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2003 Concorso Italiano
By: Drew Phillips
Photos by the author
August 25, 2003

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The annual Concorso Italiano is one of the largest gathering of Italian cars in America, including an impressive display of more than 400 Ferraris among several other marques with Italian heritage including Lamborghini, DeTomaso, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Iso, Bizzarrini, and Cizeta. This was the eighteenth year for the show and was the largest yet. Unlike previous year's shows which were held at the Quail Lodge, this year's event was held at the Black Horse Golf Course, just north of Monterey in the town of Seaside. The new location offered more space for the ever-growing number of cars and spectators of the event.

Getting into the event, however, was somewhat of a hassle for entrants and spectators alike. Owners bringing their cars to the show found themselves in a long line, and many of the cars weren't able to get into the show until well after it had started. Show attendees had to park in far-off lots and wait in long lines for shuttles to get to the event. These minor complaints didn't spoil the experience, however, and once at the show everyone was in a good mood with the wonderful weather and the beautiful cars on display.

The theme of Concorso Italiano is "A Celebration of Italian Style," and what better car to celebrate with than Lamborghini? The outrageously-styled cars of Ferrucio were the stars of the show, taking center stage near the lodge on the putting greens. Lamborghini was especially featured at this year's show because of the company's fortieth anniversary and the introduction of a new model. A variety of models represented the entire marque's history, dating back to 1964 when the first customer cars were produced. Two 350 GT's, Lamborghini's first production model, were on display along with an extremely rare 400 GT 2-seater (1 of 23 built). Perhaps the most interesting early-model Lamborghini at the show was the 3500 GTZ. One of only two prototypes made, the Zagato-bodied Lamborghini was first shown at the 1965 London Motor Show and was built on a shortened 350 GT wheelbase. Other rare Lamborghinis at the show included three Miuras. A standard Miura, an S version, and an SV were present, all painted in bright colors. The red Miura S was the most visually striking of the group with its gold trim and wheels.

While not the most visually appealing, the collection of Espadas at the show was still impressive. They were joined by other lesser-known Lamborghini models including the Jalpa and Islero. The row of Countach's was equally impressive, featuring a full-blown racing version and a beautiful silver 25th anniversary model. The collection of Diablos was an incredible sight, as they were placed in a ring around one of the putting greens. A variety of models were on hand including two rare SE models. The Diablo SE is perhaps the only car in the world that can be painted purple and still look masculine.

Al Burtoni, owner of Milano Imports which specializes in performance parts for Lamborghini, brought his spectacular orange "Jota" Diablo 6.0. Burtoni was on hand to answer questions about the car and his company. His Diablo was not the only modified version in attendance, however, as a VTTT (#7 of 7) made a special appearance. The owner purposefully had the engine cover lifted off so that the constant crowd could clearly see the twin-turbo V12.

Lamborghini's present models were shown off on an adjacent green to the historical Lamborghinis. That's right, I said models. In case you haven't kept up with the latest automotive news, Lamborghini is producing a second model along with the Murcielago supercar which will be on sale this fall, although if you haven't ordered one yet it's probably too late. The new model made its first North American appearance at the show. The Gallardo (pronounced Gayardo with a "y" - if you really want to say it right you have to use an Italian accent and elongate the second "a" like "gayaaaardo") will be Lamborghini's "affordable" model costing a mere $160,000 and features an all-aluminum V10 making 500 hp that can push the car from a stop to sixty mph in 4.2 seconds. Lamborghini also claims the car is capable of reaching 192 mph. After the two Gallardos were uncovered by Lamborghini, the crowd rushed quickly to get their first detailed views of the car and getting a good view of the entire car was quite difficult. I must say I prefer the looks of the car over Ferrari's 360 Modena, and I even prefer the appearance of the car to the Murcielago. Speaking of the Murcielago, there were more than just several at the show. I counted at least 15 present, which represents a good part of the entire population in the country.

While Lamborghini may have been the star of the show, Ferrari made up the bulk of the cars on display. A wide variety of models were at the show including modern cars like the 360 Modena and Spider, 456 GT, and the 575M Maranello. Recent models such as the F355, 348, 328, and 308 were in abundance as well. Rare classic Ferraris such as the 275 GTB/4, Dino 246 GTS, and a 512iBB made spectators appreciate the styling of Ferrari in the last 3 decades. Two of my favorite Ferraris, the 288 GTO and 512M, were also at the show. Louis Scafuri's Enzo and F50 made the collection of Ferraris complete, and I recognized the two as the ones I had followed on the road the day before. These were joined by several F40's including one converted to LM specifications owned by Roland Linder who races the car regularly. You might not recognize the car because of the HRE rims and decals, but it is the same one show at the top of this web site.

Also being featured for celebrating an anniversary, Vector showed up with a handful of cars. The 25 year old company isn't Italian, and the W8 supercar doesn't really have any Italian styling, but the cars fit in with the rest of the show nicely. The only real link is the V12 engine used in the W12, but none were at the show. Four of the original nineteen W8's were at the show including several of the original owners.

The number of Detomasos at the show was very impressive, particularly the amount of Panteras present. Everything from the early Panteras to the GT5 models was represented. One beautiful example was a blue racing Pantera 2 that had a heavily modified engine compartment. A good number of Mangustas were at the show as well, but didn't receive as much attention as they weren't as many and were placed off to the side of the main displays.

A pleasant surprise at the show was a Cizeta Moroder V16T painted in bright red. The car, designed by Marcello Gandini is only 1 of 8 cars in existence. Even rarer still is the one-off "Fenice TTJ Spyder" that made its debut at the 2003 Concorso. The car was also designed by Gandini and is a convertible version of the Moroder V16T that uses the same 560 hp V16 engine. It is one of the fastest drop-tops in the world with a top speed of 209 mph. Cizeta will hopefully produce the car and is currently looking for buyers.

Bugatti was another featured make at the show. Several vintage Bugattis were on display, but the crowd favorites were a pair of blue EB110's. One was a SS model, 1 of only 22 ever made. The pair looked simply astounding next to each other.

Besides the main cars on display, several other dealerships and automotive-related companies had tents set up for the spectators. The Silicon Valley Auto Group brought an impressive display of cars for sale including a Saleen S7, Ferrari Enzo, Aston Martin DB7 GT, and a 288 GTO. Pirelli Tires of North America had a Panoz Esperante and a metallic red S7 as representatives. Both Danny Panoz and Steve Saleen were on hand to answer questions about the two cars, and the S7 actually attracted more attention than many of the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Ford somehow snuck in the production version of their Ferrari-fighting GT into the Italian show. Enzo must have been rolling in his grave knowing that Ford was back again to take away the glory from Ferrari. In addition to the cars on display, several tents were set up for show goers to browse through a selection of scale model cars, t-shirts, and other memorabilia. One stand that attracted me was one that sold back issues of magazines. I could have spent hours looking through the old magazines featuring cars from the early 1990's and back.

Apart from the main show, there was also a section known as the "corral" where non-Italian makes could be shown. The rows of cars parked off to the side of the main fairway were an unbelievable show in itself. Rows of BMW's, Porsches, Corvettes, and Vipers were on display. Some crowd favorites included a Ruf 996 RGT, Porsche 911 Turbo S, TVR Cebera, Aston Martin DB5, and a Mosler MT900S. One could have spent all day looking at just those cars, but their appeal was dimmed at the time by the large number of spectacular Italian cars nearby.

Except for the trouble with pre-show traffic and parking issues (which Concorso has promised will be remedied next year), not one of the 10,000 spectators of this year's Concorso Italiano could have asked for a better show. The weather was fantastic, and the cars were even more so. There were so many cars and displays to experience that the only thing keeping one from spending all day walking around the Black Horse Golf Course was tired feet. If you live even remotely close to the Monterey Bay you should consider making the trek next year to join others in the celebration of "Italian Style."