Georgia Tech Autoshow This Saturday!

If it were me, I would have tossed the GTO or the LMP car, not the F50......

 

My car is at Flashback getting some work done. Won't be ready till next week. Bummer....

 

FOA will be bringing 5 cars--the super cars.
If the weather is nic they MAY drive the f50 and bring the Spice in the trailer--otherwise only the 4 supercars

 

The "caravan" down from Perimeter Mall was quite meager, probably due to the weather (it rained on us while we were waiting): Chris' M3, my 328 and Rick Russo's Bora (now with 4 nifty new wheels).

At the show, Ferraris got the same "curb of honor" as last year at the far end of the lot, and six 3-series F-cars showed up, though no more than 5 at a time. Special guest Franco Cimatti and his friend Mike arrived in a nice 612 Scaglietti (grigio with dark red interior) and parked nearby. The FoA transporter parked at the other end of the lot, with an Enzo (the same one that had been in the showroom for awhile, still with window sticker), 288 GTO, F40 and Spice-Ferrari WSC car.

Rick, however, had to park with the "hoi polloi". But other Italian cars were there: a de Tomaso Mangusta and Pantera. Other neat cars included a vintage Rolls and Bentley, a Hudson Hornet, a Willys Aero and a Studebaker Golden Hawk, along with two "original" Minis, a white '54 Corvette, and two modern-day Ford GTs! Racing cars included a Mazda LMP car (provided by Jim Downing) and an '05 Red Bull F1 car.

Once on site, the weather was about perfect. Having waxed the 328 on Thursday and done a little paint touch-up on Friday, the car looked great with it's new "pirkleized" front spoiler. But then, all the Ferraris there looked great. We had an interesting corner: near the Scaglietti were parked the school's famous "Ramblin' Wreck" Ford and a Carter gyrocopter!

Franco Cimatti gave a nice presentation in the auditorium. In the first part, he described his personal journey from Italy to Miami to Atlanta to England and eventually back to Italy, and jobs first with Fiat and then with Ferrari. He showed neat photos of some of the concepts he worked on over the years, including an all-wheel-drive version of the Mondial! One of his early jobs was his only connection with the 328: he was a test engineer on the ABS system used on the later versions; much of the testing was done on ice in Sweden.

In the second part, he showed how conceptual design works, starting with the driver, whose position in the car is based in part on what type of car it is going to be. Then all the other requirements are added in, and this eventually sets up all the important dimensions, such as wheelbase, overhang, track and roof height. In this case, the end product turned into the Scaglietti, the first "clean sheet" design he was largely responsible for.

Bottom line: it was a great day! And they'll do it again next year.

 

Great day, glad I made the trip down!

Pics to come soon...

 

as a tech student, the quality of cars there was a nice surprise...

first time seeing an enzo or an f40........awesome