Monterey Weekend

X2

Dave,

My impressions of CI 2009: The event was "almost great". Very nice location and layout. Good turnout. We had room for only 300 more DeTomaso cars - grin. quite a number of vendor displays/booths. I didn't try the food. Revewing stands like the previous (golf course) layout (good). There could have been more "classic" Ferraris, but I know they divide themselves. DeTomasos receive lots of "podium" time.
I spent a little time with Tom Tjaarda, spent a lot of time with a DeTomaso family member discussing the DeTomaso registry. Spent a little time with the guys from the Petersen museum, they brought the Elvis Pantera. They had to pull the engine/ZF to replace the gas tank just a couple of days prior (Tuesday-Wednesday?)Didn't tour the club corrals. The event site has room for way more cars of all types.
The only detraction was the time necessary (as a spectator) to depart. I had up-front parking meaning I had the full parking area to travel thru upon departure. The only route out was bottle-necked by the stop light. The CHP standing there could have improved exit flow vastly, but he chose to display his stoic face and statue stance.
As for photos, it will take me some more time until all 400+ photos and video clips are posted on my website (www.ProvaMo.com www.DeTomasoRegistry.org)
Lastly, I missed seeing you and your wife!
Your yellow Group 5 / special car should have been there. Hell I would have driven it in!

Best Regards!

Chuck Melton

Thank you Chuck for the update. We wanted to go in the worst way but it was impossible to get away. We missed you and all our DeTomaso friends and will make sure we get up to the show next year. I saw a review on the Dolce Vita show on the Octane site and that event may have a nominal attendance. I hope somebody can report on that event as well. Take care!

Attendance at our corral was good this year, considering there were two competing events and the dismal economy. We had about 10 more entrants this year compared to last year.

The Laguna Seca golf course is a gorgeous venue. We had a bitchen location. On a knoll at the bottom of the western fair way. Looking down from the top past the Ferraris and Alfas, which were lined up side by side like at a parking lot, our knoll stood out like a podium with all the Panteras arrayed rather helter skelter, like a bunch of mad ants on their ant hill. You couldn't miss us. Entering from the general parking area you followed a path around a bend, and there in front of you stood our knoll with all the DeTomasos arrayed on top. I couldn't have asked for a better location.

I had the VIP pass which included a lunch in the VIP tent. The lunch was splendid, way better than any of the lunches served the last several years.

The stadium show went off well from the spectators point of view, but things were very chaotic behind the scenes, I had to run my butt off. The new owner will do better next year I'm sure. I met Tom McDowell, he's a very personable guy, he worked his butt off too.

The 50th anniversary of DeTomaso was very prominent in the event magazine and the stadium show. Tom Tjaarda did the story telling on the stadium, we had some great cars to run pass the spectators including the Elvis Pantera. Tom was there to hand out trophies at our corral too. We offered each attendee a free tee shirt commemorating the occasion. I was short handed for corral workers, but overall very happy about how the event turned out for us. Overall a very good celebration for our marque. Wait until you see the event magazine.

I arrived early and went home late, I had no trouble getting into or out of the general admission parking lot. And the walk from the parking lot to the event was nothing like the 1/4 mile trek at the Black Horse golf course, a big improvement there.

-G

quote:

We had a bitchen location.

Indeed it was. And we have Jim 'Coz' Cozzolino to thank for that. While initially the front man for P.I. at the event, Coz somehow got drafted by the Concorso event to do a hell of a lot of their work. He was responsible for the layout of the entire event, and early on saw the fairway knoll site as a perfect center-point to the event - and worthy of OUR cars getting to use it! Thanks Jim!!

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including the Elvis Pantera

Personally, that is just another dull, nothing special Pantera. Elvis has left the building, you know? I noted that during Tom Tjaarda's story telling he said Elvis had purchased the car for $2400. I certainly think that is in error, but no doubt many folks heard it as the truth and are repeating that story to everyone, openly serving to continue the image of our cars being some cheap exotic knock-off. Sad.

quote:

Wait until you see the event magazine.

Okay, we'll wait.

Larry

Personally, I didn't see as many trophy wives and vendor girls as in previous years, but there was some eye-candy floating around.

Larry

And of course, how could it be a Pantera event without at least one tech session?

One PCNC member's window decided to not roll back up, and he and Mike Drew staged an on-the-spot repair session.

Larry

Former Pantera owner and good friend Randy Grubb - he built the Leno tank car - was in Monterey with his newest Blastolene creation, Piss'd Off Pete.

It is a 1960 aluminum-cab Peterbilt that came stock with a 12 cylinder Detroit Diesel sporting twin 6-71 blowers.

At Thursday night's Baja Cantina event, he hooked up with the Mother's Wax folks, who had him drive to Saturday's Laguna Seca event for display at their tent. Randy fired up the beast every hour or so, and you could hear it throughout the track area.

It is for sale at an upcoming auction if any of you want something a bit different.

Larry

Yup, yours truly sitting behind the wheel.

I was almost the last Pantera to leave Concorso,so I was able to get some great shots of 2511 as the sun provided nearly perfect lighting.

Larry

I would echo the previous comments, a great event and thanks to Jim and George for their hard work in making it a good showing for De Tomaso's 50th Anniversary.

I didn't attend last year's event, although I heard plenty about it from all walks! That said I think this year was comparable to previous Black Horse events I attended, with the De Tomaso's again in a prime spot.

Definitely a lower attendance in participants and spectators, I'm guessing mostly due to last year's experience for many and the competing events. Word had it 4 Pantera's were at 'La Dolce Vita', so more of the former I guess. The absence of the now demised Lamborghini Orange was noted purely for the lack of 'Lambo Girls'

It got me how the F cars were split into two areas between the 'all in a row seemingly identical red ones' and 'the other colors, off to the side like bastard children'. No way would the Pantera crowd discrimate on color, in fact even my son (16 yr old) commented on it and said no way he'd ever have a Ferrari, although he was taken with an orange Gallardo Spyder...

Julian

Nice photo sample. Where the wide bodies (not women).

Great pics and descriptions fellas. Thanks. I probably won't get to go to another one of these 'til my kids graduate from HS. Just too much going on this time of year, so your experiences are great to read!

Love it that deTomasos had MORE traffic this year. Good going.

Concorso overall was pretty similar to the ones held two, three and four years ago. It was nice to have Tom Tjaarda there, but we could only hear about one in ten words he was saying which was frustrating. The food was better than previous years, the parking was better too.
This was the first time I had seen the Elvis Pantera in person, so it was kind of interesting, if a little scruffy condition-wise.
The De Tomasos had a great location and made a very nice display!

I managed to purchase some cool Pantera goodies at the Automobilia show earlier in the week.

La Dolce Vita had a nice turnout of Maseratis. I counted three Panteras there. Roy Cats brought most of the Lamborghinis in attendance there. It was a pretty small show without big crowds.

quote:

It was nice to have Tom Tjaarda there, but we could only hear about one in ten words he was saying which was frustrating.

It was interesting that there was a substantially larger crowd when Tom Tjaarda was onstage with the Panteras than when other vehicles were featured onstage.

It was also great to put more faces to names again, each year I get to personally meet a few more people in this great community.

Great to meet you in person Garth, and Todd should be on stage somewhere!

Julian

quote:

Todd should be on stage somewhere!

Indeed! Watching him charming the ladies, fortified with liquid courage, at Baja Cantina on Thursday was worth the price of admission...

quote:

each year I get to personally meet a few more people in this great community.

Yup, putting faces to names is part of the fun.

Here we have some of the gang at Baja Cantina on Thursday

left to right:

Darryl Johnson (PCNC)
Mark Tumbarello (PCNC)
Julian's son - Nathan?
Julian Kift - Reno
Garth "Banzairunnerpantera" Rodericks (PCNC)

And amongst the cars at the Baja, you never know what you'll find.

Saw this home brew...er, air cleaner... on the worst-color-ever kit Cobra

The variety of cars at the Baja was awesome.

Good friend Randy Grubb - Leno tank car builder - showed up with his latest, Piss'd Off Pete. A er, modified 1960 Peterbuilt. He parked next to what he thought was just another kit Cobra Daytona, and was a bit shocked when he realized he has just backed his 8000 pound creation up next to a $10 million real deal Daytona.

Most times you can't even get close to a car like that. Thursday at Baja you could have walked up and kissed it.

Ask Randy if he needs any more V12's. We got em running a bit better then the originals.

http://www.thunderv12.com/

quote:

Originally posted by LF - TP 2511:

Here we have some of the gang at Baja Cantina on Thursday

left to right:

Darryl Johnson (PCNC)
Mark Tumbarello (PCNC)
Julian's son - Nathan?
Julian Kift - Reno
Garth "Banzairunnerpantera" Rodericks (PCNC)

Can I be an honorable member of PCNC too? Our chapter is now known (to me at least) as RIP (Reno Interred Pantera's) formerly RTP, but no one else except Larry Stock ever comes out

quote:

on the worst-color-ever kit Cobra

Larry,

So what's wrong with the color, other than it doesn't look good on a Cobra?

John

quote:

So what's wrong with the color, other than it doesn't look good on a Cobra?

Perhaps that should have read...

'worst-color-ever on a kit Cobra"

The color just didn't fit on that car. Perhaps on a proper Mopar (they had some fun colors) it would work. Or as a silly Lambo color, it is probably an option.

Larry

quote:

The color just didn't fit on that car.

I agree that the color doesn't look right on a Cobra.

Ford also had a similar color.

And, don't forget, that was a Pantera color. It was only available on the '71 cars. Only 87 P cars were painted that color, which makes it rather rare, especially on a survivor car.

John

Thanks for the updates on the Concorso. It sounds like it was a great event. Thank you to all those who pitched in to help. Did anybody attend the other event, La Dolce Vita? If so, what was that show like?

quote:

Originally posted by Whiplash:
Thanks for the updates on the Concorso. It sounds like it was a great event. Thank you to all those who pitched in to help. Did anybody attend the other event, La Dolce Vita? If so, what was that show like?

No, but da flyer looked good...