We have gone to the famous Chateau Montebello several times in the past because it's half-way between two good-sized groups of DeTomaso owners. The fact that it's nestled in beautiful countryside, on a river and has an amazing buffet lunch might have had some influence in selecting it as a destination. We picked a date weeks ago, crossed our fingers and hoped for good weather. We really lucked out as the forecast in the morning was calling for late afternoon rain (which eventually showed up after we had all returned home).
The day for those of us coming from Ottawa started out great. A few of us had some last-minute details to attend to and we all managed to finish and be ready at our usual meeting place — a small park by the river and just two doors from our Prime Minister's residence. It was 10 am and the frost had melted away leaving a bright, crisp day ahead.
Jonathan in his GT5 and I (with my blue Pantera) were the first to arrive, with Andy (red Pantera) and Denis (red Mangusta) shortly behind. Moments later Joe arrived in his wild orange Pantera. As usual, we stood around talking catching up and introducing our copilots to each other.
We decided we should hit the road to Montebello (a short hour-plus drive) and about 2/3 the way there Denis' Mangusta pulled off to the side of the road with no power. With five wrench-spinners at the ready we tackled the problem but quickly gave up when we realized that VOLTS were involved. They were going missing in a dramatic way, and no quick checks could determine the cause of the draining. Denis had been fighting this issue for a bit and thought he had it licked, but turns out the gremlins had returned. Unfortunately he decided the best thing was to swap in his spare battery (he travels prepared!) and head for home.
The rest of us continued to Montebello and managed to arrive within minutes of the Montreal crew. As it turns out, one of their group (also named Denis, and also driving a red car…) had also dropped out and returned home with electrical issues.
We parked the cars along the beautiful driveway to the Chateau and proceeded to do more introductions and catching up.
Eventually we made our way inside and spent a couple of hours eating and talking, sharing stories, plans, projects and ideas. The conversations were, as always, fun and continuous.
I snuck away for a bit to grab some shots of the cars without all the owners standing around (and without open doors and engine deck lids).
Eventually we all prepared to head for home. Our return route was different and involved taking a short ferry-ride across the river that separates Ontario and Québec. It's always fun to see the reactions of people when seven Panteras roll aboard!
Gratuitous cute smiling girl (Andy's girlfriend Jenn) with Pantera reflection artsy shot:
As we left the ferry landing we said our farewells and headed back towards our homes. I had the pleasure of following Jonathan, Andy and Joe along the way, changing positions as we drove.
As we got closer to the city the skies got more grey. About an hour after tucking my cat in her nice warm garage it started to rain, ending yet another perfect (almost, except for the troubled the Denis' had) day.
Mark
