Beware of Cavallino 2022 changes and Canossa

It’s not like there’s a large pool of classic Ferrari owners who participate in national concours events to begin with. And it’s abundantly clear from this thread that you’re already pissing a lot of them off.

 

i inquired with them in december, got the details, and then tallied up the cost and hassle and decided it was not worth the hassle.
they also told me my car would likely not be judged (fine by me) because it had not gone through claissche - to which i said i never intend to submit to that process.
i told them i would not bring the F40 this year.

anyway, lo and behold, they called me yesterday asking me again to reconsider since they needed my car/year for the show....i reiterated my objections and passed politely.
had i known all of this i would have been more detailed in my refusal.

btw, dunno if it is the same group, but they have done the same thing with the mille tribute and targ/giro tribute - only classiche certified cars are allowed.....glad i did those both when the field was still level....

 

what is the connection between Canossa and Ferrari factory since there is an emphasis on Classiche certified cars.

 

I'm looking forward to 2023 Cavallino display of Really Important Ferrari shaped Hot Wheels cars. At the rate this thing is unwinding, it is likely they will be the only cars in attendance.

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This sounds like a total cock-up, from a company that is supposedly known for promoting and managing premiere events.

 

Yep. Thirty years of carefully cultivated credibility can be lost in one weekend.

 

According to our host here, Cavallino and Canossa are among 52 different enterprises owned by Motorsport Network. Those are known as “profit centers.”

 

Really? Based on what @ross stated above, he was told originally his F40 would not be judged because it was not Classiche certified. I have also heard this from other potential entrants.

And, as for “no connection to Ferrari SpA”… in the email from Canossa dis-inviting me as a judge, it was stated “Due to a recently signed agreement between Canossa/Cavallino and Ferrari SpA, we can no longer have non-authorized dealers presence on the day of the Concorso. So unfortunately we can not accept your commitment as a Judge for this edition of Cavallino Classic.”

I didn’t want to reply anymore to this thread, but in re-reading it again, I have to call out the obvious falsehoods stated.

 

So Mr. Orlandini can you please clarify the statement made earlier that current Ferrari Salesmen could be judging some of the classes. As I stated in my previous post #25 the sales people at my local dealership have little or no knowledge of my Daytona, so I would only hope that is group would not be judging the Enzo Era Cars. I have read all #183 posts and unless I missed it you have not addressed this very important point!!

 

Great. My car just left on its journey to The Breakers and Cavallino and now this?

Please correct me if I am wrong but five of the most qualified Ferrari Concours judges in the U.S. or perhaps the world have been canned to be replaced by what? Politically correct judges all at the very last minute?

 

Maybe having the Red Book to rely on will ease the burden on the neophyte judges….

 

Luigi O. says: “We are not changing anything that made Cavallino great in the past, just trying to make it even better and enhance that experience.” and “…..To be totally transparent….”

I do not believe any of that after reading all the posts, but I would be thrilled if I am eventually proved wrong…which I doubt I will be. But I do think he was “totally transparent” about the hand-made tortellini.

I just look at things like basic business 101, common sense, integrity, honesty, and not talking out of both sides of ones mouth. Keep your customers and those who work with you happy. All of those are concepts which seem difficult for some people in business to understand let alone practice.

I have no horse in this race, and am just watching the wild fire spread. I’ve known John Barnes for close to 40 years (yikes!), I’ve written for the magazine a number of times, have been to Cavallino several times, and have many friends & clients who have attended and entered their cars. Like much in life and business, things change all the time, and with special events and publications, change is often not for the better. I look at Concorso Italiano, and Vintage Motorsport magazine as prime examples of bad changes, and of course there are countless other examples. I really hate to see good things get ruined by the big entities. Sadly, like many I know, I no longer have an interest in this event.

 

This all sounds like we are heading towards a new event that will have nothing to do with the people the hijacked Cavallino.

 

Good job in calling yourself out on the mistake you made.

Now reverse it. Re-invite the disinvited. Allow them to judge.

Then at the event, announce the same change will be in place for 2023. What is lost by waiting a year? You can explain your rationale, prime the crowd for how this will positively affect the event moving forward. Host a Q&A session!

You will actually SAVE face via that simple act of humility.

 

The ONLY WAY a spectator can attend the Thursday track event is by purchasing. $5400 USD Patron’s Pass.

 

Perhaps Luigi.O is referring to you not having attended Abu Dhabi in person?

 

I understand they organise the various Cavalcade events for the factory.

Marcel Massini

 

Thank you for making this clear. The event organizer was unable to say that.

Marcel Massini

 

imho Luigi your first mistake was stating you are, and I quote, "bringing a line-up no one else ever tried before and it will be fantastic" with no explanation of what that means, followed by, and I quote: "We are bringing a chef from Modena to prepare hand-made tortellini for the awards dinner. And it’s not just any one, it’s the grandson of Enzo Ferrari’s personal cook." This seemed to rub many the wrong way, as the most important thing would have been to address this NEW direction/process and how it would enhance and protect the integrity and credibility of this venerated event. I attempt to read all things written by the brilliant Ferrari scholar Marcel Massini, and also find Gary Bobileff to be a highly respected, world-class judge, craftsman and knowledgable source of all things supercar so alienating/annoying them seemed unnecessary and counter-intuitive. Other than that I would agree with a previous FChat post that this has become unfortunately for all a Brush Fire of epic proportions.

 

I believe the question I raised above has now been answered by many of those involved in the judging process, they have clarified that the structure of the judging panel management would never allow such to be an issue in the past, and negates conflict of interest as being a valid reason for the late removal of all those very well respected experts in the field from the panel of judges at this event.

 

Could the next revelation (after the one about the great pasta certain people can look forward to) be the excitement that Kim Kardashian will be the head judge for next years event?

 

Reading about the changes in Cavallino 2022, I'm reminded about the numerous studies as why up to 70% of mergers and aquisitions fail and according to McKinsey & Co,

"When mergers and acquisitions fail, our research finds it's mostly because organizations too often overlook or ignore organizational culture and human capital issues and pay scant attention to integrating these softer issues into the “hard” integration process"

Sounds like Cavallino is destined to become a future case study for someone's MBA thesis...

 

Entrants getting set up for showing...

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That's the crux of the judge issue; unless there was a specific, verifiable complaint against these dismissed judges - by all accounts highly regarded experts, who have been doing this for years - why on earth would they axe them at the last minute, unless there was some other agenda?

Regardless if there is or is no other agenda, this is a pretty big unforced error on the part of management, IMO.

 

Saturday on the lawn at Cavallino
Q: Are you a qualified Ferrari Concours judge?
A: No but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.