ICCS Newsletter Mar 07 - Italian Car Club of the Southwest

il Bollettino
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Mar ch
2007
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A Message From Your Club President
As you might remember, a couple of months ago I sent out a
mailer about unused gifts. One particular item prompted
many wry comments, the Auto Coffee Maker. To my
surprise, a couple of you even offered to buy it.
Well, since then, you may have heard a study has been
released that says coffee causes men to store fat in their belly
area. I was told about this study at church just as I was - you
guessed it - filling up a cup from the pot.
This brings to mind my grandmother's instruction book titled
Primary Studies for Nurses. On a yellowing page 366 is a
lesson on the dietary value of vegetables: Vegetable foods are
less easily digested and assimilated than animal foods. This is
due to the fact that much of the nutritive material of vegetable
foods is enclosed in cells with woodsy covering, which resists
the action of the digestive juice and irritate the intestinal
lining. Beans are rich in nutriment, but are more easily
digested when combined with other materials. They should be
served sparingly to invalids.
On Thursday, members brought in seven cars and set up the
club display. The show was then open to the public for almost
thirty hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Club members
were on hand the majority of the time to discuss the cars,
answer questions and hand out information on the club and
ItalianCarFest.
Vegetables yesterday, coffee today. Seems like that after a
crazy February with snow, sleet, heavy rain and an incredibly
nasty West Texas-like dust storm, a trip to the coffee shop
with a friend would be just right this weekend. I think I'll go
anyway and maybe you should too. And since the forecast is
improving, you may want to take that cherished vehicle.
Please be careful and have fun with your Italian car,
motorcycle or scooter.
Jerry Lee Phillips
ICCS Displays Cars at Dallas AutoRama
For the first time, the club displayed several cars at the Dallas
AutoRama, at Dallas Market Hall, February 16th through
February 18th. Although primarily a hot rod and muscle car
show, a variety of vehicles were on display including sports
cars, motorcycles, 4x4’s and several ‘rat’ rods.
ICCS Vice President Bob Dezzany stated, “This is an
opportunity for people who would never see us to view Italian
cars, have exposure to the club and to learn about
ItalianCarFest.
The cars on display were a 1968 Lamborghini Islero – owned
by Paul vonHeeder; 1972 Maserati Ghibli SS – Bob Smith;
1973 Alfa Romeo Montreal – Val Herrera; 1974 Fiat Spider –
Art Weinman; 1985 Maserati Quattroporte – Anita Hilfiker;
1991 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce – Susan Kast; 1994 Ferrari
348tb Challenge – Mark LaCroix.
Several club members and family met at the show on Saturday
night and then carpooled a short distance to dinner at The
CAPE. We had a very nice evening discussing cars, the show
and numerous other topics.
All in all, the show made for a nice weekend. We received
positive comments from the show organizers and numerous
visitors. And a short article in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News
even recommended our display as a good alternative to all the
hot rods, street machines and muscle cars at AutoRama.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Own Ferruccio
Lamborghini’s Personal Car….
Featured Car: 1968 Lamborghini Islero 400GT
Owner: Paul vonHeeder
Thanks to everyone who provided a car or helped out with the
display!
Club member Paul vonHeeder knows what its like to drive
Ferruccio’s car. Paul owns Lamborghini Islero #6201 –
Ferruccio’s personal driver of the Islero model. He has two
files full of paperwork documenting this car’s ownership
history including a letter, signed by Ferruccio, written to the
first private owner and shipping receipts from Italy to Seattle.
Upcoming Events:
3/17, Sat. – Greenville Ave. St. Patrick’s Day Parade
3/20, Tue. – ICCS Monthly meeting at Carrabba’s
3/24, Sat. – Boardwalk Spring Ferrari Rally
4/1, Sun. – Autos in the Park Car Show at Cooper
Aerobics Center in Dallas
4/7, Sat. – Texas Region SCCA Rally School &
March Madness Rally
4/17, Tue. – ICCS Monthly meeting at Carrabba’s
4/21, Sat. – Lamborghini Dallas Texas Track &
Concorso at MotorSport Ranch
4/29, Sun. – All British & European Car Day at White
Rock Lake
The car has a custom touch believed to have been added at the
factory to personalize the car for Mr. Lamborghini. It is very
noticeable as you peruse the exterior of the car - a wood gas
cap. A wood gas cap? Yes - the story is that Ferruccio was a
boating enthusiast and appreciated the wood details on many
of the boats. So the factory added a wood gas cap as a
personal touch. As an experiment, Paul has tried to fit a
locking gas cap that is made for the Islero models, but it would
not work. Apparently the wood cap is very custom.
New Location For Monthly Meetings
The club has now held two meetings at our new location –
Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Grapevine. Since its inception, the
club had previously met at Willhoite’s in Grapevine.
However, members felt it was time for a change. Carrabba’s
has a smoke-free environment and a more upscale menu. It’s
a great place to have dinner before or during the meeting and
some member’s spouses are joining us that have not attended
before. If possible, please join us for a meeting and sample
the new location.
There has been some speculation among Lamborghini
aficionados that the engine may have increased BHP from the
factory, at Ferruccio’s request.
However, there is no
documentation in the files to verify this.
Another custom detail is the leather-work on the interior.
First, the entire dash is covered in a single-colored leather. On
‘standard’ cars, the upper dash was done in black. Although
the original interior color was ‘Tobacco’ (exterior color was
red), the dash was completely finished in red when the interior
was redone. It is not known if the original dash was black or
whether it was single-color from the factory. The interior also
features several quilted panels, which were added by a
subsequent owner.
Paul enjoys the Islero and drives it to local events such as
ItalianCarFest and AutoRama. The car has a marvelous
history and certainly would make a great start for a concours
show car. But it really seems best to use the car as it was
intended – in fact, as Ferruccio used it – to be driven.
Alfa Romeo’s Return?
The Islero 400GT was an update of the 400GT 2+2 (19651968), with the major differences being that the car received
an all-new body and the track was widened to accommodate
wider wheel & tire technology. Only 125 of the 400GT
versions of the Islero were built in 1968 and 1969 before the
car was further revised and became the Islero 400GTS.
Engine: 60° V12, 3929cc, DOHC (per
bank), 2 valves per cylinder, 6 2barrel Webers, 325 BHP
Transmission: 5 speed
Weight: 2893 pounds
Top speed: 155 MPH
Body: Steel, by Marazzi of Milano
(ex-Carrozzeria Touring employees)
Latest industry rumors have some of the limited run of
Alfa Romeo 8C’s coming to the U.S. This is a change
from previous discussion, which said the first models
would probably be the Brera, the Spider and the
currently-under-design replacement four-door, the
169. The 8C is considered by many to be the most
beautiful car designed in years, but at an estimated
price tag of $200,000 it won’t be inexpensive.
ItalianCarFest Update
Without our sponsors, ICF wouldn’t be possible. Previous
supporters signed up again for 2007 include American Driver
Magazine (formerly Texas Driver), AMS Ducati, Blenko
Glass Company, Boardwalk Auto Group, Gaylord Texan
Resort, Katanjian Enterprises, Premier Financial Services, ReOriginals, Shade Tree Enginetrics, Stuart’s Paint & Body and
Vick Autosports.
Mark your calendars:
September 21-23
Show on Saturday, Sep. 22
ItalianCarFest.com
A new sponsor for this year is Vespa Dallas. Although they
have not previously been an official sponsor, they were
instrumental in getting the club a discounted-cost scooter for
our charity raffle at ICF 2006. Thank you Vespa Dallas!
A track day is again on the schedule for ICF 2007. Boardwalk
Auto Group has agreed to sponsor the track day associated
with the ICF weekend. This year there will be a new venue
for the event – Eagles Canyon Raceway near Slidell, Texas.
For those of you that are not familiar with the Eagles Canyon
venture, it is an international-caliber track being built right
here in North Texas. For more info on the track, go to
www.eaglescanyon.com.
ICCS Makes Donation to Make-A-Wish
At our January club meeting, ICCS officially made its
donation of 2006 proceeds from ItalianCarFest to the Make-AWish Foundation. A check in the amount of $3,722 was
presented to a local foundation representative who joined us
for the meeting. This is the first year that ICCS has chosen
Make-A-Wish as its preferred charity.
As has been done in previous years, a donation was also made
to the Grapevine Heritage Foundation. This year the donation
was $920. This has been a way for the club to give back to the
city that has helped support ItalianCarFest.
ICCS Classifieds
Club members who would like to advertise vehicles, parts or
memorabilia, either for sale or wanted, can email details on
the
items
and
your
contact
information
to
[email protected]. Italian-related items only, please.
Recommended Web Site
ItalianCarFest Photos
Would you like to see some photos from past ItalianCarFests?
The following web pages have numerous photos or albums
from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Although they are a little
long to type, they are worth the effort!
http://gallery.italiancarclub.com/carshows/icf/
http://community.webshots.com/user/whitnah100
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60386408@N00/sets/72157594
280447307/
FerrariChat.com – FerrariChat is a message board run
by local Texan and perennial ICF entrant Rob Lay.
This is the place to gather on the web if you own a
Ferrari - or even if you don’t. Besides sections on the
numerous models Ferrari has made over the years,
there are specialized areas to discuss racing,
collectibles, photos and more. There are also sections
for different regions of the U.S. & the world. Several
ICCS members post in the ‘Texas’ section. NonFerrari areas include Lamborghini, Maserati and
‘Other Italian.’
http://photographybygeorge.smugmug.com/gallery/787433/1/
35490775#35490775
http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/BohemianTron/Italia
n%20Car%20Fest%202006/
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Please email [email protected] with
questions, comments or suggestions.
Italian Car Club of the Southwest
www.ICCSW.com