Canadians in Monterey car week 2015

Just got back from car week in Monterey along with the FCA Nationals and saw quite a few Canadians floating around. I was wondering if any Canadian F-Chatters were down there and what adventures they got up to?

I for one did the Monterey Historic races at Laguna Seca on the Friday, Concorso Italiano on Saturday, Pebble Beach on Sunday, and then the FCA Concours on Monday, in addition to the RM Auctions on 2 of the 3 nights. Some amazing machinery driving around and surely enough to keep my eyeballs full for some time to come.

 

One of them nearly won Pebble Beach...

 

Actually the guys from RM Restorations in Chatham Ontario took home BEST OF SHOW at Pebble Beach for one of their restorations. Go Canada!

 

Big deal. Blank cheque restoration by some rich guy who had someone find the car and even had someone drive the car across the "stage". One wonders if he even knows what it's called. Same story every year at PB.

The Canadian that was runner up is the polar opposite...found the car himself. Restored it himself...in his garage. A far, far more significant achievement.

 

Can you name the individual & hopefully have a photo. & you are right it means a lot more when you put your heart & soul into it & do it all yourself.

Rich guy or not it's still a big plus that someone is willing to spend all that money to restore a car that we can all enjoy for years to come.

 

Although I understand your point, keep in mind that:

1. Poor people don't have the means to restore cars.
2. Few of us have the skill to retore a car all by ourselves. (more power to those who can)
3. Perhaps the gentleman personally doesn't care for the limelight and had someone else drive across the stage to claim the prize.

 

this I quite simply the most uninformed simplistic assumptive statement I've ever read in the Canadian forum. And as I remember there have been many .

Gary
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Absolute nonsense and a totally unfounded opinion. For your information the owner of the Pebble Beach Best in Show is a die hard and very knowledgable enthusiast. Yes he is very wealthy but that is no crime and he has forged a fantastic bond with the restorers at RM over the years. For this reason he specifically involves the people responsible for the restoration in the showing and prize giving as a means of sharing the experience with them. In the future you may want to get your facts straight before shooting off your mouth.

 

Go Canada Go

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/other-italian/497773-abarth-ghia-1100-pebble-beach.html

 

Awesome!! Canada has some of the best car guys in the world. We just don't brag about it. Although a part of me wishes we would, just a little bit.

 

Calgary man's ultra-rare Fiat Abarth delights car lovers at prestigious auto show - Calgary - CBC News

Owner of the Fiat is Calgary's Grant Kinzel.

 

Agreed...you can say that about owning any prestigious car or piece of art!

 

Came 4 and 5th respectively in FIA Sport Racer and F1 group.
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I agree, Rob Myers started his career from his garage. Now RM is a world renown auto restoration and auction house. I wonder where t shirt man will be in a few years ?

 

1. That's what makes Grant's accomplishment so significant. I know Grant and while he's not wondering where his next meal is coming from, he's not exactly what I'd call wealthy.
2. See the first part of #1.
3. He was sitting in the passenger seat and seemed quite willing to accept the trophy.

There have been many what? Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I respect that is yours.

Did I touch a nerve? The fact is the restoration was a blank-cheque restoration by Rob Meyers and Co. Whether it RM or some other high-end shop, blank-cheque restorations are in vogue at PB. My point was the runner up did not follow those "rules". Including the cost of the car, I doubt Grant has 10% of what Mr Patterson has into just the restoration on that Isotta Fraschini, into his Abarth Ghia 1100. That is what makes this so significant.

T-shirt man will be riding his bicycle and restoring cars in a few years, just like he does today. He has no ambition to be a Rob Meyers. He's quite happy working in his garage, by himself, at his own pace, creating other pieces of automotive jewelry. Whatever it is, it will be something tiny. T-shirt man doesn't like big cars...

The tale of the scorpion: Carlo Abarth?s tiny terrors | Driving

 

Everybody loves an underdog and the Abarth at Pebble is no exception. I personally love the story and think the owner should be duly proud of his accomplishment.

That said I am also very much a realist and realize that there is no provisions in the judging rules to account for the restorer or expenditure undertaken. Pebble is not kindergarten where gold stars and participant ribbons are handed out to make all the kids feel like winners. It is a show for the best of the best and the individual means of the restorers or owners is not a factor. You are judged on the quality and rarity of the car that you bring out and, given the fact that the Abarth scored as well as it did is proof that the judging is somewhat impartial. There were lots of other better connected owners with more expensive restorations that were surpassed by the Abarth but at the final hurdle of Best of Show that car was never going to win regardless of who the owner was and how much money was piled into its restoration. Pebble has historically been a show for pre-war BOS winners. There are few notable exceptions but the Abarth was certainly not in the category and the real miracle was that it made it as far as it did.

Reality can be a cold shower but take the opinion above from a guy who has spent over 2 decades racing cars against infinitely more financed opposition achieving results that are way past what should have been possible with the machinery at my disposal. More recently I have on two occasions been candidly told that my Dino restoration was voted as 'Best of Show' by the judges but that I hope to understand that we 'cannot' give this honor to a Dino given the multi-million dollar cars we were up against. Message read loud and clear with no bitterness of any kind. I'm sure the Abarth owner gets it too and should be very proud that he took on Goliath with his slingshot.

 

Eloquently put!

 

Ok Tom a little bragging just for you

My brother and I took our Dino down to the shows to see how it would do. In the end we took home the following:

Concorso Italiano - Won Best Restoration against all of the big shops as judged by Matthias Bartz, Keith Blummel, and Marcel Massini

FCA National Meet - Won Best Dino after scoring 100 points in the Concours which we were told has never been done by a Dino before.

Not bad as my Dad, Brother, and I did most of the work ourselves working out of a basic garage with no formal training.

Now while the awards and shows were cool the best part came after. I had to fly back but my Dad and Brother took the car for a drive down the coast along Highway 1 all the way to Southern California. Car ran like a top and priceless memories were made.
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Rob, that is an awesome pic and achievement!

Not sure why we are arguing in such a great thread. However, I do suspect it has to do with the ongoing assumptions that Albertans think Toronto has its head up its arse. Although some people do just like everywhere else I have witnessed this a few times on this forum and called it out before. I may be wrong but I doubt it.

Ok, I am done throwing gas on these flames. Off to work

 

Rob & Paul I hope you have this framed & hanging on some wall!!

Would be nice at the shop also.

 

I saw your car at a shop where a friends F50 was getting fixed up. The car was impeccable and my friend and I spent some time just looking at all the details. The bright work, interior and paint all seemed flawless. Very impressive. And the fact you did it yourself is even more impressive. Similar to Grant in philosophy and something to be proud of.