Miguel Sánchez
MONTERREY WEEK EVENTS TEXT: MIGUEL SANCHEZ / PHOTOS: UNAI ONA
A multitude of groups and nationalities have passed through California. From the Spanish presence through a multitude of missions lost in the desert to the massive Asian immigration attracted by the construction of the railway, the West Coast has been and is a melting pot of cultures where the coexistence of strangers has shaped an open land. Eternally fascinated by the new and exotic. The ideal setting for phenomena as diverse as the film industry or the counterculture of the 60s.
The optimistic and luminous heritage of this land is not only seen in songs like California dreamin ' o San Francisco -Hymnos of that disruptive and innocent "Generation with a new explanation" marked by the hippiesmo of Haight-ashbury- but also in what motley of its car rallies. Even though right now the fashionable car in California is neither more nor less than the Toyota Prius, The truth is that a simple tour of the coastal roads of the area confirms the large number of convertibles and classics typical of the place.
Perhaps that is why the West Coast of the USA is a paradise for motor racing fans wanting to experience different sensations, being able to attend an event with high-end Italian sports cars associated with the exclusive Peeble beach for, a few days later, to be in a curious concentration of small cars after having admired some of the best American classics parked by the side of a Franciscan mission. And all this with a magnificent exhibition of Japanese cars in between. All this in the Monterrey Week that takes place at the end of August. It's not bad at all, true?
This is the business card for the third leg of the American voyage of unai ona, the companion who, after having immersed ourselves with his goal in the elegance of Peeble Beach Contest 2018 and how exciting the Rolex Motosport Reunion at the Laguna Seca Circuit... Now he introduces us to the first concentrations of fans before beginning his march to the interior of the US in future installments. Let's see what discoveries he has brought us in this new stage of his journey ...
CARMEL MISSON CLASSIC: PREWARDS WITH HISPANIC FLAVOR
Less than 200 years ago California was a territory governed by the Spanish administration; Or at least that was the intention because, after all, effectively controlling the thousands of square kilometers that covered the Territory of Upper California was a chimera. What are now the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and part of Colorado and Wyoming opened before the eyes of pioneers and missionaries as a vast and incomprehensible terrain where the drums of many indigenous populations remembered to be treading on a terrain as hostile as it was promising.
197 years after the assimilation of these territories to a Mexico that would end up being cut off by its vigorous neighbor to the north, the evidence of that Hispanic presence in the area is still evident, highlighting missions such as that of Saint Charles Borromeo of Carmel. The unsuspected adventure of a Majorcan Franciscan who, fighting against the low agricultural productivity of this land located in Monterrey, fed the few dozen converted Indians that he managed to attract with bear meat. That's how improvised and adventurous was the Spanish presence here.
Fortunately, times change and today the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo is better known for being a National Historic Landmark than for its particular diet, hosting for years the Carmel Mission Classic. A concentration of classics - and a contest of elegance - in which huge pre-war Packards and Italian convertibles mix as easily as girls dressed as " pin-up”They alternate in the vehicle exhibition area with priests in starched cassocks. Such a "Show”Finished off by masters of ceremonies with impossible flowery ties.
Aesthetic details aside - it seems that in every sunny and coastal place the logic concerning the color combination in the textile jump into the air - the truth is that in the Camel Mission Classic the Packards stood out, among which the only 343 Convertible Sedan 1927 preserved of all bodywork by the company Murphy it was especially reminiscent of the splendor the brand achieved when it built some of the best chassis ever conceived in Detroit, counting 100 years later with truly astonishing ride comfort. A classic 6-liter prewar saloon saloon for $ 627.000 in 2009, Peeble Beach winner in 1977.
In contrast to the grandiloquence of these sedans, Packard launched in the late 20s the preparation Rumble Seat to house a line of somewhat more sporty bodies; These initially had two seats - giving the car an appearance of a primitive coupe - which could be complemented with a seat that appeared out of nowhere by opening an isolated opening of the passenger compartment at the rear. It is the famous 'there you rot', or the 'mother-in-law's seat', also used by other manufacturers. This arrangement -mounted on models such as the Super Eight, the Six or the V12- was quite common during the 20s and 30s, being represented by a beautiful Packard Eight from 1934 in cream color.
For us these two Packards were the most striking of the brand during the Carmel Mission Classic 2018, but the truth is that the most honored was a 1940's Darrin property of the Automobile Museum of El Segundo. And it is not for less, because This beautiful convertible is one of the 30 that the French bodybuilder - based since 1937 on Sunset Boulevard in order to profit from the automotive whims of movie stars - made on the basis of a One-Twenty. A precise design exercise that, finally, gave a bit more lightness and horizontal lines to Packards characterized by prominent fronts.
Beyond this mark, the winner of the 2018 Carmel Mission Classic was a Chrysler Imperial Le Baron. This name may seem - and in fact is - a pompous name of those that fills the mouth too much, but when you consider that it has been used for decades to name one of the "Flagships”From Chrysler… Things change. And it is that, although the term is engolado as he alone, this car did not stop living up to it. Such a "carrancano" highly appreciated as an official car.
The history of this car produced for decades through various evolutions began in 1926 when Chrysler coined the term for its top of the range -before creating his own brand with him in 1955-, having in the 1933 version Imperial “LeBaron”CC Sedan one of the most emblematic, of which -according to data from specialist David Traver for Hemmings- 44 were manufactured, having survived only 12. A jewel of those that commands a lot of respect; normal that he won the trophy of this 2018 ...
Although he did not win, it is impossible not to notice the presence of a corduroy 812; possibly one of the cars with the most exotic front end of all time, hiding its retractable headlights on the wheel arch, advancing by about 50 years this solution that many eighties supercars adopted in the name of aerodynamics. Manufactured as a personal brand of the Cord Corporation, which also encompassed Auburn and Duesenberg, the Cord 810/812 is the second major american car with front wheel drive, just two years after in Europe Citroën launched the Traction Avant with, in addition, independent suspension.
A personal body with echoes of Art Deco under which hides a 8-liter V5 with 125CV -170 in the Supercharger version. Although if what you want is a car really "beast”… At this year's Carmel Mission Classic there was one that was unappealable in that regard. So much that it is called "La Bestioni" Rusty two. An outrageous 14 liters built just three years ago from the chassis and engine of a 1915 fire truck left from the American LaFrance company -mythical and now defunct manufacturer of rescue and emergency vehicles-.
With its delirious grill finish showing the head of a devil on the claw of an eagle and the Austrian-style shields on its sides, it looks like a vehicle out of one of those Series B movies in which the Nazis return from the hidden side of Moon. Something that may be a tribute to time when more sportiness meant more displacement -the La Bestioni engine moves 2 liters per cylinder- but, at first, you don't really know how to fit it in; yes, to applaud the impressive work of artisan labor creating this from the rusted remains of a centuries-old fire engine.
ITALIAN CONTEST IN MONTERREY WEEK
For Italian manufacturers, the United States has always been a market as difficult as it is easy, depending on how you want to see it. Undoubtedly, it has been impossible for them - they have not really wanted it either - to fully compete for the bulk of the transportation business; In this sense, the Detroit industry has always known how to satisfy the needs of the national population. But if what we are talking about is medium or high-end sports vehicles ... There things change. Obviously the American industry has developed its own personality for its sports cars, but that is precisely why the small and agile Europeans have been successful: in contrast to the national ones.
For this - the same thing that is behind the success of 911 in America- California has always had a large community of Italian motoring enthusiasts, which have in the Italian Concorso of Monterrey its most famous appointment since this event was installed in 1985 with the vocation of being the reference for lovers of transalpine sports in the United States. In fact, it is the oldest contest of this type in the country, being blessed with the presence of figures like Valentino Balboni; the legendary tester of Lamborghini that this year he dropped by on the back of a Espada celebrating the 50 years of the model.
With models like this one - one of the most exciting 2 + 2 of all time - and others like the 400 GT - which was succeeded by the Islero already in the habit of Ferruccio Lamborghini for putting bullfighting names on his cars - the car brand and tractors contrary to the competition was noted in this event in which one of the most visible signatures was De Tomaso with a large concentration of units in your model Panther. Coming from the mind of Alejandro De Tomaso - an Italian-Argentine businessman settled in the country of his ancestors - and powered by a 8'5-liter, 8CV Ford V330. Isn't it a perfect car to celebrate America-Italy relations?
Following the trail of hybrids between the two countries, we find a good team of units of a perfect model in that sense: the Cadillac Allante. A perfect synthesis of American mechanics and eighties Italian design with straight lines, weighed down by the cost of a production that It contemplated the transfer of the bodies from the Pininfarina factory in Italy until they were finally assembled with the chassis in Detroit. However in the 6 years of production (1987-1993) more than 21.000 units were sold in what has been one of the most interesting commercial operations in the history of Cadillac. Many will say that it is still an American car but… Can you really say “No."For this beautiful V8 convertible to stop being in the Italian Concorso?
Anyway - and following in the wake of the De Tomaso Pantera and the Cadillac Atlanté- the most interesting Italian-American hybrids of this edition were the Apollo. And good, We say the Italian-American thing to summarize because if we have to cite all the countries gathered here it gives us for a geography test ... Bodywork by Intermeccanica -company founded in Turin by the Englishman Frank Reisner and later transferred to the United States and Canada- the Apollos were devised by the American engineers Milt Brown -born in Hungary- and Ron Plescia under the premise of create a sports "Italian”But with Buick mechanics, specifically a 8 liter V3.
Starting his particular business adventure in 1962 these two intrepid only managed to keep the project afloat for 3 years before having to close due to serious financial problems having sold only about 90 units of the 5000GT topped in its forms by designer Bertone Franco Scaglione. In addition to telling an excellent story, they are quite rare, curling the curl with the version in metallic bodywork in the 70s from one of the 11 chassis that were left without clothing after the closure of the factory. A 1 of 1 piece with which the Concorso Italiano de Monterrey 2018 celebrated this brand for which, at least before saying goodbye, there were no borders.
Yes, when awarding this year's award… The jury opted for a purebred Italian: the 6 Alfa Romeo 2500C 1951 Super Sport that, thanks to its sports mechanics and its graceful convertible aesthetics, had no problems in being the benchmark of this edition. A milestone of the Milanese brand manufactured from 1938 to 1952 through a long series of evolutions and units that, always on the same mechanics and architecture, evolved into luxury sports cars or Spartan competition cars for tests such as the Mille Miglia or the Targa Florio.
The presence of Ferrari was as notorious as it usually is in an event of these characteristics: a lot of Testarossa, 308, 328, Dino - for us the Dinos are full-fledged Ferraris, and also we recognized this one filmed spectacularly by Petrolicious-, 288 GTO ... About these wonders little more can be said that has not been said to date, but yes there was something really exciting that we loved to see parked in the middle of the grass: a unit of the legendary 330 P4 -only 3- were manufactured. Ferrari's answer to Ford's 1966 Le Mans treble, which with an F1-derived engine debuted by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967 with a treble equal to the one that the GT40s had garnered in France.
If you're "Ferrari”Having in front of one of the P4s that brought back to the Maranello house some of the pride snatched by Ford is something really special. Although ... Our joy went to the well because we intuited that what was really there was a replica. A shame though ... Admittedly, he has a good job behind him. However the three original units of the P4 are perfectly located and this ... It was not one of them.
As true quirks of those to which you would like to dedicate part of your work to document their history, we saw two units that are as curious as they are promising when it comes to their personal stories. We are talking first of a FIAT X1 / 9 -the nice little sports car turned into the Autobianchi A112- painted in the manner of the Stratos with Alitalia advertising and endowed with a widened rear that makes it look even more like a miniature rally winner and… An Alfa Romeo Giulia called "The Lost Taxi - The Fastest Taxi in Mexico". A classic one of those that we love because it shows that they are still using it almost daily for both street and competition, where the stickers of dozens of races are mixed with what is necessary to make the car a taxi. Stay tuned because we will continue investigating about this car ...
50 YEARS OF JAPANESE COMPETITION (AND PROFIT)
If you have followed our series on the journey of unai ona for America from the beginning you will remember that in the Rolex Monterrey Motorsport Meeting This year's celebrations of 50 years of Datsun-Nissan in American racing were given a special role. His appearance on the scene with pilots like John Morton in the BRE team It was so intense that even today the blue, white and red colors are a true myth of the American Trans-Am competition despite having been stamped on cars that, a priori, sowed as much skepticism as the 510.
That was a cautionary tale that you should never judge a book by the cover, as Under the a priori bland Japanese tourism a real beast was hiding that together with the 2000 Roadster and the later 240Z made it clear that there in the Far East they had learned to make high-altitude sports cars. Of all this celebration the Peeble Beach Contest of Elegance echoed the past months, organizing a show of Japanese cars in Monterrey In collaboration with Infiniti -Nissan's luxury car division-. A place where you can realize that from micro cars to “torpedoes”More exciting competition, the Japanese engine may like more or less but never leave you indifferent.
There we could see one of the mythical Nissan 510 of the BRE team - specifically the one that Bobby Allison piloted in 1972, recognizable by the number 85 - and above all, if we are talking about competition ... 300ZX Turbo GTS. The legendary car of the number 75 winner of its class at Le Mans 1994 along with the other unit, also a legend of Sebring and Daytona that thanks to its more than 800CV was one of the best racing cars in history. A strange - and unexpected - wonder out of the collaboration between Nissan America and the Clayton Cunningham team.
Museum pieces of the competition aside, the truth is that this exhibition to celebrate the Japanese motor brought together a good quantity of small utilities so typical of Japan. Do you remember how striking was the launch of the Twingo and even more so that of the Smart? Well accustomed to having to maximize space to live in huge cities with about 12 million inhabitants like Tokyo, the Japanese are specialists in this of microcars since in the mid-50s their industrialization began in serious after the consequences of World War II. .
The nice one Subaru sambar -a small pick-up almost like a toy with which more than one farmer could surely market his production effectively- and the R360 -the first car produced by Mazda to which that term could be put, with a 356 cc rear engine assembled in Hiroshima capable of carrying two people- are two of the samples of this type of car so Japanese, so typical of a time and place.
He also highlighted seeing a Subaru brat that, now that we are living in times when some manufacturers insist on mixing a sports car with a car with a 4 × 4 with a familiar all in the same bodywork, reminds us that this does not come from now. And it is that on the chassis of a Leone -tourism 5 seats of the brand back in the 70s- this four wheel drive car and cargo space along Pick-up to satisfy an American public that demanded more and more 4 × 4 vehicles -it was equipped with all-wheel drive-. The truth is that the conjunction of ideas produced this curious "FrankensteinThat Subaru even dared to market in Japan. Quite an experiment.
Although to experiment the domezero that we were able to observe in the Japanese exhibition organized by Infiniti. This one is weird! With him the sports preparation company Dome was launched, which was not very successful in its first attempt to create a truly own car since the futuristic bodywork prevented it from obtaining homologation licenses both in Japan and in other countries. With clear nods of lines to the Stratos, the Dome Zero featured a 2-liter inline six-cylinder engine from Nissan 8Z -although for a brief competition attempt in the United Kingdom, a Cosworth V8 was fitted to some unit- which would surely have made it a good car - although we do not know the quality of its chassis - had it obtained permission to be produced in series .
To finish off this series of true rarities, the exhibition exhibited one of only two Toyota 2000GT Cabrio, prepared exclusively for the filming of one of the films of the James Bond saga. A very special specimen that lays the foundations of Japanese sportsmanship as a driving model where the car has to be pleasant and easy to drive without losing an iota of joy while driving; The first Japanese supercar that, although it has a chassis based on that of the Lotus Elan, mounts a six-cylinder in-line typical of Japanese production.
ANOTHER THING ON PEBBLE BEACH: FERRARI SPYDER
Come on, think of some really seductive Ferrari convertible. Several come to mind, but there is one in particular that has fascinated us for years: the 250GT California Spyder. And the fact is that, although Enzo Ferrari never traveled to America despite having a good part of his clientele there, he did know how to make clear winks to this market that, although it forced him to have to equip many "cavallinos"With an automatic gearboxes -true sacrilege for more of a purist of driving more"racing”- provided the Commendatore with a good chunk of grand tourer sales revenue perfect for the company's competitive development.
You see that one of the most legendary Ferrari convertibles has the nickname "California"; And it is not uncommon because in this region of the world there are many roads where a V12 like the one in this car can drive peacefully in the open. Either because of its sound, its beauty or simply because of the “sexy "That for every Anglo-Saxon it turns out to pronounce a word with as much Latin sonority as"Ferrari" The convertibles of the Italian brand have always been highly valued on the West Coast.
Therefore the latest model "Open sky" out of Maranello performed this summer at an event associated with the Peeble Beach Contest of Elegance: the 488 Pista Spyder with a 8C V720 biturboV, more than double the 280CV of the 250 GT California.
On the occasion of this launch, Ferrari itself organized an exhibition where a tribute was paid to the brand's spyder, citing from competition specimens -as several 250 Testarossa, 250 World Cup o 335S- even the wonderful and elegant Pininfarina designs dressing up models "Street" as 275 GTB Spyder -the combination of their long snout with the lack of roof turns them into an arrow- or the 250GT California.
If we have to keep one ... Curiously, it is not one in red; would be the "blue" 500 Mondial Spyder Series I 1954 with a 2-liter 173 hp engine. An old acquaintance from the Peeble Beach Contest of Elegance who already raised quite a few positive comments on his last entry in 2015 after being lavishly restored by the classics department of the Maranello house. A really special unit, representative of the early days of the brand and in which, coincidences that can only occur in California ... He planted his cinematic buttocks James Dean before killing himself aboard the tiny Porsche "Little bastard”550 Spyder.
LITTLE CAR SHOW: LITTLE BEAUTIES
The world of the Californian motor, in the Week of Monterrey, has so much variety that you can even run into annual concentrations such as the The Little Car Show by Pacific Groove. A meeting where small cars -including mini competition cars made by hand by motor enthusiasts or by handymen who are happy to use their hobby as an excuse to be alone- are the protagonists along with a series of presenters. Between the latter it alternates Paul Woudenberg -Protestant pastor author of six books on the history of motorsport with more than 100.000 copies sold-, Fireball tim -Vehicle designer for science fiction films with works in The Flintstones, Jurassic Park or El Núcleo- and the person in charge of the 2018 edition: Barry Meguiar host of motor television programs, distributor of car care products and happy customer of a dental clinic specializing in white smiles.
Among the mass of vivacious motor enthusiasts, a FIAT-Abarth 750 GT Zagato. This model had a certain fame in the United States - always speaking within the circles of fans of the Italian motor clear-. This is not surprising, since the 750 GT is one of the derivations that Abarth made from the FIAT 600 of 1955 - two years before the 500 - and neither more nor less than the first model with which Abarth and FIAT entered into a series-production-scale unionThe Agnelli's company sent the unfinished cars to the Abarth workshops for the preparer to fine-tune them in series.
Very symbolic this model, which It has an engine powered up to 43CV -it is said that some units reached 57- based on that of the FIAT 600 and that, in the United States, it won a large part of the more than 700 victories listed in his record. Curiously - and perhaps due to a mixture of easy mechanics, light weight and affordable price - the FIAT-Abarth 750 GT found an easy position in many North American teams with such low budget as high audacity.
Going to the East, it was also striking to see a Toyota sports 800. And we love this car because, saving the distance, it looks like a scale model of the 2000GT. In fact… a little bit of “test”Of the first Japanese supercar it does have since it was launched in 1965 -two years before its older brother- advancing some aesthetic details that would be seen -on another scale in the 2000GT. A curious example of the beginning of Japanese sports cars equipped with an engine twin cylinder air-cooled boxer. Only 10% of the Sports 800 manufactured have been preserved, so together with the curiosity of its history and mechanics, they make it a highly desired icon.
Finally we saw another small compact sports car with a certain proliferation in the United States: the BMW 1600 GT or ... Should we say Glas GT - BMW 1600? And it is that in 1966 BMW acquired the small company Glas, specialized in agricultural machinery and small motorcycles but since 1964 it had also dared with small cars such as its GT designed in Italy by the legendary Pietro Frua. After the purchase of the brand by BMW, it did not end the production of the model, but equipped it with an in-house engine capable of taking the model up to 77CV; a "fine tunning" which finished off these Glas GT crowned with the BMW emblem, which by putting its own engine took the car as its own under the name of 1600 GT.
After reading these brief reviews of the most striking cars of this Little Cars Show you will surely have reached the same conclusion as us: none of them are American! Well, you know that in the United States cars were manufactured for decades as if metal and gasoline were never going to be used up, so they like to see these kinds of small cars ... But not too much to make them. Nevertheless, If what you want are large bodies and vigorous engines with enormous displacement, we call you to continue with our American motor adventure through the goal of Unai Ona. In the next installment we go to the interior of the United States, and we assure you that you will see cars with a true American flavor. See you in a few days!
