Concorso Italiano 2016 Photos and Report

There are two trophy programs.

The Concorso awards 3 trophies: first, second, and third best De Tomaso of Show.

Pantera International awards 9 trophies: first and second place in four classes, plus best De Tomaso of show. Pantera Internationals' awards program is based on "popular judging".

As usual Debbie managed our awards program, while I ran around, making a fool of myself, interfacing with the Concorso program.

Here's a pic of our trophies, that's Debbie and I in the background. I'm proud to say I think Pantera International's trophies have evolved to become better than the Concorso's trophies. Our best of show trophy is amazing (its huge and heavy).

Mary Taphorn was kind enough to take this picture for us. We enjoyed having a chance to visit with John and Mary this weekend.

Forest Goodhart (forum/club member forestg) took home Pantera International's Best of Show trophy.
Tom Tjaarda handed-out the trophies.
Forest is the current president of the Pantera Club of Northern California (PCNC) ... a POCA chapter.

Great pictures, and Congrats to my good buddy Forest!

* Note that I am currently running his old 5th gear in my ZF transmission, so a (very) little of his glory rubs off on my car!

I look forward to seeing more pictures of the event!

Rocky

This is Forest's Pantera.
Awarded Best De Tomaso of Show by Pantera International, Concorso Italiano 2016.


He was parked next to the 5 Mangustas.

We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Mangusta this year. Three Mangustas from our corral were paraded across the stage for the audience. The owners were each briefly interviewed.
The owners, front to back (right to left), were Bud Millard, Jeff Cobb, and Tom Galli.

Dick Ruzzin, is a forum/club member, retired GM designer, 40 year Mangusta owner, and the author of a new book about the Mangusta.
He was co-commentator with Matt Stone while the Mangustas were exhibited on stage.
Dick is a very nice man, I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know him.

This is Mr. Ruzzin's Mangusta.
It was awarded the Concorso Italiano's Best De Tomaso of Show.


Mr. Ruzzin's Mangusta was originally purchased by the head of GM design William "Bill" Mitchell, and equipped by the De Tomaso factory with a Corvette engine at Mr. Mitchell's request. Mr. Ruzzin, a retired GM designer, acquired the car from "the boss" and has owned it for 40 years.

Jeff Cobb's Mangusta was originally purchased for Ford by Ford designer Eugene Bordinat.
It features unique modifications performed by Ford while exploring the possibility of marketing the car.
Jeff's car was awarded first place in the "Mangusta Class" (a special class we created for this year's celebration of the Mangusta's 50th anniversary).

Tom Galli's Mangusta was originally owned by major league baseball star Willy Mays.
It was the third Mangusta displayed at our corral with special "provenance".

Mr. Galli's Mangusta won second place in the Mangusta Class.

Bud and Jan Millard's Mangusta

The fifth Mangusta belongs to Dave and Linda Adler, former directors of Pantera International.
It was nice to see Dave, Linda, and Paige.

Bill Wheeler's orange Pantera has been in the family since it was new. His father was the original owner, Bill acquired it from his father's estate.

Bill's Pantera was chosen to receive the Concorso's Second Best De Tomaso of Show award.
This is a picture of Bill and his Pantera on stage.

Bill's Pantera was also voted First Place in the "Originale Class".
Bill had a good day!

Dennis Valdez's Pantera (forum/club member sjdennis)

Dennis' Pantera was voted Second Place in the "Originale Class"
His Pantera was also chosen for the Concorso's Third Best De Tomaso of Show award.

Gregg Miller's white GT5-S was the third GT5-S brought to North America, and the car used during the development of many of the GT5-S parts.

Gregg's GT5-S was voted Second Place in the "Pilotato Class".
Gregg is wearing one of the tee shirts Pantera International provided this year as gifts to the exhibitors.
The tee shirt's logo is signed by the designer, Dick Ruzzin.

Bill "Doc" Stewart entered two Panteras in this year's show.
The first being this yellow L model.

The second was this black Pre-L

Doc Stewart's black Pre-L was voted First Place in the "Pilotato Class"

Great pictures ,looking forward to seeing more.

Some real dedicated owners Right there! Fantastic Cars, thanks for posting the pictures along with the follow up information.

Great photo's and commentary. Thank you for sharing.

thank you for sharing George.

Serge

It's nice to see pictures of both car and owner. Thank you for posting George.

George, the Bill "Doc" Stewart "black" car isn't black at all. I would call it root beer. I have seen it at many shows and most recently a the Fabulous Fords Forever show. I was parked next to him and his son. Couple of nice guys by the way.

Thanks George, and here's 145 more..........

http://www.motor1.com/photo/14...6-concorso-italiano/

Jeff Budelli's Pantera

Jeff's Pantera was voted First Place in the "Modificato Class"
This is a VERY competitive class! The competition is steep.

Gary Spratling's Pantera.
Gary is the original owner of his Pantera. He drove it as his daily driver for many years before he made the decision to turn it into a rolling work of art as a show quality modified Pantera.

Gary's Pantera was voted Second Place in the "Modificato Class".

This is Sheldon Friedman's Pantera.
Sheldon is a genuinely friendly guy, and his Pantera is a gorgeous and highly detailed custom.
He gets special mention for helping with the photographs this year. That's Sheldon with his back to us.

Hey Sheldon ... yo Sheldon ... ahem ... Sheldon ... Sheldon turn around ... Sheldon ... SHELDON!

He always ignores me

The main reason Tom Tjaarda made the trip from Italy to be at the Concorso this year was to help them celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fiat 124 Spider, a gorgeous "entry level" Italian sports car he designed during his tenure at Pininfarina.

Fiat 124 Spider, 1966 through 1980.
I believe a Fiat 124 was the car Dustin Hoffman drove in the movie "The Graduate".
Its a gorgeous little sports car.

As a surprise for Tom Tjaarda, Tom McDowell (the Concorso's president) had Bruce Wanta drive his Pantera across the stage at the back of the line of Fiat 124's. Mr. Wanta's Pantera was formerly owned by Tom Tjaarda. I thought that was a nice touch on the part of Tom McDowell.

By the way ... Tom Tjaarda arrived at the Concorso in the morning chauffeured by Markus Smith, as a passenger in Mr. Smith's blue Pantera.

Great Pics, you are a seriously good photographer!