Tom Tjaarda, one of the world's most respected car designers, has graciously accepted an invitation to travel from his home in Turin, Italy to attend ItalianCarFest Weekend, Sept. 8-10, 2006 in Grapevine, Texas (near Dallas).
We are especially excited to have Mr. Tjaarda, perhaps best known as the designer of the DeTomaso Pantera, since ICF is honoring the model's 35th anniversary. In addition, Mr. Tjaarda also designed the iconic Ferrari 365 GT California Spider, the classic Fiat 124 Spider and many other wonderful cars. In 1997, he was honored at the Pebble Beach Concours d´Elegance and regularly serves as a judge at that event.
Still active in the industry, Mr. Tjaarda will make a presentation about car design at the 'ICF Saturday Evening at Gaylord', held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center following the all-Italian car show, this year on the waterfront of Lake Grapevine. Mr. Tjaarda states this will be his first trip to Texas and we hope you will help us by bringing your FIAT spider to the showfield to greet him.
This is another big step in providing Italian car enthusiasts with a show of national prominence that takes place between the coasts. Last year, the Saturday show attendance was 8,500. In addition to Texas, ICF has had entrants from 15 states to date.
Here is an update on ICF 2006:
The weekend starts with the Friday Reception hosted by Texas Driver Magazine at the opulent Gaylord Texan Resort on Friday Sept 8, 2006.
The main event of the weekend, ItalianCarFest, will be held ON THE WATERFRONT at Lake Grapevine. In addition to the beauty of the Italian machinery, we have secured the use of a party boat (2 story- capacity of 100 people) for use as a lounge for the exclusive use of entrants and sponsors throughout the afternoon. And we will again have live music during the show.
The hours for Saturday's show are 10 until 4, Sept. 9th.
At the Saturday Evening at Gaylord we will have a Silent Auction for Charity and hear from Mr. Tom Tjaarda.
Track Day for Italian cars is on Sunday, Sept., 10th. We will also have a scenic drive that same morning followed by a brunch in a 9th floor executive condo overlooking Texas Motor Speedway. Last year the drive and brunch were sold out.
All Pantera enthusiasts are invited to join the Italian car extravaganza this September.
-Jerry Lee Phillips
817 521-4400
Pres.- Italian Car Club of the Southwest, a 501 (c) (4) organization
Web site: italiancarfest.com
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