FOC GB Concours, Stapleford

Great pictures John, love the early 250 spider in dark red! Hope to see you again at Goodwood?

Best, Peter

 

It is obvious in your first photo of this post and it's not reflection as it is the whole door. I also thought the door stuck out at the rear bottom in an earlier photo from the rear ... Birel's photo back in 2005. Hopefully this fitment issue has been fixed now 10 years later, or it was simply not fully closed .
Pete

 

Very nice, color and line. Now, it s funny to see the plates, E Clapon Lusso's was 4 HLA.

 

Hi Paul........ This isnt so and I have just checked with Richard Allen. The concours will be held again at Stapleford Park in 2016. However 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the club and they are looking to hold this at a major venue such as Blenheim or Windsor. I'm told they even have factory support for this one.........The concours was not held in 2014 owing to pathetic support in 2013.

On another issue, I made one of my infrequent visits to the concours this year and have to say I was very disappointed by the turn out.....yes I am as guilty as others. In comparison to the 1970's / 1980's there were a dismal number of cars competing. I think back to those decades when you would have a field...sorry, manicured lawn, of maybe 150-200 cars. Even what I refer to as the 355 brigade were absent.......I'm told this is because owners are frightened of putting mileage on their cars....or even getting them wet ! The meeting was mainly dealer supported and if you removed the entries from Talacrest and JD etc there were only a handful of members cars.........It was also sad to see the dealer cars accompanied by a salesman handing out literature......Understandable perhaps as they had made the effort to send half a dozen cars or so but surely this was never the purpose of the club.

I hope that everyone will make the effort next year to attend......myself included....It is the major annual fixture and if we dont support it I'm sure the club will slowly die.....or be renamed as The Ferrari Investors Club...........

 

Paul - you are right, but Paul Harris was also correct in that the Concours was going to only be every other year dependent on turnout this year, which with approx 50 cars entered was a big improvement on 2013. Just to clarify, the dealer involvement was with the Display cars, not the Concours, this of course being the National Meet as well as the Concours.

It was good to meet you briefly Paul, I was the guy with white hair that greeted you at the entrance and gave you a programme. Sadly I was there without my car, not because I am scared of driving it or getting it wet (I had it at Silverstone on Friday last and it got VERY wet) but unfortunately the fuel pump packed up on the Friday and I couldn't get it fixed till the Monday. But it was sad how many members turned up in non Ferraris because of the weather

 

Francis...... If the club are so complacent that a gathering of 50 cars warrants an annual concours then it must be time for a radical overhaul of the event. In the 1970's/80's that I referred to I think the membership stood at about 400 with an attendance of around 40%. Today I guess its over 1000 and the club are relieved that 50 members attended with their cars.
I appreciate how much unpaid hard work and planning goes into creating the concours but it has to be made more attractive to the membership and until this happens the problem will remain.

 

Paul

50 members entered their cars for the Concours. There were well over 150 cars all together. I can supply more accurate figures if you want. Not sure what figure you are referring to.

 

Perhaps here isnt the correct place to discuss the shortcomings of the club but it was painfully obvious that not all the concours entries actually attended and I agree there were far more cars in the general car park than on display. I have been a menber since the mid 1970's and I am genuinely concerned at the apathy now shown to this once prestigious event.

 

I thought considering the weather the turnout was great, the previous event 2 years ago had similar weather and very poor turn out so this was much improved.
As far as no shows go, I helped judge the smallest group and the largest and as far as I am aware we just had one no show and that was an F40 that could not get over the speed bumps [ not the best things to have at a sports car show], so had to park at the entrance.

 

A slightly more varied selection from the FOC Concours......better late than never. I hope you will agree!

KP.

Ferrari Owners Club Concours - Daytona Ramblings

 

Interesting chat about numbers of concours entrants and general numbers. I personally thought the numbers pretty good this year. The last time I entered two years ago I was the lone entrant in Class A, staggered that no Class winners from the previous year had bothered to enter. This year there were three entrants in the Daytona Class and it is years since we have seen so many!

I believe there are a number of reasons for the reluctance to enter cars but mainly the standard is just too high for mere mortals (though this has never bothered me). If multi squillionaires are of a mind to have their cars nut and bolt restored and presented on the concours lawn by their team of engineers and polishers, what chance do I stand? I have heard a lot of "normal" (none squillionaires) saying "there is just no point". I am not sure what ever happened to the "taking part" being the point. But it is understandable if you know you can not win your Class. I spoke to someone a few years ago who was pressed into entering his high mileage, immaculate 328 in the Cherished Class only for a DK Mille Miglia entrant (212 or something) to arrive hot foot from it's trailer, ten minutes late, a swarm of DK chaps all over the car and it's a winner. The 328 guy has not been seen since.

When I see some of the cars in the First Time and Club Classes this year it is pretty demoralising for regular people with regular cars on regular (Ferrari) budgets. People are just plain intimidated.

The entire business of Classic and non-classic Ferrari ownership has changed in the ten years I owned my Daytona. Values (as we ALL know) are now huge and this makes an enormous difference in who will bring their cars out. Who wants to drive their pride and joy miles and have it sit in a field for a couple of days in the pouring rain? The vagaries of an English summer are enough to turn anyone off!

What can the club do to encourage entrants? It is an interesting question.

KP.

 

How about a non professional concours class, or at least a minimum mileage per year type class? Just some thoughts.

 

Actually the FOC created a mandatory class this year for cars that had been 'professionally prepared' but is was only created a few weeks before the event. A good move I think.

 

Dear KP.... Very well said. I think you express the concerns of many members succintly. Without wishing to show any lack of respect to the club's management it is surely time they accepted that there is a growing apathy regarding the annual concours and it needs a thorough overhaul in order to encourage more entrants.

I attended this year and was shocked how few cars were competing. Then I read that I am wrong......It was a huge success.......there were at least 50 entrants.......far more than 2013. Surely this is a pathetic turnout when one considers how many members live in the UK. I think I joined the club in about 1976 and although I can't be accurate I would guess there were a minimum of 200 cars throughout the 1970's and 1980's and the membership stood at probably a third of what it does today. There were no fireworks or free lunches, just enthusiastic members who wished to display their cars. Nearly all members drove their cars to the concours regardless of the weather. I took the wrong road on leaving Stapleford and ended up in a lane full of commercial transporters. If the club are proud of 50 Ferrari entrants they should be equally as proud of the 40 or so trucks that attended.

In my opinion its not the 'Squillionaires' that you refer to that ruin things for mere mortals but the restorers that enter the cars on behalf of the 'Squillionaires'. If it were my decision I would ban all commercial entrants and I speak as a dealer of some 40 years standing. If a restorer wishes to enter a car for the concours he does this alone as a club member without an army of polishers. I would also discard all commercial advertising and that includes the sponsors logo on the now ghastly trophies that are awarded. This year the parade of shops sold nothing relevant to Ferrari and most didnt even have a motoring theme......Who on earth wishes to be measured for suit at an FOC concours ? There is a precedent to my thoughts. I had the privilige of working for Ronnie Hoare at Maranello Concessionaires and his belief was that the club was sacred and under no circumstance could it be used as a commercial tool. As an eager young salesman armed with the club's register of members I found this highly frustrating but he was 100 % correct. It should be and was a club for Ferrari enthusiasts. The concours should be a display of members cars not a dealer convention.

In the short term I think the club need to do something radical and perhaps combine the concours with a track event which would both ensure a larger attendance and also offer relevant entertainment....Please no more opera singers....... I also believe that the judging needs to be more professional whereby originality and accuracy of restoration are suitably rewarded. Any Ferrari should be encouraged to enter and suitable prizes be available regardless of condition. Since the 1990's I have given a trophy to the club to encourage the well worn but much loved pre 1974 cars to compete.

Sadly I doubt anything will change but eventually we wont have an annual meet and concours. I also think that the problem of lack of enthusiasm is far more reaching than just the concours. The FOC appears to have become a communal club attended by people who consider membership as some form of social elevation and have little interest in the cars. Any visit to a Lancia or Alfa meeting would justify my remarks. There you will meet die hard enthusiasts. The apparent success of the 'Breakaway' V12 group should never have happened. The club should have listened and accomodated their needs. I note they were absent from the concours this year.

I am as guilty as many and have rarely attended any meeting in the past years but my visit this year opened my eyes and I shant be absent again. Anyone who appreciates the club not only needs to attend this once prestigious event but help and encourage the management to improve it........Amen.

 

Very kind of you John. Thanks a lot.

 

Here are the FOC clubs photos of the event;-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrariownersclub/sets/72157653508883793

 

Exellent, this event looks Exellent. Thank you Grant.

 

I remember those good old days when the owners were in better condition then their cars and we spent more time cleaning our teeth in the morning then the bodywork.

I recall six Lusso's in the concours that year (including 2HLA) with the winner having driven from London with his car wrapped in clingfilm. Ironically, we thought such obsessive concours competitors should "get a life and get out more" and judging from this years numbers, it seems they have
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I guess ten years earlier
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Not sure this is 100% correct.
The Professionally Prepared Class was there from the start in order to attract the tip top cars and these were allowed to be trailered.

What changed a few weeks before was that regular entrants were also allowed to be trailered as long as they drove the final 10 miles. This was an interesting development I thought and another nail in the coffin. If I was going to drive 200 miles but my competitor was allowed to drive 10......it all rather sucks the life out of whole thing. Mind you cars were always trailered on the quiet.

I loved the event when I entered it for seven years on the trot from 2007. I didn't care how many cars were there or what cars were in the Class, or what the weather was like, I just loved it. I still do.

Here's a photo from the first concours I attended (probably my first FOC event at all) in my Mondial Cabriolet, about 1994. Four Daytonas GTB's with a spider tucked away at the end.......
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Apologies, you are correct and I was wrong. I just checked the FOC email and had read it incorrectly as the 'Professional Prepared' was mandatory for professionally prepared cars when it was, in fact, voluntary.

I have also been entering the concours since around 2001 to 2006 (when I moved abroad) and then again this year. I've always driven to the to events and simply enjoyed entering, win or lose, and I fully intend to continue attending future events.