Cavallino 2025 Palm Beach

Just found out the F40 that I judged an hour late due to registration and communication issues that had a 99 1/2 point score did not get a Platino for some reason.

Organization. It really pays to have a modicum of it.

 

Why the lack of pre '75 cars posted here? Is that all there were?

 

Fewer every year it seems. Some great cars but not a great amount. Upper field needed 3 Fiat era or later to fill field. Fiat era started at the top of the golf course then a few Enzo era mixed in. Lots of good cars, just more heavily weighted to later cars.

 

Not saying it was a deduction but it was certainly brought up.

 

Let me know what they do deduct for.

 

I will Brian

 

I've always thought a concours was about the cars, not detailing expertise. What do I know?

 

And ours is not. One of the training slides shows a GTO covered in mud. Its asked what are the deductions here? Answer is none. We don't judge dirt.

Its not the Corvette or Porsche club. They judge dirt.

 

Sniff, the P-Bug people insist on clean dirt.

 

They worship trailer queens. We do not. Sure, many are not driven and they like it that way but makes no difference to their scores.

 

I never entered my 612 at Cavallino (only attended), but I did enter it twice at the FCA Annual Experience. I believe both events use the same judging standards. I entered the car for judging in Daytona and at Scottsdale. In both cases I drove the car there from Massachusetts. I received a Platino both times and also went on to be awarded a Coppa Bella Machina both times. While I take great care of my car, with 64,000 miles it shows chips on the bunpers and windshield, and wear on the interior. None of those conditions affected my score (and btw you can request the judges score sheet).

And a funny story, as Brian said they don't judge dirt. Well Daytona was my first time being judged so I didn't know much. My wife and I drove the car down to Daytona 2 days early. Well the day before the judging it poured rain, and since the 612 was our only transportation, we had to drive it that day so it was filthy. The day of judiging I got up at 5 AM and drove to the track where there was supposed to be a "washing station". After hunting around the infield in the dark I finally found it. It was a hose at the recycling center! So me and another guy were sharing the hose and washing our cars in a slowly rising sun.

I can't speak for the Cavallino judges, but I have to say the FCA judges firmly believe that Ferraris are meant to be driven and will not penalize you for driving your car.

 

And the sun sets on Cavallino 2025
Til next year
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Great photo. Hopefully, it will be on the cover.

 

And some people question why many of the collectors no longer come.
This owner has a very substantial collection including many Enzo era cars. I think Cavallino has seen the last of him.

Cannossa shrugged it off telling us "We do our best".

 

Bottom line? Ferrari only cares about selling new cars. They don't make any money on old bangers.

 

But at least so far Cavallino has been focusing on the early cars, at least as far as the concours goes. They even raised the minimum age. If their focus was intended to shift to modern cars they would have done the opposite. I also have reason to expect a greater role played by Classiche.

 

Well, maybe they need to hang up their cell phones. Every time I go to a Ferrari event, I see a lot of guys talking earnestly on their cell phones and doing little else.

 

Civilization was better off without cell phones.

 

Not to mention all other associated technology.

 

Going forward, best way to handle a known deficiency with the car. At the beginning when judges introduce themselves and ask if there is anything they should know about the car....own it. Point it out. In the case of delamination tell them its minor and you more highly valued the originality of the windshield than let a minor imperfection bother you. We are supposed to be putting originality above condition. Remind them of that fact. Also maybe a bumpers chrome is imperfect. On the GTC the spotwelds are visible and many times replating loses the evidence of them. Tell them you preferred to retain evidence of construction methodology than have perfect chrome. Don't stand there like a mannequin. Be an advocate for your car.

 

thanks Brian,
I actually had Tom Yang represent the car….we both advocated for originality over perfection. I believe my big issue is that my drivers side door doesn’t line up perfectly. It closes perfectly but the alignment may be off. I am addressing that next week.
It’s actually been that way since I’ve owned the car…..approx 5 years.
We tried and we will try again in 2026…… I believe in the car.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Tom and I had dinner Friday night. Great guy. Cathy Roush actually introduced us at a dinner at Cavallino years ago.

 

Yes he is…..

 

Gorgeous snap!

 

With all this chatter about the glories of past Cavallino's, here are a few of my snaps from 1996.
Predating digital photography, and the easy accessibility of cellulars.

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login