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| A pair of DeTomasos |
French and Italian Car Show 2012
Story and Photographs By Eric Musarra
This event is a favorite of hard core collectors in Southern Califoria; not dilettantes who are in and out of a marquee briefly; only there in an effort to make a fast buck. These owners are in it for the long haul, many of whom owning a car for 30-40 years. You see many more cars still in the restoration process and various works in progress, than at any other show. One of the four organizers told us ( as well as intrepid reporter Wallace Wyss) that the show originally came about after Concours Italiano wouldn’t let some of their fans enter (maybe this was before barn finds were acceptable at shows). Created in retaliation, and now thriving with one show each year in Woodley Park, along with a British car show at another time of the year.
This year featured a strong showing of Alfas as usual, including two that looked like early ‘50s race cars, possibly re-bodied with all new bodywork to look like early 50s but drive trains of ‘50s or later years. In regards to the Fiats, it was a good sign for Chrysler that there were upwards of ten new Fiats among 40 or so original era Fiats; some heavily modified, showing that the new Fiat owners are not afraid to get their hands dirty and their wallets lighted in order to make their innocuous looking cars a force to be reckoned with.
