Stuff: 2010 The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering

[svgallery name="2010_Quail_hirez"] Story and photos by John LeBlanc CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. - Now in its eighth year, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, is held on the golf course holes that lies between the Santa Lucia mountains at the Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel Valley. If may not be as well known as the Monterey historic races at Laguna Seca, or the Concours D’Elegance at Pebble Beach—events that follow during the annual weekend celebration of the car that takes over the Monterey Peninsula just south of San Francisco, California, this time of year—The Quail brings together car collectors, race drivers, and historians to mingle with whoever can afford the $400 tickets that support many local charities. A relatively intimate affair, the Quail’s high price ticket means the crowds aren’t as large as Sunday’s mosh pit on the 18^th hole of the famed Pebble Beach. Because of that, car connoisseurs have the room and time to examine the vehicles on display. Not restricting itself to ancient or million-dollar collector cars, The Quail offers a eclectic collection of new, old and just plain interesting production, race and one-off cars, trucks and motorcycles, as well as current cars from some of the higher end brands, like, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Ferrari, and Porsche: • 1932 Ford/Ferrari Roadster Enzo would probably spin in his grave if he ever found out about William “Chip” Connor’s ’32 Deuce Coupe. Instead of a de rigueur flathead Ford V8, Connor, from Nevada, has sacrilegiously managed to squeeze a twelve-cylinder Ferrari mill under his hot rod’s front hood. • 1934 So-Cal Bonneville Coupe Originally built in 1946, So-Cal was one of the first hot rod parts stores to open in Southern California. The shop’s founder, Alex Xydias, originally built this ’34 Ford Coupe in 1950 to run at the Bonneville, Utah, speed meets, and today is owned by California car designer and collector, Bruce Canepa. The car eventually set a record in its class at 172.749 mph in 1953, powered by a Mercury 258 cu in Flathead V8 and a GMC truck supercharger. • 1953 Porsche 356 Pre A 1500 Super California has always been one of the largest markets for Germany’s Porsche. And there’s always a gaggle of the automaker’s early 356 models at The Quail. Here, Scott Emsley of California, is meticulously organizing the historically-correct tool kit of his 100 per cent original ’53 356 Pre A 1500 Super, the first Porsche sold in Indianapolis, Indiana. • 1956 Ferrari PF Prototypo The Quail attracts Ferraris like flies to honey, from the early years right up to the large display Ferrari of America had on hand showing the Italian sports car company’s latest wares. Ferraris are relatively rare. But the silver example, in the foreground, is the precursor to every 250 Ferrari onwards, the1956 Geneva PF Prototypo show car, now owned by Roger and Rhonda Groves of California. • 1965 Ford GT-40 Roadster Every year, The Quail likes to mix things up a bit by adding new categories or featured marques. This year was no different, with over 30 Shelby cars to honour 45 years of the Shelby Mustang—as in living legend Carroll—who was also onhand. One of the most unusual versions of Ford’s GT40 program that Shelby contributed to are the handful of prototypes with roadster bodies. This example is the first of the open GT-40s completed in March, 1965, and is the only intact model that still wears the correct 1965-style nose and low tail section unique to the Roadsters. • 1966 Shelby GT 350 Some of the faithful will argue that the first two years of Shelby Mustangs, 1965 and 1966, are the most collectible. As the smallest and lightest Shelby Mustangs, they certainly are the most performance-oriented. This GT 350, owned by Edward Kwiatkowski of California, show the introduction of non-white colors—including blue, red, green and black that year. • 1967 Dodge D-700 Crew Cab Ramp Truck & 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Hot Wheels Funny Car It’s one thing to show up with an old racecar at The Quail. It’s another to deliver it on its original transporter truck—by the original owner. But that’s exactly what legendary drag racer, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme—who won the U.S. National Hot Rod Association funny car championship four times in his thirty-five-year career, and the first funny car driver to exceed 250 mph—did this year at The Quail. 1970 Lola T220-222 Faster than the F1 cars of the day, the short-lived Can-Am racecar era was a no-holds-barred time in racing, with cars created by some of the world’s most creative racing minds, and this Lola is a good example. Now owned by Jimmy Castle Jr. of California, and originally driven by Peter Revson, the T220-222 sports a cutting-edge-for-the-time, full-length aluminum monocoque chassis, and an “800-plus” horsepower Chevy V8. • 1973 Porsche Carrera RS When the 917 was killed by new racing regs, Porsche decided to focus on production cars. The result was the 911-based Carrera RS, or Rennsport, or Racing Sport, introduced at the Paris auto show in 1972. Only 500 were necessary for homologation purposes, but 1,580 examples were made due to its popularity. Stripped of sound and heating, and debuting that now iconic ducktail spoiler, the RS formula is alive and well in the new 2010 Euro-only 911 Sport Classic. • 1991 Alfa Romeo SZ The controversial SZ (which stands for Sprint and Zagato, the Italian design house that designed it) was a limited edition sports car built between 1989 and 1991. Based on a contemporary Alfa 75. The SZ’s odd proportions and plastic body parts gave it the nickname “Il Monstre.” California’s David Sydorick entered this example in The Quail’s Alfa Romeo Coachbuilders category.

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