Concorso - In Review (longish)

["Granier, Rob" <rob.granier@xxxxxxxx>]

It was my first visit to the Concorso since '99.  This was the first time the
event was held at Black Horse CC, adjacent to Fort Ord. Arrived to the general
parking area at 9:25. A large paved area on the old base was being used for
parking.   Got the tix and stood in line waiting for the buses to arrive.
Three large A/C equipped Greyhound types were whisking folks to the show in
what was a about a five-ten minute bus ride. From the time of arrival to the
stepping off of the bus was 35 minutes.  So...that was kind of a bummer.
But, Black Horse was as beautiful as advertised.  And more spread-out than
Quail.   After visiting the club-house for a latrine-break, (where large lines
were incurred) headed for...the Corral.  Plenty of room in the Corral for more
cars, were surprised there were so few for the space available, and that
includes the Alfas too.  Enjoyed a nice conversation with a Sacramento couple
who had done a beautiful restoration job with an '86 Spider.  Would have to
say the customized Jaguar (red with flared wheels), which took the owner 30
years to restore and the large quantity of Vettes is what I took away most of
all.
The show itself was of course, spectacular.  Weather was perfect.  From the
tee area of each fairway used, one could wlak down thru the cars on display
while seeing a great backdrop: the Monterey Bay. Placement of cars was very
nice except...the Alfas.  They were on a different fairway along with the
Lancias and Fiats, down a hill from the ISO's, Lambos, Fruas, Masers and
Ferraris.  The Fruas exhibited were great to see, with an excellent article on
Frua himself in the official program.  The "Alfa Fairway"  was next to the
porta-potties, which can be a bad thing or a good thing, I reckon.  On the
green were the two incredible Junior Z's the red one pictured in Martin D'
Campo's gallery, and a goldenrod or beige one as I recall.  I made it to the
Alfa area after Lunch, and there weren't too many folks around.  One who was
(Tim Mills) owns a stunning Milano, in top-notch condition.  We had a great
conversation.  Some folks from Nevada were there with a couple of cars,
including a metallic grey GTV6, painted quite well by the owner himself!  Levy
was there too with his red GTV6, looking good, making  alot of progress!
Several 164's were shown, but none of the L variety!  Several however were out
in the parking lot as I noticed at the end of the day.  None of the 164's had
the chrome version of the Speedline wheels...my S does, perhaps another reason
to show next year.   Some other takes I had from the Alfas:  first time I'd
seen a 166 in person.  It was shorter, smaller than I thought it would be,
compares with the 156 I saw a few years ago at the show.  But i'm sure I'd
make due even with my three bambinos.  The Navy Blue 6C2500 shown was truly
awesome.  I thought that was the car that had won Best In Show!  But the T33/2
that did win was truly justified as the best car that day.  I hope you saw it
live or on Martin's gallery.  I had to go look at it a second time as I didn't
realize the legacy of the car when seeing it the first time...and the fact I'm
quite the novice re: AR history.  The older Spiders were quite nice, in a
variety of colors.  A very nice radiant blue (like the Italian national Soccer
team color) early 60's Spider was among them.
Other items of note:  many many vendors in attendance.  One could spend most
of the day just examining the booths if not careful!  Also, one of my missions
was to see "in the flesh"  a Maserati Sebring.  It was mentioned here in the
AD a couple of weeks ago that recently a complete Sebring in need of resto
was/is for sale in Florida.  Unfortunately none were in attendance.  The Maser
folks were very nice in answering my mundane questions however.
A unique entry was the Citreon SM hauler/truck with the self-leveling trailer
to tow of course an SM.  Each were painted to match in a deep burgundy.
As the clock went past 4:30, I had realized little time was spent looking at
the Ferraris.  Oh well, with the 1/2 lost in line and transit, something had
to give.
Definitely learned that if I can attend I will enter my car/cars next year, or
will get the Corral pass, I didn't do this year in time (job travel
constraints) if anything to avoid the parking and bus issue. And to be able to
bring in food and drink of course!
And finally, I noticed Sunday afternoon driving north on the 680 freeway in
the San Ramon area (CA East-Bay Area,) a white with blue racing stripes late
60's Spider modified for the race-track, being towed on a trailer by a black
Suburban with Nevada plates.   Had to be heading home from the Historics!
Anyone here?

Rob Granieri
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