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!

This year was Mary and my first trip to Monterey. The Italian Concorso was one of the highlights. Special thanks to Debbie and George, who I saw running around or manning the PI tent relentlessly, while we enjoyed the benefit of their labors. Thanks Debbie and George for making the event very special for the rest of us! We appreciate your effort in creating a wonderful experience.

George and Debbie Pence

quote:

Originally posted by JTpantera:
This year was Mary and my first trip to Monterey. The Italian Concorso was one of the highlights. Special thanks to Debbie and George, who I saw running around or manning the PI tent relentlessly, while we enjoyed the benefit of their labors. Thanks Debbie and George for making the event very special for the rest of us! We appreciate your effort in creating a wonderful experience.

Yes George, we know there is a lot of work and planning you and Debbie do for this event and a Big Thank You for that!!!

Super pictures, and a lot of great insight. Keep the reports coming!

Rocky

Thanks for the photos and owner's pictures with their cars.

This is Darryl Johnson's Pantera. Its a bad-ass big block Ford powered modified. It attracts a lot of attention. There have been many years when the voting for "Best De Tomaso of Show" has been very close between Darryl's Pantera and Gary Spratling's Pantera. Darryl is a former president of the PCNC club and a great guy.

This is Hans Schulz GT5 replica

Moving beyond the "ultra-modified" Panteras, this is Don Spratling's Pantera.

Don is Gary Spratling's brother. Along with their brother Dick Spratling, and their nephew Joel Montero, this foursome shows up for the Concorso each year, with joy and positive attitudes. They are big supporters of the event, and of the marque.

This is Joel's Pantera. A nicely prepared driver.

This is Mark Bailey's beautiful black custom Pantera.

This is Randy and Linda Welch's Pantera.
Their Pantera was featured in the last issue of POCA Profiles Magazine.
The Pantera formerly belonged to Steve Wilkinson, and Randy has brought it to a state of being undeniably gorgeous. A car any of us would love to own. It was voted Best De Tomaso of Show in 2014.

Great photos and reporting George. I'm always so amazed at how many differences there are between every Pantera in a group. Unlike the prancing red pony brigade, you'd be hard pressed to find two single cars alike — even with the Mangustas! Great job, and thank you. Hopefully I will thank you in person next year.

Mark

Nice pictures George. Thanks for posting them.

Perry Strongin's Pantera

For those of you who remember a forum/club member who went by "MBLotus" that was Steve Griffin, this is his Pantera

This is Garry Choate's Pantera (forum/club member garryc15)

Bret Gann's Pantera

Jerry Brubaker's Pantera (forum/club member jlb351)
His Pantera has won quite a few trophies over the years

Markus Weeler's beautiful Silver Pre-L
Did I ever mention the silver Panteras came from the factory with an extra 100 BHP that the other colors didn't have?

John Webber's Pantera

This is Mike Resso's beautiful Pantera.
Check-out the fire-mist orange paint. Its powered by a big block Ford with 180 degree headers.

Greg and Lori Lazzerini's Pantera

Steve and Merry Dalcino's Pantera

John and Kathy Buckman's Pantera. Their Pantera has won a bunch of trophies over the years.
John is a former president of POCA, a forum/club member (jb1490), and the original owner of his very early 1971 Pantera.
The Buckmans drive their Pantera to the show from their home near San Diego every year. That's 400 miles one way.
Deb and I appreciate their attendance and their friendship.

That's it for the cars, now for some engine compartments.

This is the engine compartment of Mark Bailey's Pantera

The engine compartment of Jeff Budelli's Pantera

The engine compartment of Sheldon Friedman's Pantera.
Look through the window and notice the detail in the interior, and the padding on the engine bonnet. Its a very detailed custom.

The engine compartment of Steve Griffin's Pantera.

The engine compartment of Daryl Johnson's big block powered Pantera.

The engine compartment of Gregg Miller's GT5-S
The induction once consisted of IR fuel injection, he's made the conversion to a single four barrel carburetor and prefers it.

The engine compartment of Mike Resso's Pantera.
That's an 8.7 liter Ford big block power plant.

The engine compartment of Gary Spratling's Pantera.
Be careful or the glare off all that polished aluminum will blind you.

The engine compartment of Doc Stewart's Black Pantera

... and the engine compartment of Doc Stewart's yellow Pantera

I wish to make special mention of the folks who helped make Tom Tjaarda's visit to Monterey a delightful one for him. Tom McDowell, president of the Concorso, provided his air fare and lodging. Gary Spratling provided professional transportation to and from the air port, plus tickets for the Pebble Beach Concourse (Tom had a strong desire to attend Pebble Beach on Sunday). The PCNC, via their president Forest Goodhart, invited Tom to their Annual Banquet at the Los Laureles lodge on Friday night. Transportation duties outside of the airport were shared by Dave and Linda Adler, Markus Smith, and Larry Finch. All of you have my deepest and most heartfelt thanks.


Thanks to all forum/club members for putting up with how I posted pictures. Posting 59 pictures slowly over a period of two weeks, instead of all at once, was far less stressful.

Commenting on the pictures: I have very little time to take pictures on the day of the event. I use the camera in the auto-focus mode, and I don't use a tri-pod; the auto-focus easily does as good of a job at focusing as I could manually 90% of the time, because my vision is poor. However I can tell the pictures aren't as sharp as they could be, I'm not tryin' to blow smoke up anybody's arse. I'm sure the people who watch me taking pictures on the day of the event are surprised at how well they turn out. When I get home each picture is rotated if necessary, cropped, compressed, and resized. On occasion I adjust color-saturation/contrast/brightness, although the Sony camera I use does a good job in that respect 90% of the time.

Debbie and I are grateful for all those who showed-up at the event as either exhibitors or spectators. We hope in some small way we have touched your lives in a positive way, as each of you touch ours. We hope to see and meet even more of you next year. Please consider making plans now. The next Concorso is scheduled for Saturday, August 19, 2017.

Will they pay my airfare?

Great Photos George! And thanks so much for making the time to post them up for those of us who couldn't be there.

For those of us stil trying to get our cars together or on the road it's great to get some inspiration from those who have theirs complete.

Would have been great to have met Tom as well.

I'd love to get across to one soon!

George, thanks for taking the time to post all these pictures and text with it. The Concorso is always a fun event for Kim and I due in no small part to the time and effort you and Deb put into it. We're looking forward to next year.

Steve & Kim Griffin

GEORGE,
It was a great time. Thanks a million.

DICK RUZZIN