Cavallino Magazine

The high point of the Cavallino Classic is always the Concorso d’Eleganza on Saturday on the croquet lawn and golf greens beyond, at The Breakers Hotel. As a taster for those entering the concours field, the oldest known surviving Ferrari, a 166 Spyder Corsa, s/n 004C, sat at the entrance with a new FXX to its left and a new MY06 612 Scaglietti to its right. As already noted, there was a wonderful selection of previous Best of Show Ferraris in attendance, and they can be found listed in an accompanying chart. It was a generous gesture on the part of the owners, as they were coming back for display only, and could not be judged. But they wanted to share the cars once again with an appreciative Ferrari audience. The actual entry list for the Concorso classes was full as usual, with one hundred and fifty Ferraris spread across the verdant lawns.

Apart from the stunning array of previous Best of Show winners, there were plenty of other fine examples to delight the eye. Each year it is hard to predict what models are coming, and each year there are surprises. For example, there were four striking 250 GT Californias, four purposeful 250 GT SWBs, three graceful Lussos, a pair of elegant 400 SA coupes, six monoposto gems like the 1968 312 F1, s/n 0007, and the Dino 166 F2, s/n 0004, from the same year.

As a complete antithesis to the gleaming paint and sparkling chrome of most of the field, there was the show stopping “barn find” Fontana bodied 212 Export barchetta, s/n 0086 E, which had years of caked on grease in the engine bay, and was still wearing the fourth body that it received during the 1951 racing season.

The Concorso awards are always a closely guarded secret until the awards gala dinner on the Saturday evening, when all the trophies are presented. Under the IAC/PFA judging guidelines, any entrant with a score of 95 points or more receives a Platinum award, and a large number of examples reached or exceeded this level, which was a tribute to the time and effort that entrants expend, to achieve an extremely high standard of presentation of their cars at this prestigious gathering. All Platinum winners are eligible for the Major Awards, which highlight specific cars that achieve the particular Award’s requirements.

At the end of the evening, it was time, however, for the Best of Shows, and the Best Of Show award for Competition cars went to the spectacular yellow 410 S Spyder, s/n 0596 CM, owned by Brian Ross, with the Best of Show GT award going to the beautiful silver 250 GT TDF berlinetta, s/n 0507 GT, of Sam Mann. Our congratulations to all the award recipients!

And our thanks to all the forty five expert Judges who volunteered their services, and make the Classic Concorso a valuable and respected judged event. The complete list of award winners can be found here.

NEXT: PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL