hardtuned.com's concorso italiano 2008
It was always a chore getting in and out of the Concorso Italiano when it was spread across the greens of the Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course on Fort Ord. To fix that, The folks at Concorso turfed the golf course and took their show to the Marina Airport. Trees, fleeting glimpses of the ocean, and a rolling topography that gave you a sense of how many cars and people were there have been replaced by lots of concrete, 30mph wind gusts, a few airplanes, chain link fences and an odd square filled with bark surrounded by flags.
Nick P., Christine K. and myself, all members of the Ecurie Ecrappe / Autodenta LeMons squad, brought the EE/Autodenta Spider out to promote the 24Hours Of LeMons series, and Christine drove my Sprint Speciale down to show off its recently straightened fender.
Last year we brought the Ecurie Ecrappe car, and it caused quite a stir - it even ended up pictured in this year's Concorso program. Since it's last appearance it survived three more LeMons races and multiple body-damage configurations. We even conned Wes Conklin into bringing out his LeMons surviving Alfetta racer to further the cause.
To sum it up, it just ain't what it used to be.
We arrived with fond memories of sitting on the grass, sipping a Pimm's cup with friends. This year when we could no longer stand, we collapsed on the concrete and shivered.
At left, the flag surrounded square of bark.
All of our favorite accessory vendors were here too.
Nick rolls in without even as much as a lecture from local authorities. Believe it or not, we did some bodywork to re-open the headlight openings on our 1957 Spider nose before the Concorso.