Italian Car Day Atlanta

    Italian Car Day in Atlanta was held on October 8th. Ferrari of Atlanta graciously cleared their parking lot for nearly one hundred Italian vehicles and motorcycles to descend upon Roswell, Georgia.

    This was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Italian Car Day in Atlanta and the second year it was held at Ferrari of Atlanta. It has been held at numerous spots around Atlanta; Kurt’s Restaurant, historic downtown Norcross, Lilian Webb Park and several other places throughout the years.

    Somehow, holding an all-Italian show should be at the Ferrari dealer. Is there any place more Italian than that?

    About one year ago I bought a Ferrari to call my own. A 1979, 400 GT, now graces my garage. Serial number 27071 for those who are into serial numbers!

    It is an automatic and it carries mostly original paint in a color called Bruno Mogano. That is a bronze/copper color that in the sunshine has got a nice metallic shine. At least it is not red.

    After all these years I can finally take a Ferrari to a show. Even if it is local, who knows, maybe one day it will show up at Cavallino.

    The show has just about every Italian marque represented. A row of Alfas provides a variety of cars to inspect. Alfa Giulia Spiders and a Berlina share space with a Montreal and modern Giuliettas.

    Fiat also has a large following. A row of 124 Spiders is next to a couple Fiat 500s, both old and modern. There was even an early 1950s Topolino: a rare sight to see.

    There were several modern Maseratis and nearby was a Ghibli Spyder, beautiful in black with black interior.

    Lamborghini was represented by a freshly restored Miura in orange. While there was only one Lamborghini there were two Iso Grifos. One was brought by Ferrari owner, Ron Green, and the other was a Targa version with a Lamborghini engine. This one was the only other car there with as many carburetors as my 400 GT.

    Of course, Ferrari was well represented. The oldest was my 400 GT. The next oldest was a nice 308 GTS Quatrovalvole in classic red. A sinister Testarossa in black with black interior was next.

    The rest were 360s, F430s and 458s with a couple California Ts thrown in. One 360 Modena was one of the rare sunroof versions. Phillip Lindsay offered to let me drive his car after the show was over. That will be another article in the future.

 

 

    The awards ceremony featured Cathy Roush drawing door prize tickets from the fishbowl. Many prizes were handed out and to prove there was no favoritism, I didn’t win anything from the many tickets I held.

    The real awards were handed out shortly thereafter. Michael Cohen won the highest mileage Ferrari with his 61,000-mile 360 Spider.

    And first place in the Ferrari class went to a 1979 400 GT! I have won my first trophy! I know its not Cavallino or Amelia Island but at least there is hope one day I can earn a Platino in a real concours judged to IAC/PFA standards.

 

 

Additional photos!