The trip to Cavallino began a few days before I left for Florida when I had to load the car onto the truck headed to Palm Beach. There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground in NY, and the temps were well below freezing. I had the car detailed a sealed the week before, but planned on having someone in Florida touch up the car the day before the show.

With the show on a Saturday, I left early on Thursday morning expecting to get to Florida by lunch time, but the weather and the airlines had other plans, and one of them was to keep me in Charlotte for 7 hours after delaying my connecting flight by 5 hours!

I unloaded the cars on Friday, and with the help of my friend Eddie Fuiza, we covered the cars in plastic the night before the show. Eddie details a lot of cars in the South Florida area, and I was lucky enough to have him add my car to the several cars he was prepping for Cavallino. His foresight saved me from having the car rained on overnight. I arrived at the Saturday show day around 6 am.

It paid off arriving early, as I was able to park the PF Coupe on the top lawn at Cavallino, wipe her down one last time, and prep her for judging!

I was showing two cars this year, and I ran back to park the 330GT 2+2 with the other 330GTs in the class.

I had one last minute problem when we spotted the glove box door light was burned out. Of course the one extra festoon bulb I brought as a spare was too long to replace the one that burned out. Luckily Steve from Atlas Motors saved the day by having the right bulb for me! Thanks Steve!

Not only did Steve help me with my burned bulb, he was also generous enough to help another friend of mine on the show field. I met Mark from Toronto last year at the Montreal FCA meet and this year he was helping a friend show a 512BB. The car was fresh from a restoration, and they realized they had forgotten the Pininfarina Badge that is usually mounted on the lower panel on the right fender. We discussed solutions the day before the show, and I had an idea.

Since Steve works at Atlas Motors down in Boyton Beach, I asked if he could look in his stash of used parts to see if he had a spare badge and to bring it to the show on Saturday. It wasn’t brand new, but at least it better than having an empty space for the badge. Thanks again Steve!

I was so busy running back and forth between the two cars I was showing that I barely had time to look at the cars! I was happy and excited to be showing two cars, but I missed not having to work when I could really enjoy this show!

It all paid off when we won a Platinum with the 330GT 2+2 again. Rocco was very happy, and I feel this is probably the nicest SI 330GT in the world!

The car I was most happy about achieving Platinum success was the 250 Pininfarina Coupe. We finally were recognized for the hard work and progress we made with this car. I found this car in 2019, packed all the parts in Detroit, shipped it overseas to Latvia, traveled and consulted in the restoration, had it shipped back to me in the States, and prepped it for Concours Level Judging, so it was very rewarding to have finally won.

Platinum winners were asked to drive up to the reviewing stands to receive our trophies, and behind all the smiles, I was stressing a little bit. Here’s why.

I was told the week prior, the owner had decided to fly the car back to his home in the UK. Besides handling the logistics of handing the car off to the shipper after the show, one thing I had to do was make sure there was very little fuel in the car for air travel. Knowing this, I had below 1/4 tank of fuel in the car when I shipped it to Florida. I drove the car from the truck to the parking lot, from the parking lot to registration, and then onto the show field. I calculated I had enough fuel to get the car off the show field and back on the truck, but had not accounted for waiting in line to receive our award! As I was smiling and waving to the reviewing stand, I hoped we wouldn’t run out of fuel in front of all these people! Luckily, we made it, and even had enough to put her on a the truck the next day. Whew!

It was a such a relief to have won, and to have been a part of this journey!

I am always flooded with a mixed bag of emotions whenever I finish a car. On one side, after spending so much time around one car, I am glad to not have to work on it again, but I also feel I will miss the car because it had been so much a part of my life. The owners of this car were pleased and told me they would be interested in doing another car and showing it. Now it’s up to me to find another project car. I would love to stick with a 50s-60s Vintage Ferrari. My short list would be Boano, Lusso, or maybe a PF Cabriolet, but I’m open to suggestions. The search begins…