7/29/13
Leaving for the FCA National

The Plan was to set off in two Ferraris, a 365GTC/4, and a 365GTB/4, drive a thousand miles to the Ferrari Club of America National meet in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin and prove the mantra “Ferraris were meant to be driven” actually means farther than just off a truck onto the show field. Mark’s 365GT 2+2 left a little earlier to get a jump his schedule but the blue 365 I’ve been working on was going to travel the same distance.

I rode in Sam Hallowell’s 1972 365GTC/4 that he’s owned for seven years. We did this same trip in 2009 with this car, and I was looking forward to doing it again. This time, instead of flying back, we had the confidence to do the complete 2500 mile round trip.

Andrew Baldassarre decided to join us in his 1973 365GTB/4 Daytona after Sam told him how much fun it was last time we did it. Andrew has owned this car for a few years, but never really drove it further than local car shows. Having us along for the ride gave him the confidence to join the group and really learn what a great long distance car his Daytona could be. Andrew’s co-pilot was his son Drew, so there was a lot of male bonding on this trip!

We spent the first night in Westlake Ohio, and started the next day with our first mechanical problem. Waiting for the kid to get his butt out of bed, Andrew and I decided to get something for breakfast. When the car wouldn’t start, I started troubleshooting what we all thought was an electrical issue. Without embarrassing Andrew any more than we did for the rest of the trip, we found the no start issue was strictly pilot error!

Trips like these seem to get better and better with the aid of technology. Four years ago when we did this drive smart phones were just coming into play, but today finding great restaurants off the interstates was very enjoyable. We stopped in Delta Ohio for a nice meal in a sleepy little town with off street parking.

Our destination for day two was Crown Point Indiana to visit Chris LaPort. Chris is a long time Vintage Ferrari owner and he invited a few friends over to meet us. His brother Nick brought over his 308GTS and his friend Ralph brought over a beautiful Dino 246GT. Tom Wilson of the GTE Registry flew out from California to meet us, so our group was getting larger!
 

Chris moved some of his cars out of the garage to park our Ferraris indoors, but his collection included a black Daytona, a 365GT 2+2, and a SII 330GT 2+2. We also found much much more than just Ferraris squirreled away in three different buildings! We ended the day with a Barbecue late into the night. Thanks Chris for the hospitality!

If you’re going to be in Monterey for the Concorso/Quail/Pebble Beach Weekend, feel free to stop by the Third Annual Tomyang.net Cocktail Party at Quail Lodge on Thursday August 15th from 5:30pm-8pm. There will be food and a cash bar to kick off the weekend. It’s a great time to meet some of the people from website, and make plans for the rest of the weekend. See you there!

Reminder: If you have a Ferrari related project, car, or idea you’d like to explore, I’d love to talk to you. I can also help if you’re thinking of buying or selling. This website represents what I love to do, and I would be happy to help guide you through the Vintage Ferrari world so if you’d like to do something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!

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