The Palm Beach
Cavallino Classic 13:
January 20 to 25, 2004
This day’s activities came to a
close with a reception at the Jet Aviation Hangar Five at Palm Beach
International Airport, where Piero
Ferrari and his wife, together with Maurizio Parlato, President and CEO of
Ferrari Maserati North America, were among the guests. This was a truly surreal
setting, with the sun slowly sinking over a display of private aircraft,
including the Piaggio used by Ferrari personnel, fronted by rows of gleaming
Ferraris outside the hangar, eighty in all, where even more aircraft and luxury
yachts were on display, together with the new Maserati Quattroporte and Ferrari
612 Scaglietti, fresh from their American debut at the Detroit Motor Show. For
many attendees, this was the first opportunity to see these new models in the
metal, and there were constant crowds around them both, and this would continue
to be so wherever they were shown over the weekend.
Piero Ferrari, by the way, is a major owner of Piaggio Aero, and the Chairman of its Board, and Piaggio had just located its U.S. base at Jet Aviation. So, there were many things to celebrate at this particular party. And what a party! It was the hot ticket of the weekend, with over 1,200 participants and guests on site. The aircraft on display, along with the Piaggio, were awesome, with examples from Embraer, LearJet, Bombardier, Hawker, Pilatus, and Eurocopter, with a Gulfstream from NetJets. The boats were choice, with a must-have picnic boat from the famous Hinckley yard.
There was an award to be gained that evening, and so the attendees were not allowed to simply party, but had to choose their favorite Ferrari. After much balloting and ballot counting, the popular winner was the deep maroon 250 GT/L Lusso of Mark Minkin, who was genuinely pleased to bring his car into the hangar to receive his Jet Aviation Cup. Everyone at Jet Aviation, our host, deserves our most sincere applause for all their fine work in making this the largest Jet Party ever.
The night was not over for many, however, as hundreds of guests regrouped for dinners in the area, or went off to one of the several after-hours parties that have sprung up in the wake of the Classic. The Cavallino Classic has always striven to be a fun event (after all, you are in Florida in the depths of winter), and it is good to see that all of you are up to the challenge of having as much fun as possible while you are here.