Maserati drive #IV.... A small but loyal group of Maserati drivers are at it again. We enjoyed the Dana Point drive, now it's a new destination. A handfull of the originators will begin to meet quarterly at The Atheneum (at Caltech) for lunch to discuss routes and future outings. I'm thinking of formally organizing of the driving club for Maserati's. Each member has a drive they can propose. The idea is, you MUST have a Maser.....to drive with us. Family type gatherings. Future plans ..... are open to legitimate suggestion's We'll post the outcome of the next drive... real soon....
Great drive with great people. Pics tell the story... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Man those Coupes and GSs look great! Why was that road closed? It couldn't possibly be from inclimate weather.
I grew up in this area of So Cal. - Ever since I can remember sections of Angeles Crest Hwy get washed out, and it takes a couple years for the Forest Service (or whoever) to clean up / repair the road. Then a fluke rainstorm erodes some part of the mountain and starts the process all over again. Was a fun drive, thinking of a more northern route for the next one. (or possibly a track day.......)
Wow. That's interesting. Northern California seemed to always get repaired as soon as possible. The road looks like a bunch of fun though!
problem with the So. Cal mentality is: the "tuner" types, drift cars, and crotch rockets are all racing along the Crest - some kind of "timimg" thing. I had a long talk with a forest ranger who HAD to come talk to us when we got to the end-of-the-road- turn-off. He was wondering which "group" we belonged to. It seems the plan is not to pay too much attention to the highway so the "fast and furious" types will go else where. Still a beautiful, scenic drive....
Hi all, I'm new to this. Do you folks ever get this far south (i.e., closer to San Diego)? I don't think the Maserati community in San Diego is as cohesive or active. For the most part, I've been hanging out with the Ferrari Owners Club of San Diego. They've welcomed me with open arms (afterall the engin is Ferrari, right?). They plan and stage quite a few events in my area, including two Italian car shows. Just a brief intro. Please keep me posted. Pic attached. DGL Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great color for the GS !!! ..... We'll keep you posted on our plans. PM me with your e-mail address and I'll add you to the distribution. We were planning a one day event for the near future (end of Oct or early Nov). Nothing wrong with going south
Well here's a suggestion. There are already two clubs in the USA which hopefully will merge soon since they already operate jointly on the west coast. So ... why not contact these organizations and let them help you set-up events. You probably won't have to change a thing about your event it's just a way of making things easier for you as well as bringing all Maserati owners a little closer together. There are plenty of guys in these clubs that own both vintage Masers and new ones as well as Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Your move ... Bob S.
Well you have a local chapter of TMC. Contact Doug Magnon. Maybe he can help in the efforts for your event or at least he could extend an invitation to TMC and MCI members. BTW, TMC & MCI announced yesterday that they have agreed to merge starting in 2008. Bob S.
I sent Doug Magnon an e-mail yesterday; waiting for reply. Seems like last active post on TMC CA (http://www.themaseraticlub.com/cc.html) was back in 2004. pdf membership form is dated 2003 - 2004. Does anyone know if CA chapter is active??? First e-mail sent to generic TMC CA e-mail address ([email protected]) resulted in errors.
Form a FerrariChat.com Maserati club, I will even throw in specially made hats and shirts w/your usernames on them.
Oh forget about the TMC website if your looking at that as an indication of activity. It doesn't get maintained. That's a problem and one of the reasons for the clubs merging. It's a very long and sordid history which I won't go into here but I think it's all headed in the right direction now with factory blessing/backing included The two clubs are the ones that organize everything Maserati at Monterey every year. BTW, MCI was the car club that founded Concourso Italiano. That event used to be exclusively Maserati's. Then Lamborghini's were added, next Ferrari ... boom! Doug is the SoCal director for TMC and has quite a collection including an MC12. He was the one on the podium this year with the MC12 at Concourso. You could also contact Kerry McMullen at MCI www.maseratinet.com. Doug is a pretty busy guy as a real Estate developer so maybe there's someone else (or should be!) in the local chapter that handles his email. Don't give up there really are a number of people in California with some very cool cars and most of them own newer Maserati's as well. I guess my point is that over the years we've had several clubs not all pulling together and now it looks like we are going to unify which for this small struggling marque is a real plus. So it would be great if locally organized groups such as the one we're talking about here could align with the club so that everyone is aware of everyone Else's activities and then we all benefit. MCI has a killer magazine as well. If it were me then I would join MCI because my bet is that by 2008 they will be officially merged and in the meantime you get the great magazine and become part of the largest and oldest club in the USA. As for discussion websites, I don't see the club being a spot for that. There are already several sites like this one and others that people use and realistically I can't see anyone leaving them and going to a new one. Besides this one there are several discussion sites on Yahoo groups and elsewhere as well. On this site you get to see a lot activity about of other Italian cars as well and that's great! Bob S.
Unless I am out voted by my peers, we'll keep it small and enjoy the drives and the company. I am very familiar with MIE (I have had a Trident car since 1982). So my simple little group and I will meet and drive.... at will. Any.... MIT alumni who own a Maserati and happen to be in the Pasadena area, I'll invite to our lunch meeting at Caltech (The Atheneum).
So what's wrong with just letting the clubs know about your driving events so that other local people can join in if they want? It's not like any club would tell you where,when and what to do? If they did that I'd just ignore any crap like that. Just a thought. Bob S.