Historic Targa Florio 09

It would be terrific if you could, based upon your experience, outline or point to a reference for the logistics of bringing a car from the USA. Views and recommendations regarding ocean vs air transport, insurance, pitfalls to avoid would be gratefully received.

According to the FIVA website they have no representation in the USA but a temporary ID can be obtained by mail, then the car can pass scrutineering just before the event (http://www.fiva.org/E/Tech/ID_card_A.htm).

Still looking for the right early Ferrari (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226014), but I happen to have another car used in period in the Targa.

Grazie tante.
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Thanks very much for the insights. Will discuss here and PM if positive consensus is reached. My car is definitely simpatico, but it remains to be seen whether I can pass that test.http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

Napolis, voilà une épreuve qui vous tient à coeur.
sans compter, l'homme qui se trouve là bas. Nino

 

I remember reading about your (& Albert's) previous exploits - do many participate from UK ? Wondering about the possibility of sharing transport costs

 

we will drive down to genoa from geneva. not a bad way to start the process...

 

The FIA website lists the cars by make, model and year which are eleigible, pperhaps the Giro di Sicilia does too, I have forgotten. I recall that all ferraris thruogh the 1973 daytona are eligible. I am certain that essentially current models like you 512 with cushy none-smelly ride, air conditioning and probably cassette players are definitely not eligible. They accept cars first by those that actually ran at the time it was a race[I mean the actual car, not a model], then those that could have run. There was room for another handful of cars so if you want to go, fill in the form. here is what I learned regarding how to do it, it is my experience only so others may want to chime in. Fill in the form from the website. i had my tailor Enzo help with the parts I couldnt understand. the two issues were the FIVA credentials and the required third party liability insurance required in EU countries. I sent the money to France, got the FIVA temporary certificate, they were supposed to inspect the car at the event. i saw a car with FIVA inspector on it but as far as I know they never looked at the car. he may have just stayed in the bar. Probably moot anyway there are new rules, see Keith Martins mag for details. The liability insurance was another issue, I eventually found hagerty who agreed to write it through their UK office. My normal insurance covered the car and excess liability the same as if it were here as long as I had the "green card" insurance.You can buy this anywhere in the EU, probably at the airport next to the espresso bar but it was a pain to arrange from here. Cost was negligible. I flew the car to milan and used Martin Button from Cosdel to arrange the transportation and customs work. I highly recommend him, he knows the ropes and if there is trouble can probably fix it.All of this went without a hitch. I bought tickets on the ferry from genova to Palermo online, i didnt do it but suggest a suite as you are on the boat for 20 hours and a balcony from which you can sip Vino as the mederteranean slips by would have been nice. The food on the ship was better than expected. Of course most of the competitors are also there so it was fun.There is a bar.I wanted to drive after the event and we left Palermo at around 7:00 monday morning, were at the ferry in massina by nine, crossed the water and were on the autostrada in Southern italy by 9:00. I was stunned by the effenciancy of this operation, we were probably just lucky. We howled up the autostada for two days, dropped the car at the warehouse for return shipping and caught the plane back to catania for a few days of non-car vacation time, then back to San Diego. My car was perfect when it arrived in milan, I get it back tonight[customs in LA has been using it as a training excersize, we think]. It ran flawlessly the entire trip of about 2500 kilometers, we averaged 60 KPH for the time the magellan was connected, autostrada and touring mostly, not used on the rally. I too was told my ca would be stolen in Sicilia. I drove and parked wherever, did not lock it or roll up the windows and it was not touched. as far as I know there were no incidents. I did not feel that it was at risk anywhere. When we drove through the small cities old men stood by the route all day and saluted when the ferraris came by. In the Plaza where the checkpoints often were[we actually found several of them] the people thrust flowers and fruit into the cars, and in the Piazza at Vittoria they gave us wine, flowers and a book about the region.They are immensly proud of Ferrari, and of the race that was the glory of Sicilia in its time. I got the feeling that they were protecting my car, not coveting it. Naive maybe, but it worked for me.Just do it.
I amanaged to find what I wrote in 2006...big it breakthrough for me. Search for Targa 2006 to see a lot of photos from that event.

 

article I FERRARI MARKET LETTER Volume 31 Number 15 | 29 July 2006
A FERRARI RETURNS HOME
by Malcolm Barksdale
It has been three years since I drove my Daytona across the country to New Orleans and back, and a year since I drove it to Colorado for a barbecue, so I was getting anxious to make another drive.
When I entered my 275 GTB S/N 08545 in the Giro di Sicilia/Targa Florio 2006 Historic Rally I asked several friends and former participants for advice and consultation. They said:
1) Don’t do it. Your car will be stolen and sold to the ‘Stans to be used as a flower pot;
2) Don’t do it. The Sicilians are crazy and your car will be crashed and will be there forever while it is being repaired;
3) Don’t do it. This is a serious event that people practice for all year. You will be out of your element and crashed into by the drivers seriously competing for a trophy;
4) Are you crazy? You can’t drive from Catania back to Milan! The Autostrada in Southern Italy is full of pot holes and torn up for repairs, no one does this, take the ferry at least to Napoli;
5) Don’t worry, just do it, you will have a great time.
I really liked number five the best so, with encouragement from my wife Naomi, we talked Gary Dildy and his wife Susanne into joining us. We all converged on Italy in late May. Gary and Susanne flew to Palermo, I flew from London to Milan to meet Naomi. On Monday Gary met me at Linate where I put Naomi on the plane to Palermo and Gary and I set off to the outskirts of Milan to where the car had been shipped.
Once we found someone who spoke English we picked up the car, snapped the GPS into its bracket, and set out for the ferry at Genova. We had six hours to do this two-hour run so we drove through back roads on a beautiful summer day in the little red car, now back in its home 40 years after it was built.We arrived at the ferry with no trouble, joined the queue of historic (old, that is) cars from the Continent waiting to board, and began to meet the other participants. Eventually the cars were all loaded and we all adjourned to the restaurant, then the bar, and finally our cabins as the ship made the 20-hour trip to Palermo.
When we arrived around 6 p.m. the next evening we were met by members of the Vintage Car Club Paramus (VCCP) who directed everyone into a parking area and served us wine and food while the cars were collected into a caravan for transit to the hotel. Driving through the streets of Palermo was a bit unnerving for about five minutes, then we got into it, relaxed and drove crazy--like the Sicilians.
At the hotel the participants had their paperwork examined, collected their bag of stuff for the event, and headed for the first of many dinners of local wine, fish, vegetables and pasta. I love squid and octopus, but I am good to go on that front or a while. The paperwork was handled with a good deal of discussion, hand gestures, arm waving and laughter.
The next morning we all drove to the Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie to drive two laps of 44 kilometers each on the old Targa Florio road course. At the start was the first of several skill tests which consisted of driving over timing hoses in a planned fashion. About this time we noticed everyone had a book with little diagrams and dug around in the bag of stuff and sure enough there was a route book. I speculated that we were supposed to pop the clutch on the hoses to see who could wrap the most hose around the half shafts, but Gary said he was pretty sure that wasn’t it. These tests were somewhat like filling in the answer sheet without having the question booklet.
FERRARI MARKET LETTER Volume 31 Number 15 | 29 July 2006
This was good driving through the hills of Sicily with the morning sun warming the grass and old pavement. About halfway through the morning we caught up with the Alfa Romeo 8C Monza of Mr. Burrows, snarling and skittering up the centuries-old roads as he horsed it around the corners and up the hills, exhaust note reverberating as his powerful arms worked the big steering wheel. He lead us through the hills, through the streets of Palermo on the night run, and through the week, driving the big Alfa Romeo fitted with hand controls, wheelchair stowed in the seat next to him, grinning all the way. At the awards banquet he received a standing ovation for leading us all. It was not about driving.
Later in the morning, before we got lost, we arrived at another check point and skill test with the rubber hoses across the road. We were now old hands at this, so we drove off and promptly got lost and wound up driving around in the countryside while we were supposed to be doing the second lap. We stopped for benzina in the town of Polizia Magnificanti or something like that. While we were re-fueling, Jon Johanson and his 85-year-old father, who had not visited his home in Sicily since he left 50 years ago drove up, equally lost. People from the village came to see the cars and talk to us, and the benzina station operators invited us in for caffe, the first of many times this would happen.
Later in the evening, after re-organizing at the hotel, all the cars went to Piazza Verdi for the start of the night run through the streets of Palermo, the countryside and on for about three hours until we would all land at the hotel in Sciacca. This run was talked about by many as a treacherous event, as the people of Palermo come out in force to see the cars and to drive along with them for awhile, especially the 6,000 scooters and motorcycles swarming around like mosquitoes. For some reason I was comfortable with this and with driving in Italy in general. Contrary to what I had been told, I found that while the drivers are mostly skilled, they are just used to a different set of criteria. They are comfortable with tight clearances which make us nervous. They will drive up onto your bumper and ride 18 inches behind you at 150 kph even if you are the only two cars on the road. On two lane roads a slower car in front of you will pull over to the right to drive with two wheels on the shoulder, as will oncoming traffic, magically creating an "invisible" passing third lane for the truly brave--which is all of Italy. Eventually we got used to it, too.
We stormed out of Palermo with assistance from the six polizia who traveled with us and did a great job of following directions in the route book and from the people along the road until we were clear of the city and close to the airport. Then the policeman leading us missed the exit where we were all going to launch into the countryside. After a great deal of discussion and more arm waving he led us to a road and basically said "good luck!" Of course, the route book is turn-by-turn, so once you are off course you can only go back to the point you got lost because you don’t know your destination.
We drove on through the night. At each village people were out to see the cars come through. We took this as a good sign because even in Sicily they wouldn’t be standing around waiting in the wrong towns. We were delighted (well, stunned, really) to find the checkpoint in the piazza where the people thrust wine and fruit into the cars as we got our book stamped, feeling proud that we had found our way. But it turned out to be the second checkpoint! We drove another hour or so, and magically turned up at the hotel bar, where we found a lot of other mostly confused drivers, and our wives.
On day two lunch was at a beautiful winery Fegotto built in the 1700s, last used in the1970s. We found this place more or less on time, now that we were becoming comfortable with the route book and reading the 25 road signs at each corner/fork/rotary. It was a good morning for driving in the country, passing through Vittoria where two beautiful women gave each car flowers, wine and a book about the city while several hundred people stood around in the middle of the day waiting to see the cars drive through the town.
The Sicilians are proud of the memories of this race which brought fame to the country. When we drove through the towns they lined the streets, showing us the way and waving. Old men stood by the road and saluted when the Ferraris came by. All of Italy seems proud of Ferrari.
That evening the hotel at Kamarina was pretty much of a mess since it was co-occupied by about 800 school children on holiday tours from various countries. The bar did not have wine. How can a bar in Italy not have wine? We walked about a kilometer (sorry, 0.62 miles) and bought the only bottle of non-carbonated white wine.
FERRARI MARKET LETTER Volume 31 Number 15 | 29 July 2006
Day three was great fun. We drove through Ragusa, following the route book religiously but not accurately as it turned out. We were parked by the side of a big intersection trying to work with the book, the map and some sense of the general direction when a car rolled up, the driver got out to help us and by talking fast, waving his arms, and basically telling us to do what he said (well, I think that is what was happening, my Italian is limited to ordering in restaurants) he got us back on track and headed toward the autodromo at Siracusa. Soon we began to see signs and then came around a corner to a small café where we stopped for refreshments. Soon about 15 participants and the six polizia were blocking the intersection while the local people tried to go about their business. The polizia solved this by directing traffic around us. No one seemed to mind or think it was odd. At Siracusa everyone spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon--after the obligatory two-hour break for lunch (more squid)--driving around the course in two lap runs, with several drivers from the past showing us all how it should be done. Gary took Susanne around and I took Naomi. They both claimed to think that was great fun. Everyone drove carefully and for fun except one Porsche driver who seemed to think this event was somehow related to Le Mans.
After the two-hour drive to the hotel everyone enjoyed the evening discussing just how fast we really went at Siracusa. I had been able to pry Boudewijn away from his mission of serial number memorization long enough to take him around the course. He was offended that I thought it was he who removed the generator from the Mondial 500 Spyder to record the serial number of the bushing retainer, but several beverages in the bar smoothed that over.
Day four was a drive up Mont Etna and then over to the shore and down the coast on a road not unlike Route 1 along the California coast, except with the addition of a small town about every 6 kilometers. It was very enjoyable and the longest day of driving on the tour. The scenery was beautiful, we had the measure of this route book thing, and the car ran perfectly.
On the final day we drove up Mont Pellegrino on the old hillclimb course, which was closed to traffic for several hours to allow us full use of the road. Adding to the fun was some rain, just enough to let the cars slide around even though we weren’t going fast. After a leisurely lunch we drove back to the hotel to relax and prepare for the evening award ceremony.
At the ceremony a lovely young lady explained that she would translate what the president said, but she would not interpret, preferring his story to remain original. After that we never heard from her again so we don’t really know what happened except several people who were, in fact, serious rally competitors received trophies and rounds of applause. Points were awarded for each 0.01 second that a checkpoint was missed. The winner one day had 106 points, meaning that he was only off by 1.06 seconds! Even though we had a score in the thousands, we were not the worst.
The next morning we loaded our luggage into the 275 and headed up the Autostrada to Messina to catch the ferry and then up the southern peninsula of Italy toward Ravella, where we would spend the night. The road was indeed undergoing repairs in many areas, but because traffic was light this was not a real inconvenience. "Repairs" seemed to consist of putting up orange cones to direct traffic into another lane, installing a blue sign with an arrow pointing to the offending hole, crack or bump, and then having one or two people hang around with a shovel and a pick. Some of the blue signs looked like they could be on their third season.
Just outside Napoli we were congratulating ourselves and laughing at the "advice" which claimed the delays would be terrific when traffic stopped for about two hours, creeping forward a few feet at a time. When we finally arrived at the blockade we found 27 orange cones, six blue signs with arrows pointing to the offending part of the pavement and no workers. After this we detoured over to the coast and drove the Amalfi Coast road with about 300 Fiats, each driving furiously hoping to shave 10 seconds off the previous day’s commute time. Gary was passenger on this part of the run. I know he enjoyed it because when we got to the hotel he went directly to the bar and didn’t speak for about an hour. At check-in the nice woman talked for ten minutes about their three star restaurant and what a good meal we could have. When we finally said OK, sign us up, she said they were fully booked.
FERRARI MARKET LETTER Volume 31 Number 15 | 29 July 2006
We started out at 7 a.m. the next day, heading back to the Autostrada. After a great deal of confusion in town we fueled up and started rolling toward Portofino. We drove 180 to 200 kph in the little red car, engine smooth and clean, exhaust yowling in the tunnels, through four separate rain storms--the final one complete with thunder, lightning and hailstones. We kept going, feeling that the car was really in its element, driving hard and long and thinking about what it must have been like in 1966 to drive like this. We were rudely awakened by a VW Turbodiesel flashing us to pass. Cars have come a long way in forty years.
After a beautiful evening in Portofino, we made the last two hours into Milan the next morning, dropped the car at the warehouse, picked up our bags and headed to Linate to catch the Alitalia flight to Catania and several days of non-car touring in Taramina.
So, what about all those warnings?
1) The car was not stolen. We drove it wherever we wanted, left the windows down and the doors unlocked and never once felt uncomfortable. Maybe naïve, but I felt that the Sicilians were protecting it. They clearly loved it, not quite as much as the prewar Alfas, but then . . . they came to look at it, talk about it, ask what year it was, and in general seemed to be pleased that we brought it back to Italy.
2) The car was not crashed or even scratched. A good mechanic followed the group, and I know he could have fixed whatever was necessary. When someone had a problem the participants helped out. It was all comfortable. The car never coughed, sputtered or farted, and it never gave us one minute of concern.
3) There were several serious competitors participating in the event, but they put up with the rest of us just fine. It is not a high-speed event, more like drive three hours, stop for lunch and wine, drive three more hours, stop for dinner and wine and sleep. Perfect.
4) Driving the Autostrada was great fun. The road is no worse than the New Jersey Turnpike or highways around Detroit. Where it is not torn up it is smooth and as far as we could tell unpatrolled--we never saw a police car. Lane discipline is fantastic, much different than in the United States.
5) Correct.
After a week of driving every day in the 40-year-old Ferrari, plus two days of fast driving, the car was running clean, crisp and willing, better than it ever felt before. As I walked away I know I heard it speak to me. "Don’t leave me here, I’m not tired, I am ready for the next run."
Me too.wrote after the 2006 event.

 

As a previous participant courtesy of Jim, I would highly recommend both the event and renting a vintage vehicle locally if you are not from Europe.

 

Am currently investigating shipping options from the NYC area. It is not yet clear whether there would be a pricing advantage to negotiating rates for several cars at once (e.g. a 40' sea container holds two), but please PM me if interested.

 

I hope you saw this:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231188

 

Looks like I've been beat to the Jalopnik Targa Florio '65 posting! Here's the link directly:

http://jalopnik.com/5146783/say-goodbye-to-workplace-productivity-the-1965-targa-florio-endurance-race

To all who will participate this year, enjoy the drive and godspeed!

 

We will be driving down from Como with our 275 and staying for a few days at our castle in Calabria... about an hour from the ferries to Sicily. If anyone else is driving down or driving up, you're welcome to stop for drinks, dinner or to stay the night before venturing on.

We will also be displaying our neighbor, the late Marchese di Francia's assembly of vintage Lancias, Alfas and Ferraris... should be fun... We're presently restoring some of the old town center on the right is what i've discovered to be my maternal grandfather's place of birth and on the left was his far richer nemesis and neighbor, the Marchese. The Second picture is of our castle, restored... with amenities.

Best,
Max
edit: garage pictures didn't load. hold on a sec. different format... ugh.
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Wow, thanks for this great story!!! This certainly makes me want to attend such an event.

 

application submitted. funds on their way. car at the shop for new belts. (slight delay possible since my main mechanic died on thursday) hoping for the best.

 

Well, I just booked my ticket for Sicily this morning. I'll be there visiting family (in Collesano). I'm going as a spectator this year to see how it is, then ship a car for the event next year.