Try as we might, none of us here can ever get enough of the Concorso Italiano. It’ s a tremendous cultural happening focused around cars from Italy, and surprisingly, elsewhere, surrounded by some of the prettiest terrain and foliage that central California can offer. Let’s revisit it with a run through the digital folder, led by this image of the Lancia award presentation. When was the last time you saw a Beta Montecarlo, the heir to the Fiat X 1/9, anywhere?
Amongst the marque-specific gatherings at Concorso was this one, which salutes the creations of Alejandro de Tomaso. This view kind of underscores the fact that restored, unmodified Panteras can be difficult to locate, although there’s at least one in view. Down the hillock, there was a similar clutch of Mangustas.
The sunlight was incredibly intense, which explains the somewhat washed-out photo, but we still wanted to share this daily-driver Lancia Integrale with you. Only in California, right?
Concorso is all about great motorcycles, only slightly less than cars, from the great performance houses of Europe. Look at this little howler. I’m a railfan, and its fairing reminds me strongly of the streamlined Hiawatha steam locomotives that pulled crack passenger trains for the Milwaukee Road. This is a 1956 Ducati 125 G.S., presented by Chip Starr of Portland, Oregon.
And since culture of all sorts involves cuisine, here’s something we found in the Concorso dining area. This is called a Frog Dog. It’s a baguette hollowed out, filled with a big pooch and topped, for eight bucks. For those with more orthodox tastes, there was fried calamari right next door. We’ll have full coverage of Concorso Italiano in the December issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.
