Concourso Italiano 2015

Concourse Italiano is THE Italian car show to attend on the west coast. It's held at The Bayonet and Blackhorse golf course which is  located on what used to be Ft. Ord, a large military base from 1917 until it was decommissioned in 1994.  It was founded in 1986 by a group of Maserati and Alfa Romeo enthusiasts which actually includes one of the founders of the Cortile.  However, when I arrived I had not known that fact.

Concourso Italiano is held during the Monterey Car week in August each year.

The week of car events on the Monterey peninsula include the 

• Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is held on the final Sunday of Monterey Car Week. The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was founded in 1950 as an adjunct to the Pebble Beach Road Race, a race event sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America and conducted on a circuit of closed public roads.
• Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, formerly known as the Monterey Historics until 2010, is held the final weekend of Monterey Car Week at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The three-day event has over 500 participants, and generally features a specific marque every year.
• Legends of the Autobahn show features German automobiles. It began as a BMW Car Club of America event and grew to include all German cars.
• The Porsche Werks Reunion event features Porsches and was established in 2014 after splitting off from the Legends of the Autobahn show.
• The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering (usually shortened to The Quail) is a car show limited to 200 automobiles located at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club

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In 1976 Maserati Club International was formed and it quickly grew to 3500 members, which was pretty extraordinary by itself. 1986 saw the first Concorso Italiano with the Maserati Club and and Alfa Romeo Club playing an instrumental role in ti's creation. That first year saw 45 Maseratis on the snowfield.

The 2015 Concorso Italiano featured the reunion of the Ferrari 250 GTE, the 25th anniversary of the Lamborghini Diablo, the 50th anniversary of the Iso Grifo, the “King of Spain” Maserati Quattroporte, the Touring Superleggera concept car, and Tom Meade’s Thomassima II.

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Alfa Romeo

As I traveled the showgrounds I discovered that Alfa Romeo had just unveiled their new logo: Only the sixth change since the their beginning in 1910.   The Alfa Romeo booth was surrounded by cars from the Alfa Romeo Owner's Club who where one of the founding clubs of the event.  ​Featured prominently was the newly introduced 4C which will certainly grace these show fields in 50 years time.

About the Alfa Romeo Logo
On the left, the red cross on a white field is indeed what it seems, and dates back to the time of the crusades, when Italian soldiers from Milan would wear white tunics and carry a shield with the cross signifying that they were followers of Giovanni of Rho. Alfas were originally built in Milan in the early 1900s, so their tie to the city remains strong.

The right half of the crest is where things get a bit more interesting. The crest of a man being consumed by a dragon is actually what's known as a "Biscione," an emblem of the House of Visconti, who controlled the city of Milan from the 13th to the 15th century. 
During the time of the crusades, Otone Visconti , the founder of Visconti Family and a knight, fought against a noble Saracen knight. Otone beat the Saracen knight and, following the tradition, took the symbols the Saracen carried on his shield: a snake with a human in his mouth. At first glance, it looks like the snake is eating the human. Instead, the human is coming out of the snake a "new man," purified and renewed.

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Ferrari

The turnout of Ferrari's was robust to say the least.  The Coastal fog melted off and the cars on display presented the magnificent lines of Italian design.  It would be difficult to NOT take a great photograph!  

The line of Dino's was likely the best display of the cars I have seen presented.  There where any number of hidden gems and completely unrestored original cars on display.

It was very easy to get caught up in conversation about any single car and the owner's where all very receptive to any questions posed.

There was also some incredible artwork on display highlighting Tazio Nuvolari and I was fortunate enough to run into a wonderful young lady who is working on a movie production about Nuvolari.  I'm going to be following the project closely as it evolves.

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Lamborghini

​Certainly one of the true highlights of the show was seeing the  25th anniversary of the Lamborghini Diablo display area.  I was intrigued by the story about a barn find of a Lamborghini Muira what was over a decade in the making.  What was presented was a completely original un-restored Muira.  

The Muira was parked next to a special edition Gallardo prepared especially for Valentino Balboni. Few names resonate more with the Lamborghini faithful than Valentino Balboni, Lambo's long-term test driver who's honed every model to roll off the line since 1973. In an ultimate tribute to Balboni, the Italian supercar manufacturer has created the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni: a limited production run of just 250 units, each bearing a serial number and Balboni's signature on the left side window.

I had the opportunity to chat with Balboni about the Muira in front of us as I compared mental notes to the Muira that has won our Cortile Cup just a month earlier.  I noted that there where some obvious design differences event down to the color of the "bull horn" doors.  Bambino smiled and told me "At that time we had many labor and financial troubles. We where never sure if there was going to be a strike the next day or if someone would shut us down for back payment. We finished each car as best and as fast as we could just to get it out the door and get it sold. Each one is different" 

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Maserati

I had been admiring several Maserati Boro's in the Maserati area of the showgrounds.  I've always thought of the Bora when I hear the lyric "My Maserati does 185..." and had just moved up the field to the Fiat area.

I discovered a rather rare 1958 Fiat 1200V.  As I was admiring the the olive oil container under the hood I head a voice just behind me saying "What is this? I've never seen one of these before!"  I turned around saying "Nor haave I...." when I recognized that the person saying this was Cecile Canales.  

​Cecile and her husband Carl where two o the original group that helped to found the Cortile Italian Car Show in Pittsburgh.  As I was soon to find out they where also members of the original group that helped to found Concourso Italiano! Carl and Cecile quickly adopted me into their group of Maserati owners and introduced me to some wonderful people.  

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The Concorso Italiano is now run by Tom McDowell who also runs the Desert Concorso.  It's a well managed and very organized show that brings together the very best Italian cars on the west coast.  Similar to the Cortile, it features both daily drivers, I followed about 5 Alfa Romeo Duetto's down 101 to the Show, as well as some very rare show cars.  I was surprised to run into at least 10 people from the Cortile Show at Concourso Italiano! My son and I are planning a road trip next summer and making this the Apex of our trip. If you have to opportunity to visit Concorso Italiano in the future be sure to let some people at the Cortile know.

​Below please find some more great images from the show....  ~Bernard Martin

Editors note Feb 15, 2016: I was finally able to upload the videos to this posting. I hope you enjoy the interviews!