Message from Tom Mc Dowell, president of the Concorso Italiano

I couldn't make it with my relocation to Canada happening at the same time. Does this mean the De Tomaso location was sub optimal? How many Pantera's were in attendance?

Was the move back to Black Horse and day change seen as a positive, i.e. numbers up?

Julian

Ditto on Joules question, plus -

Any links to share with dates and/or background on how to attend or participate would be great.

As I slow down with my work demands,I get to ramp up on car events (my decree, occasionally allowed by my wife) so I'm due another trip to Pebble.

I think it'd be great to take the Pantera.

If Mr. McDowell's letter is seen seen as a positive, it'd be awesome to have an orchestrated DeTomaso assault on the venue, driving up interest, attention, and deserved values of these cars.

The Concorso is always held on the middle weekend of August. Formerly on Friday, this year Saturday, next year I don't know. Its the same weekend as the Pebble Beach concourse and the historic races, the culmination of what has become a big car week in Monterey each year.

Yes most people will see this news as a good thing. I've never been too concerned where our corral was located, because I've learned the spectators are drawn to the Panteras wherever they're located. There were two entry gates on opposite sides of the event this year, our corral was located near one of them. Every one entering via that gate had to walk through our corral, which meant we had a tremendous amount of foot traffic.

There are some nice things about being located near the stage, for one ... its easier for De Tomaso exhibitors to attend the stage show. Its also easier to get our cars to and from the stage. The food concessions will be closer too. The stage is near the club house, and the club house has a bar!

When the event was previously at the Black Horse golf course the De Tomaso corral was located between the club house and the event stage, in a very high traffic area. The previous owner realized the Panteras were a big attraction for the spectators, so the Panteras were used to draw people towards the stage.

For the 6 years Tom has operated the Concorso, he has never placed the De Tomaso corral near the stage show, we've always been far away from the stage show, on the periphery of the display area. This year there was a special display of cars by Zagato near the stage. I haven't spoken with Tom since he sent the email, but I assume the aerial photography must have revealed the De Tomaso corral attracted more spectators than the Zagato display. It seems as though Tom has finally realized the Panteras attract crowds.

On to Julian's questions, I believe the return to the Black Horse was a positive thing. Access to the event, getting the cars in and out, seemed to be much better. As far as attendance, the number of exhibitors was down but the pre-registered spectators were up significantly this year. When I last spoke with Tom, the evening after the event, they hadn't had a chance to count the gate receipts to determine the number of spectators who purchased tickets at the gates, nor did they have a final count for the total number of spectators. I do know one of the parking lots were so full they were turning people away.

Last year there were 36 Panteras pre-registered, but we had 8 no-shows. That's an unusually high number of no-shows. This year we had 33 cars in our corral, and Jim Nowlin showed-up driving a Porsche (his Pantera wouldn't start).

I've read a couple of Canadian members stating they would like to attend next year. Julian you might be able to hitch a ride on the transporter. I think it would be a great year for everyone to converge, internet acquaintances can meet face to face, etc. I could tell Tom we're declaring 2015 the international De Tomaso owners gathering or something like that. If not 2015, then 2016 for sure, 2016 is the 45th anniversary of the Pantera.

I was there as a spectator this year. Don't have a Pantera (yet!). The Pantera corral had a lot more interest than the zagatos imo. My friend and I had a great time and enjoyed talking with the Pantera owners and learning about their cars. One day soon I hope to own one!

The last CI I had attended was at the Airport and the golf course is so much nicer.

Dennis

I have attended Concorso from the early days (1994) when it was at Quail, then the move to Blackhorse, the ill-conceived move to the Seaside Airport, the move to Pasadera golf course, and now back to Blackhorse.

Firstly, the big change to Saturday IMHO worked out well. HAD it been held on Friday, they would have been competing with the Quail show, the Porsche Club of American Show, the BMW Club show, and the Pacific Grove Show. On Saturday, there are no other shows to compete with other than the auctions which have a draw typically in the evening. For those there for the week, it provided a perfect event for all of Saturday.

Blackhorse is a nice location. They have already locked in August 15, 2015 as the date for next year. As a location, it has great views of the bay and is very spacious so the cars are well spread out.

As for the Pantera location, I think they had a great spot for them right next to the Fiats. That side of the show was a little calmer. Right next to the stage is a zoo and most of the attendees walking through the Zagato display were simply walking "through" them, not looking at them. The Ferrari area is always a high traffice area given the fact there are probably 200 F-cars present. And the Lambos generate a crowd just because.

My hats-off to Tom and his team for running a well organized event (even if it is $130. per person). You can not possibly see that many cars for the money any where else in such a nice, pleasant setting.