Saturday’s forecast for Palm Beach called for rain all day. It was definitely one of those days you hope you don’t get, but as they say, the show must go on. I arrived at the Breakers just after the cars had been placed on the lawn and was in large part pleased that they were not covered up by plastic bags.
The cars that immediately took my attention were the 335S’ that were on the main lawn. Only five 335S’ were ever built, and three of them were here. At first glance I thought the gray car wearing number 12 was a Pontoon Fender 250 Testa Rossa, but was extremely surprised when I found out it was a 335S. This vehicle won best of show thanks in large part to an amazing restoration by Paul Russel and Company.
As impressive as the 335S’ were, the Pontoon Fender 250 Testa Rossa remains my favorite vintage Ferrari and I was blown away by one of the most unique examples I have ever seen. This Testa Rossa recently underwent a faithful restoration by non other than Ferrari Classiche, which brought the car back to its Finnish roots with a beautiful dark blue and white livery as worn during the 1950s and 1960s under Scuderia Askolin, it was astonishing.
Even though the rain continued to be a nuisance throughout the day, there were breaks in between that allowed for some uninterrupted shooting. It was during one of these breaks that I shot my favorite car of the show, a sleek and elegant 59/60 Testa Rossa. There was something about the body work on this car that screamed speed and class and i just could not take my eyes off it. The car looked like it was going 100mph just sitting there. The intricate detailed body work complete with all its exposed rivets could not have been more exquisite.
Rounding the rest of the cars on the main lawn were gems like the always-imposing 250 GTO. I think those of us who have attended Cavallino consistently over the last few years have become somewhat spoiled with the presence of GTOs that some of us don’t give them a second look, unless they are S/N’s that we have never seen before. Nevertheless, one should count their lucky stars when seeing any GTO in person.
The other stars on the main lawn, and equally impressive in their own right, are displayed below for your viewing pleasure. If picking the best is difficult, perhaps picking a favorite is easier.
Having walked around the main lawn for about an hour I made my way down the fairway to see the rest of the show field. It was obvious the rain took its toll as there were a number of cars missing, but it was nevertheless a great showing. Of the entire show field, it was the Verde Abetone F-40 that turned the most heads.
It’s always amazing to see a non-red F-40 since all of them were red straight out of the factory. This particular F-40 was a European spec with a short front lip, small mirrors and a supple beige suede interior, you couldn’t help but fall in love with the car. Equally unique and competing for attention, was a Dino 246 wearing a rare shade of red called Rosso Dino, a truly amazing color to see under dreary skies.
As I continued walking the soggy grass I also spotted 3 cars that I know very well as I photographed them for my first book (due out in a couple of months). They were an F-40, Enzo and a 512M belonging to the @garage26 collection. Truly a great collection made only greater by a truly passionate collector.
With the rain continuing to come down as the day came to an end we were all less than pleased when we learned that Sunday would be more of the same. Nevertheless we prepared and looked forward to yet another gathering at Mar a Lago.
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