By Michael C. Wilson, Lamborghini Club America Member
Another year… Wow! It still amazes me to think back to 1992 when the Seattle Italian Concours first started. We had about 25 cars show up for a small gathering at Snoqualmie Winery in the Cascade foothills with a simple registration table, a pot of coffee and a box of donuts. That was then, this is now…
This past Sunday (Aug. 31st), we celebrated our 12th anniversary of the Seattle Italian Concours d’ Elegance. With blue skies and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees all day, nearly 140 Italian automobiles, Motorcycles, Scooters, Karts and Bicycles were on hand to supplement the three food vendors, and a dozen other vendors and sponsors. The Concours keeps getting bigger every year. Even our entrants “Goodie Bags” keep getting better! This year, we had a copy of Sports Car Market Magazine, a copy of Primo Magazine, samples of Italian Latte Syrups, Talking Rain flavored water samples, a beautiful Bugatti lapel pin donated by Evan McMullen of Cosmopolitan Motors, a $40.00 sample package of Griot’s Garage Car Care Products, and entrant lanyard also provided by Griot’s Garage.
For those who missed it this year, the Seattle Italian Concours d’ Elegance was a sight to behold. We featured Lamborghini in honor of their 40th anniversary. At what a show it was! There were 12 Lamborghini’s on the Pier in two separate areas. In one area, we had a “Circle of Lamborghini’s” to display a car from each of the decades since the 60’s. Representing the 1960’s was Paul Hoey’s beautiful 1967 P400 Miura. Representing the 1970’s was Jan Johnson’s 1972 Jarama (with the rare split sunroof). The 1980’s were represented by “yours truly” and his 1984 Jalpa. Dixon Schwenk and his 1994 Diablo VT represented the 90’s. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a Murciélago or Gallardo for our show to let the public see what the newest Lamborghini offerings looked like. So my wife and I improvised. What we did was take an Italian column draped with a black piece of velvet over the top, and placed a lime green 1/18th scale Murciélago on top! What a hit that was with the public! They loved it! However, it’s not like having the real thing! Something about seeing a 580 HP, 205+ MPH Supercar in person…
In addition to the (4) Lamborghini’s in the circle, we had an additional 8 Lamborghini’s on the pier! They were: Brent Morris and his 1971 “ex-Nicolas Cage” Miura SV. Jan Johnson – 1972 Espada, Ben and Susan Lombardi – 1978 Silhouette, Steve and Diane Trafton – 1978 Silhouette, Jeff Dow – 1972 Espada, Greg Idler – 1980 Countach, Paul Novack – 1989 25th Anniversary Countach, and Rick Sironen also with a 25th Anniversary Countach. Yes, its true your eyes are not deceiving you! We did in fact have TWO, yes 2 Silhouette’s on the Pier!! What a treat! It was fantastic to see them sitting side-by-side.
Al Burtoni sponsored the Lamborghini marque (as he has so graciously done for the past 6 years). Brent Morris took top honors with the Judges - “Best of Show – Automobile” trophy for his 1971 Miura SV. Paul Hoey took 1st Place for his 1967 P400 Miura, Brent Morris was a double winner by also taking 2nd Place in Lamborghini, and Steve Trafton rounded out the top 3 by taking 3rd for his pristine 1978 Silhouette.
Those that were unable to attend can check our website at: www.italianconcours.org, as I have posted all the award winners and lots of pictures from this years event. Make sure you check with our website often, as I will be posting additional information about next years show. We are working with the Marriott Hotel right across the street from the Pier to see if they will set aside a block of rooms for the Concours participants, as well as providing secure parking for their vehicles.
I would love to see Lamborghini attendance build at our event! Ferrari is always the best represented (as they were again this year), with 29 entries. Lets see if we can hit 20 Lambo’s on the Pier next year! My goal is have at least one of every Lamborghini model produced on the Pier. Not hard to do considering that this year we needed only a 350GT, 400GT, Islero, Urraco, LM002 and Murciélago! Our entry fee is only $35.00 for the 1st vehicle (2nd vehicles are free), and if you register through the Lamborghini Club, the fee is only $25.00. Bear in mind is that we are a group of enthusiasts that formed a non-profit corporation and all the proceeds that we make are put into the following years event to make it even bigger and better than the previous year.
Folks, this is what its all about! When we bring our cars out to the public we never know how we are going to impact people. Some will make a decision to buy an Italian car for there very own, younger kids will have a certain model to set a goal to attain when they get older, and still others might have a life impacting experience such as this gentleman and his daughter mentioned above. Our sincere gratitude goes out to Paul Novack for making this possible for them. I would also like to thank Rick Sironen (black ’89 Anniversary Countach), who let countless young kids sit in his car while their smiling parents made pictures of them behind the wheel! Lamborghini owners are the best!
Hope to see you all next year! And, please feel free to contact me should you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Mike Wilson
E-mail: 4porte@comcast.net