Yes most people will see this news as a good thing. I've never been too concerned where our corral was located, because I've learned the spectators are drawn to the Panteras wherever they're located. There were two entry gates on opposite sides of the event this year, our corral was located near one of them. Every one entering via that gate had to walk through our corral, which meant we had a tremendous amount of foot traffic.
There are some nice things about being located near the stage, for one ... its easier for De Tomaso exhibitors to attend the stage show. Its also easier to get our cars to and from the stage. The food concessions will be closer too. The stage is near the club house, and the club house has a bar!
When the event was previously at the Black Horse golf course the De Tomaso corral was located between the club house and the event stage, in a very high traffic area. The previous owner realized the Panteras were a big attraction for the spectators, so the Panteras were used to draw people towards the stage.
For the 6 years Tom has operated the Concorso, he has never placed the De Tomaso corral near the stage show, we've always been far away from the stage show, on the periphery of the display area. This year there was a special display of cars by Zagato near the stage. I haven't spoken with Tom since he sent the email, but I assume the aerial photography must have revealed the De Tomaso corral attracted more spectators than the Zagato display. It seems as though Tom has finally realized the Panteras attract crowds.
On to Julian's questions, I believe the return to the Black Horse was a positive thing. Access to the event, getting the cars in and out, seemed to be much better. As far as attendance, the number of exhibitors was down but the pre-registered spectators were up significantly this year. When I last spoke with Tom, the evening after the event, they hadn't had a chance to count the gate receipts to determine the number of spectators who purchased tickets at the gates, nor did they have a final count for the total number of spectators. I do know one of the parking lots were so full they were turning people away.
Last year there were 36 Panteras pre-registered, but we had 8 no-shows. That's an unusually high number of no-shows. This year we had 33 cars in our corral, and Jim Nowlin showed-up driving a Porsche
(his Pantera wouldn't start).I've read a couple of Canadian members stating they would like to attend next year. Julian you might be able to hitch a ride on the transporter. I think it would be a great year for everyone to converge, internet acquaintances can meet face to face, etc. I could tell Tom we're declaring 2015 the international De Tomaso owners gathering or something like that. If not 2015, then 2016 for sure, 2016 is the 45th anniversary of the Pantera.