Concorso Italiano 2009

I too got the email....

I wrote them,and asked "WHERE".

I received this:

Larry,

The event will not be at the airport again, we will announce our new location once we've signed a contract...hopefully that will be very soon!

Thank you for your patience,

Also note that they have moved up the $85 ticket cutoff to end of May instead of end of June, eliminated the $90 ticket and moved straight up to $100 after May 31st.

I'm excited about this year-my 16 year old daughter has expressed a real interest in going. Makes the old man proud!!

Cool, lets wait and see what they come up with...

As I didn't go last year I cannot recall what Italian car exhibitor price was, but I seem to recall when I went in 2006 it was quite a bit less than $125 for the early bird registration.

Julian

I spoke to a lady with Concorso and she would not tell me the location but did say they should be signing contracts by next week and that it is a beautiful place where the cars would be displayed "on the grass again".
Who is planning on attending?

quote:

I seem to recall when I went in 2006 it was quite a bit less than $125 for the early bird registration.

The early bird registration for exhibitors was $75 in 2008.

quote:

Originally posted by garth66:
The early bird registration for exhibitors was $75 in 2008.

That's what I thought, $125 is a big jump, but $75 was probably too much of a bargain for 2 people plus car. Then again keeping the exhibitor costs low encourages more cars which in turn brings in the paying spectators. Although I bet most of the attendance is always from car exhibitors.

I'll be going, especially if it's on grass again.

Julian

I am planning on attending. Jim

Email I received today:

Dear Fellow Enthusiast,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tom McDowell. I recently acquired the Concorso Italiano from Jack and Leslie Wadsworth. For many years, the Concorso has been a trend setting show with many traditional aspects that all have anticipated and enjoyed each year. From humble beginnings in the early 90s evolved a special camaraderie that most of you have shared. The founders, Frank and Janet Mandarano, brought in legendary Italian personalities who were honored to be part of the experience of being with you, their fans, in a one-on-one basis on a lush green lawn surrounded by the cars they had designed, raced, or engineered.

I understand well, that great moment when Piero Ferrari, Sergio Pininfarina and Luigi Chinetti Jr. drove up on stage with Piero driving the 3-seat Ferrari Dino Concept and the three of them began discussing their fathers and their lives in their father's business. The huge audience gathered in and around the overflowing bleachers. Their questions were answered - all in good humor - and the cacophony from the paparazzi cameras signaled this was something very special, and it was!

We, the new Concorso owners, believe that holding the 2008 event at the Marina airport was an unfortunate decision. It will not happen again. We seek to quickly return the Concorso experience back to the one you have known in the past.

I have now been the owner of CI for two weeks and have had time to speak with several past guests, and read the letters and press reports. Clearly, many of you take a more personal interest in this gathering of fellow enthusiasts and perhaps have a "protective" and/or somewhat "territorial" feeling about it. You may even feel cheated or let down.

Like many of you, I am not pleased with this unwelcome turn of events and vow here and now to correct Concorso Italiano. It will be steered back to its core beginning-to a place we all enjoyed for the right reasons.

SO AFTER ALL THE TALKING IS DONE WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

We plan to return Concorso to a beautiful golf course on the peninsula in 2009. A classic car should always be displayed on a green lawn. The venue will be agreed upon shortly. Our goals for the provision of a wonderful dining experience at a reasonable cost and the experience you all should expect, are at the forefront of our minds.

That said, we would like to hear directly from you about your own expectations and special things you might like to see at this very special event. We want to know what you, the true enthusiasts, are thinking. Please email us at ci@concorso.com or call (425) 742-0632. We are most serious about making Concorso Italiano the first-rate experience for you, your families, and your friends that it has been in the past. We will be listening. And we plan to make the 2009 gathering one to remember.

Very truly yours,
Tom McDowell
Mercer Island WA.

So the e-mail I got today says the new venue is The Laguna Seca Golf Ranch, which is just down the road from Laguna Seca Raceway.

Puts a new twist on what to do, especially for those (like me) who tend to stay out in Salinas. I guess it's far enough inland to avoid the cold morning sea fog too.

At the end of the day I'll follow the rest of the DT family, it's more about meeting up with friends than seeing a bunch of F cars.

Julian

It is a nice venue that is close to the track and also to the PCNC's hotel. Traffic maybe somewhat of an issue for people coming in from outside.

I am a bit miffed with the CI folks, through. They continue to ignore Panteras. Other than the awards pages, there is only one picture of a Pantera on their website. It is actually a picture of an F car mislabeled as a Pantera.

FWIW, Tom Tjaarda will be at the La Dolce Vita aka the "alternate Concorso".

PI said it will follow the flow. POCA has no official stand.

I was rather expecting some recognition of the 50th anniversary of DeTomaso, but last time I checked they didn't list it and now I don't see anything listed for this years' focus marques.

George
Any idea which venue PI and POCA are going to support? It would be nice to know before the price increase in June.

Pantera International exists to support DeTomaso owners and further our hobby. I'll support the event that owners want to attend. I've spoken with the concorso folks & explained my position. Everyone is looking at the two big Ferrari clubs, wondering what they will do, because the momentum is with them. You better believe the Concorso's new owner (Tom McDowell) is working hard to get them back to his event. If he could make an announcement that the Ferrari Owners Club & Ferrari Club of America have committed to attending his event, the event at the BlackHorse will die. He's got a lot on his shoulders, I've wished him luck. Unless the two Ferrari clubs make a split decision, one of these events is destined to fail. I'm hoping Tom McDowell can unite everyone, so the clubs don't have to decide between two events. That's crazy.

Mark says POCA remains neutral, thats cool. We need to work together, keep all the DeTomasos in one location. I have some work to do in this regard myself. That's about where everybody outside the Ferari clubs is, we're on hold as the Concorso drama develops.

-G

For those that haven't followed this real close, the financial issue is worthy of note:

THE Concorso is now up to $125 for EARLY registration (through May 31), which allows two people to enter in the car. Raises to $175 after that date.

The NEW event has a $50 per car and driver only early registration (though May 31), with an additional $25 per person entering in the car. Raises to $65 and $35 after that date.

Early/late costs for two people in the car are thus-

$125/$175 at Concorso
$75/$100 at La Dolce Vita

You can easily do the math and realize you'll have to budget higher to attend Concorso.

Most of us know how entry to Black Horse was for the old Concorso - tolerable at best. None of us know how the entry to either of the new events will work out. The new La Dolce Vita event at Black Horse is in a new section so I imagine entry roads will be similar but different. The new Concorso golf course is on the main highway from Monterey to Salinas - the main Laguna Seca Raceway entry road - and that road can be a REAL crawling nightmare at times.

Concorso says they are having a dedicated entry for vendors and exibitors, but a Google look at the golf course left this concept rather unclear to me. The Clubhouse is the upper, "B" marker on this photo. There is one main road to the course entry which can be accessed from either the highway or South Boundary Road to the North, and one potential entry to the far SE corner of the course just off the highway (just off the edge of this photo). Now S Boundary Road is a road for Laguna Seca entry that comes off General Jim Moore Blvd was/is the entry road for Black Horse. I see no other options other than these two.

George, can you perhaps contact them and try to learn just where/how they are doing entrants' entry at the new location?

I'm leaning to the new event at this time. We all admit, themselves included, that Concorso blew it last year.

This old saying keeps coming back to me:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Larry

I have been chatting with the FCA (Ferrari Club of America) folks. They are playing the wait-and-see game too. Hopefully now that the CI location has been announced, things should start settling out with FCA and others.

I have not heard back from the Ferrari clubs yet. The La Dolce Vita owner said that he expects the Ferrari clubs will endorse Concoro but that many of the members will go to La Dolce Vita.

I have polled the eight POCA chapters within driving distance of Monterey about their preferences. I expected an even split, but everyone has been for La Dolce Vita. Tom Tjaarda and price were the most often mentioned deciding factors. (This was done before the Concorso price reduction announcement.)

POCA will likely endorse La Dolce Vita and help put together something appropriate to commemorate the De Tomaso 50th anniversary.

There are no plans yet for judging, though the event organizers are open to it. That's a lot of work and some expense to organize and run, so I am not up for it. George, what are PI's plans for endorsement? Does PI plan to run a judging event at whatever venue you go with?

quote:

This was done before the Concorso price reduction announcement.)

They dropped pricing to $100/$150 early/late.

Here is the initial list on the La Dolce Vita website.
http://www.montereybayconcours.com/EVENT/features.php

On Monday, their designer should have the full page advert with Jan's car.

My advice to each and every Pantera owner is do not purchase your tickets yet. One of the things Mark mentioned in a post above is that there is indication that BOTH Ferrari clubs shall endorse the Concorso. Remember what I've said from the beginning, the momentum is with those two clubs. The drama is just starting. April will be an interesting month in regards to those two events. Things may look entirely different by the time the month of May rolls around.

-George