How should De Tomaso's 50th Anni. be celebrated?

Ben,

Being quite selfish I would have thought the Goodwood FOS is certainly one venue which is worthy of consideration. Down South, other things to do, the hill climb, the concourse etc and would give owners from around Europe at least the chance to enjoy all the sites and sounds on offer.

Unfortunately having a club presence by the DTDC is prohibitively expensive normally but surely a combined presence from around Europe could make this possible?

Or what about the Monaco Classic Grand Prix? What better venue for a weekends jolly and then only a short trip over the Alps to the factory if it’s still there by then.

Other venues such as Le Mans may prove to be a bit tricky as of course 09 is not a Classic 24 year and then you’re looking at the main event which again would be a no no.

Perhaps the factory will have been saved and in the hands of dynamic new owners by then so we can all enjoy a blast over the Alps into Northern Italy for the weekend. Talking of which, how about the photos in the current DTDC magazine of the parts inventory that’s still at the factory! Enough to make a grown man cry I can tell you!!

Still certainly well worth planning something for, hell by then my Deauville should be back from its restoration.

Yours

RB

Thanks for your input Robin.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed has certainly got to be a target for some kind of De Tomaso presence. Rather than a De Tomaso Drivers Club stand though (which like you said would be prohibitively expensive), I think I'd be inclinded to lobby the Goodwood Road Racing Club to include some De Tomaso competition cars for a run up the hill on all 3 days. This would cost the DTDC absolutely nothing and get international exposure for the marque. Goodwood have been quite keen on showing De Tomaso's at the FOS over the last few years so I think they'd be open-minded to the whole thing if the right cars can be found. As a founder member of the GRRC, I'll be happy to take it up with them some time in the future - maybe they could even arrange for some famous drivers to pilot them...

Best,

BT

Hi Ben.
If the factory is still open in 2009, I think it should be held in Modena, where our cars are born.
One day should be on a race track, maybe Varano near Parma. I think this track is the property of the Dallara family and it would be nice to see your Dallara F2 there on the track.
The main question will be, who will organize this event.
Franz

Thanks for that Franz. I would put my money on the De Tomaso factory being around in some shape or form in 2009 (and hopefully still in Modena). I think the most critical period has now passed (when the firm first went into administration) but in this business you never really know.

Varano sounds like an excellent location for a track day - am I right in thinking it's about a half hours drive north west of Bologna? The '69 F2 will definitely be present at whatever celebration is organised (hopefully the drawn out resto will be completed by then ).

The question of who will organise such an event is a good one - that's why I don't think we can start planning this most important anniversary too early.

Best,

BT

Ben,
you are right. Parma is about 60 km northwest from Modena, on the Autostrada to Milan. From Parma it is only a few kilometers to the track.
We were there during the factory meeting 1990 and it was fun.
To avoid the same problems, the Swedes have now with their Le Mans meeting, it can't be too early to start something for the 2009 meeting.
Franz

Hopefully by then I'll have a Pantera to celebrate