newly restored track, situated some 30 minutes from West Palm Beach. Ferraris old and new, accompanied by a few historic Alfa Romeos and Maseratis, were sharing the track for a series of races. The howl of the modern cars gave way to the characteristic growl of the vintage machinery grouped in two classes: the older cars with drum brakes (pre-1950) and the more recent vintage cars with disk brakes. In the first group, we could not help admiring two particularly interesting cars: a Maserati 250 F Grand Prix single-seater and an antique Alfa Romeo, while in the disk brake class, a powerful 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB/M Gr 4 was being hounded by a nimble and expertly driven 1972 365 GTB/4 C.
Concorso d’Eleganza
Next day, we headed early to the very posh The Breakers hotel to beat the crowd to the wonderful gathering of Italian stallions. However, the dreaded rush never really materialized due to lower attendance this year. Could it be the unusually cool weather in Florida this year or the still dire economic situation? But the cars were there, starting with the front lawn graced by some fifty of the best from the House of Maranello, including a very rare and quite stunning metallic grey 1954 375 MM Scaglietti, bearing a few design similarities to the famed Mercedes 300SL.
Nearby stood a future classic: the custom Zagato creation based on the 575 Maranello and inspired by the Ferrari 250 GT Zagato, considered by many one of the most beautiful cars ever built. To our delight, the classic 1956 master piece stood across the way, in its stunning dark blue livery with crème “double-bubble” top, the design signature of the House of Zagato. And best of all, thanks to our friend Umberto Bonfa, newly appointed President of Ferrari Maserati Quebec, we were introduced to the man himself: Andrea Zagato, who heads the family-named design studio founded by his grand-father in 1919.
Fellini and Ferrari
Wondering what a red cover was hiding, the public gradually gravitated towards the mysterious car also sharing centre stage. Our long wait was finally rewarded with the unveiling of Pininfarina’s latest creation: the P540 Superfast Aperta, built for a private collector and based on a 599 GTB Fiorano. The gold-painted custom Ferrari was meant as a tribute to the Fantuzzi bodied Ferrari featured in Frederico Fellini’s 1968 movie, Spirits Of The Dead. Let’s hope the owner of the car was pleased with the result, because the mishmash of styles did not catch the eye of the awaiting public, including yours truly.
 |
| Three competing “reds”: Maserati, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. |
As for the past few years, our week-end “pilgrimage” started with race day at the newly restored track, situated some 30 minutes from West Palm Beach. Ferraris old and new, accompanied by a few historic Alfa Romeos and Maseratis, were sharing the track for a series of races. The howl of the modern cars gave way to the characteristic growl of the vintage machinery grouped in two classes: the older cars with drum brakes (pre-1950) and the more recent vintage cars with disk brakes. In the first group, we could not help admiring two particularly interesting cars: a Maserati 250 F Grand Prix single-seater and an antique Alfa Romeo, while in the disk brake class, a powerful 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB/M Gr 4 was being hounded by a nimble and expertly driven 1972 365 GTB/4 C.
Concorso d’Eleganza
Next day, we headed early to the very posh The Breakers hotel to beat the crowd to the wonderful gathering of Italian stallions. However, the dreaded rush never really materialized due to lower attendance this year. Could it be the unusually cool weather in Florida this year or the still dire economic situation? But the cars were there, starting with the front lawn graced by some fifty of the best from the House of Maranello, including a very rare and quite stunning metallic grey 1954 375 MM Scaglietti, bearing a few design similarities to the famed Mercedes 300SL.
Nearby stood a future classic: the custom Zagato creation based on the 575 Maranello and inspired by the Ferrari 250 GT Zagato, considered by many one of the most beautiful cars ever built. To our delight, the classic 1956 master piece stood across the way, in its stunning dark blue livery with crème “double-bubble” top, the design signature of the House of Zagato. And best of all, thanks to our friend Umberto Bonfa, newly appointed President of Ferrari Maserati Quebec, we were introduced to the man himself: Andrea Zagato, who heads the family-named design studio founded by his grand-father in 1919.
Fellini and Ferrari
Wondering what a red cover was hiding, the public gradually gravitated towards the mysterious car also sharing centre stage. Our long wait was finally rewarded with the unveiling of Pininfarina’s latest creation: the P540 Superfast Aperta, built for a private collector and based on a 599 GTB Fiorano. The gold-painted custom Ferrari was meant as a tribute to the Fantuzzi bodied Ferrari featured in Frederico Fellini’s 1968 movie, Spirits Of The Dead. Let’s hope the owner of the car was pleased with the result, because the mishmash of styles did not catch the eye of the awaiting public, including yours truly.
 |
| Custom built the “ultimate” 575 GT Zagato. |