It was Thursday morning, August 12th, and months of hard work were about to pay off. The Superformance rig was loaded up and on its way to Monterey for car week. A few Superformance owners drove up with us. We left from Orange County and the first stopover was the Madonna Inn. The Madonna Inn is a California landmark, located just minutes from downtown San Luis Obispo. The Inn, with its special themed rooms, attracts visitors looking for something different – we just needed some refreshments from the bakery and pastry shop. 

The drive along the Californian coast is spectacular with each town offering a unique experience. Driving through scenic Ventura, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach and Morrow Bay and into Monterey and Carmel one couldn’t help feeling exhilarated as our sports car was hugging the curves up the through passes – all the while taking in the beautiful coast line and topography this region has to offer.

The first night festivities were at the famed Baja Cantina located in Carmel Valley adjacent to the Quail Lodge. The Baja Cantina owned by Patrick and Gina Phiny is a “car guy's" instution where car memorabilia adorns the inside and out of this popular restaurant. On Thursday nights the Baja Cantina becomes a Classic Car meeting ground. It's not unusual to see as many as 100 hot rods, classic cars and exotics outside the "Baja Filling Station." On arrival in we were greeted by Doug Reed, Charlie Ponstein, Trac and Megan Stephenson and Superformance MKIII owner Bryce Adcock and his Dark Silver with Le Mans black stripe beast,. We then spotted an original GT40 just a few cars down from a Titanium Superformance GT40 MKII. After meeting a number of owners and dealers, we went back to the hotel and got some rest before the crazy weekend of car festivities began. 

On Friday we set up at the Mazda Raceway Leguna Seca where the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion was being held. Shelby Distribution and Superformance had a large display located in the vendor area where we had a MKII-FIA, a number of GT40s, a Superformance MKIII roadster, numerous MKIII S/C models, a Shelby 427 S/C and a Shelby Daytona Coupe. The Perana Z-One was driven over to the track on Saturday after the debut at the Concorso Italiano.

The RMMR track event attracted 600 historic automobiles that raced just as they did "back in the day." The racing action started with 19 different competition groups completing their qualifying runs and segued into lunchtime parade laps, a picnic for the public with famed driver Dan Gurney, and a flyover by four Nanchang CJ-6A aircraft before the Star Spangled Banner signaled the official start of competition and the first race of the day featuring Trans-Am cars from the '60s and '70s. 

When the green flag flew, the sound of 44 original Trans-Am cars roaring past the stands brought every race fan to their feet. This year's RMMR also featured a tribute to Dan Gurney, the legendary racer and car builder who waved the Green Flag to start the Trans-Am race. During the Dan Gurney tribute lap Dan’s son, Alex, drove the Gurney-Weslake Eagle V-12 and Two-Time Indy 500-winner Dario Franchitti drove a Birdcage Maserati that Dan Gurney had once raced himself. We spotted a number of celebrities at the track – Jay Leno was seen taking a stroll through the vendor area, Peter Brock had a vendor display, Vic Edebrock was in the pits and Bob Bondurant perused the Superformance stand. Of course there was Bobby Unser, another famous driver and friend of Dan Gurney, who also raced many of Gurney's cars. Patrick Dempsey, the famous television and movie actor, took time off from his day job to race as well, he was in his 1992 RX7-92 Mazda GTP and later relaxed in the Mazda hospitality suite.

Concorso Italiano 

Concorso Italiano has been one of Monterey's largest gatherings of primarily Italian vehicles for years. Laguna Seca Golf Ranch played the hospitable host, giving throngs of Italian-car lovers the opportunity to get up close and personal with hundreds of le belle machine and all things Italian. Lamborghini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, DeTomaso and Ferrari were well represented with long lines of each marque placed down the fairways of Laguna. This year those classic brands were joined by another as Superformance debuted the new Zagato-penned Perana Z-One. The European GT styling combined with Corvette power reminds one of the classic Italo-Amercan mashups from DeTomaso, Iso, Bizzarrini and the like. Paolo Di Taranto flew in from Milano to represent Zagato and graced the stage to speak about Zagato and the Perana Z-One. Most were astounded by the build quality of this hand-built automobile and could not believe that a Zagato designed car could be so affordable. Other U.S. debuts at the event included the new retro Fiat 500 and the Ferrari F430-based Fioravanti SP1, a Special Project authorized by Ferrari for owner Junichiro Hiramatsu of Japan.

Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance 

A tradition going back over half a century, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is where the world's collector cars meet and compete. Only the 175 best collector cars in the world roll onto the legendary 18th fairway at Pebble Beach, and only a handful of those will receive official recognition for style, technical merit and historical accuracy. At the entrance a beautiful Ferrari designed by Zagato greeted the crowds. The expansive lawn and stunning sea views set the stage for rows of collector cars which took a number of hours to preview. There were also a number of bicycles and motor bikes and even a motor home or two which took visitors back in time. Around lunch time we made our way to the Tap Room – a wonderful watering hole with a great selection of draft and bottled beers, wines and top quality spirits. This is a steak house serving up hearty All-American fare. While sitting in the Tap Room and gazing outside we were amazed to see Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who was being interviewed by the press. A number of concept and production cars were also proudly displayed on the concept lawn area just outside the Tap House. The awards ceremony began at 1:30 and proceeded until the final award was presented – Best of Show. When the confetti flew and the fireworks exploded, it was an all white 1933 Delage D8S De Villars Roadster taking the crown. And with that, another packed week of classic and exotic car events wrapped up in Northern California.

With the festivities behind us we packed up and headed home to Irvine, California. The Shelby and Superformance team will not be resting, however, as we now need to prepare the cars for the press just before we pack up and head to Woodward Dream Cruise, SAAC 35 and Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas to mention only a few of the show we will be attending.