After my morning coffee, Roger and I headed over to the Caffine and Carburetors show in front of the Ritz.

I found Tom Hill’s custom built Cal Spyder Replica he told me about when I saw him at Cavallino. If my memory serves me right, this car was built on a BMW Z3 Chassis powered by a Chevrolet V-8.

The injected engine has all modern engine management, and intergrates with the gauges and controls.

The attention to detail and craftsmanship was impressive and I’m sure was more comfortable, drove better, and was certainly more powerful than an original Cal Spyder. I should probably get over my aversion to these copies and accept them for what they are. They represent the passion and dedication for something mechanical and aesthetically beautiful. The only thing missing was it wasn’t made 60 years ago by craftsmen in a little town in Italy. How is this any different than someone hot rodding a ’32 Ford with a modern overhead valve V-8 and adding modern mechanicals? I don’t know. Am I a snob? Should I just stop caring? Does anyone else care?

A real Ferrari was parked not car from the Replica Spyder and I saw something interesting in the engine compartment.

The owner said he manufactures clear covers for the air box so owners car see the pretty velocity stacks on the four Weber Carburetors that would normally be covered by the steel cover on the air box. It’s a neat modification for the guys who like to show off this kind of mechanical beauty. It will also force them to make sure their carbs are tuned right, because any backfiring will deposit lots of carbon on the clear plastic cover!

I took a walk over to the Radwood and Lemons show across the street from the Caffine and Carburetors show, but the weather started to get a little damp.

I hid under a pop up tent for about 30 minutes and tried to see as much of the show between showers. I gave up after about an hour and took the shuttle over to the RM Auction to dry off.

The Beach House was calling to me as the weather cleared, so I hitched a ride back to the house and put my feet up on the back deck. I could get used to this lifestyle!