A customer of mine is taking his Daytona to the Ferrari Club National Meet in April to be held at the Daytona International Speedway, and he’s entered it into the Concours. I often advise my clients about showing their cars, and will do whatever it is necessary to score as I as high we can, but it’s not such an easy thing to do. I also speak often with the Judges at the Ferrari Club of America about the duplicity of enticing people to show their cars, and the difficulty of winning an award.

Many of us own nice Ferraris, and take pride in our ownership, but showing a car at a national level show like this upcoming FCA show exposes flaws most of the world wouldn’t notice. I think Ferrari owners are competitive in nature, and are used to being the best at what they do, so winning an award at a show like this only comes naturally for a Ferrari owner. The combination of these two facts can bring utter disappointment if I’m not careful at my advice.

This particular Daytona is a very nice car. Mechanically it’s strong, and runs great, but there are a lot of little details that are wrong on the car that I was put to the task of correcting. First on the list was the cam cover nuts. Back in the 70s the Ferrari parts suppliers offered stainless steel acorn nuts to replace the original steel cadmium plated acorn nuts that tended to rust. They were either really cheap, or whoever sold them did a great job at selling thousands of them! Nearly half of the cars that I’ve worked on has these stainless steel nuts.

There are a couple of versions of “correct” correct acorn nuts, but the wrong acorn nuts (the left one) are pretty obvious. The reproductions of the original acorn nuts are now available with the correct cadmium plating, and some of the same suppliers that sold owners the wrong nuts in the 70s and 80s are now selling the right ones. The irony is not lost on me!

The radiator cap was a little rusty and worse for the wear, and we had a freshly plated one at the shop that we swapped out. I made sure the markings were identical to the one we were replacing, but it will help not bring attention to an old worn out part.

This car was also missing the rear license plate frame. The American plate was simply screwed into the trunk lid with two screws that didn’t line up with any standard hole. Reproduction frames are available, and I made my measurements to attach it to the trunk.

It takes a little nerve to drill through the trunk lid on a Ferrari, but I got it done and even managed to get it on straight!

I have a couple of more things to do on this car before the owner takes the car to Daytona. He plans on driving it partway there and that is what I’m more excited about than showing this car. Trying to obtain a $100 dollar trophy shouldn’t be the only reason we own these Ferraris. Yes, it’s part of my business, and yes, I do a lot of showing, but I love these cars not because of their ability to win awards!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the FCA National Meet. See you there!

Save the Date!

10th Annual Tomyang.net/Radcliffe Motorcars Spring Car Show!

With our tenth year, I hope I don’t have to tell you how much fun this cars show has become.

Where: Radcliffe Motorcars Company

12340 Owings Mills Boulevard, Ste. 100 Reisterstown, MD 21136

When: May 6th, 2017

http://www.rmccar.com/vintageferrarievent.html

Contact Richard Garre about registering for the event. Space is limited to about 90 cars, so register early!
410-517-1681