A Few Pictures from Track Day

Special thanks to Robert for the work organizing the AZRides Track Day Event and inviting the Fun Italian Automobiles of Tucson and Southern Arizona Panteras Club!

Southern Arizona was having record rains on for past few days and some participants elected to forgo the event.  However, a few intrepid and dedicated souls still trekked out to Deming, New Mexico for fun day at the track.  At least there was no oil on the tarmac!

Thanks to Chuck from the Southern Arizona Panteras Club for the pictures - > select here. <

Pictures from 10 January 2015 Franklin Museum Event

Chuck from the Southern Arizona Panteras club arranged for their club and the FIAT group to tour the Franklin Museum in Tucson, AZ.  It was a chilly morning but the day was beautiful.  Everyone met up at 9:00 AM and then had a somewhat personal tour from the museum's curators.  There is some amazing craftsmanship in the Franklin automobiles.  After touring the museum several of us headed over to Roma Imports for lunch (HIGHLY recommended!).

Event Pictures
Select > here < to view the FIAT album.  Select > here < to view the So. AZ Panteras album.


PS
Check out Roma Imports' Facebook page!

"Sunday Drive" Wine Country Cruise - Pictures

What a wonderful day!  We had great people, great cars, perfect weather, fun roads, and - oh, yeah - WINE!

Our first rendezvous point was at the Vail Steakhouse just northeast of I-10 & Wentworth in Vail, AZ.  A few of us got there early and had breakfast. They serve up a a respectable breakfast of ranch hand proportions.  You won't go away hungry!

After everyone arrived and had a photo shoot we headed south to Sonoita via AZ 83.  It was a beautiful drive and the cars had a chance to "stretch their legs."


In Sonoita we met up with Ron and Shirley and their '78 Fiat Spider in front of the Sonoita Mercantile.  They came to say "howdy" but were not able to do the drive with us due to emergent family obligations.  It was great to see them and have a chance for folks to meet up with them.

BTW - This is where the Fiat lost its co-pilot to the Ferrari 365 GTB "just until we get to our next stop."

We were not the only ones cruising southern Arizona's wine country - there was a group of vintage Mercedes enjoying the area, too.  Turns out one of the members in the group races a Pantera.

Our first winery was Arizona Hops & Vines.  This was just short trip down the road from Sonoita crossroads.  The wine was tasty and interestingly paired with various potato chips, cheese curls, and spicy tortilla chips.  It may sound whacky but it was actually pretty good!  The Fiat lost its co-pilot to the Ferrari again.  Who could blame her? 

Could not have said it any better myself!

Our trip to the second winery - Lightning Ridge Cellars - took us to the eastern edge of Elgin and south to meet up with 83 again and then west to the winery.  This leg of the trip gave everyone a little bit of everything from nice straights to open up the throttle to some hilly portions and some nice corners.  Lightning Ridge specializes in Italian style wines.  We were in heaven!  After sampling some wine we noshed on fruit, cheese, and some crackers under the umbrellas on their bocce ball court while soaking up the views and enjoying each others company.  The Fiat got its co-pilot back for the remainder of the trip!

The route to the third winery started off well but took a slight turn when one of the main roads turned out to be gravel for a stretch.  We turned around and did a bit of back-tracking but eventually made it to our destination - Wilhelm Family Vineyards via paved roads.  The place was packed and we found out a bit late that the winery had a Groupon going.  YIKES!  They were understaffed (1 person!!!) but the lone wine steward was busting her butt to keep things moving along (she deserves a raise!).  The wines were interesting and there was quite a variety.  In addition to traditional offerings they also had several Sangria wines to sample and a variety of Port styles to tempt your palate.

Yes - It is a REAL Ferrari 365 Daytona.

We departed into the late afternoon to get home before dusk.  It was another beautiful drive.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the day for the most part and I'll bet we do it again!

A link more pictures taken by the Southern Arizona Panteras club can be found > here.<

Ciao!

2014 Fall Dinner

October 2014 has been a busy month!  A few car shows, a BBQ, and to wrap it up - the 2014 Fall Dinner.

This year's Fall Dinner was held at Verona Italian Restaurant.  The food and service was really good and the company was great!  The turnout was moderate and just a few Italian cars in the parking lot while others came from work or their Italian car is getting serviced.  It's all good as the most important thing about this event was getting together to share a fine meal and enjoy each other's company and stories.

We're looking forward to November's "Sunday Drive" to southern Arizona's wine country (details coming out soon) and a brew pub meet-up in December to plan out 2015.
 

2014 Tucson Classics

The Tucson Classics Car Show is pretty big deal here in southern Arizona.  It is one of what I would call "The Big Three" that occur in our part of the state.  The others are Cars in the Park in Sierra Vista and Annual Collector Car Show in Tubac.

The Italians were represented at this year's Tucson Classics.  One downside is that there was not one Fiat-badged car in the bunch.  Maybe next year!

With the exception of the Southern AZ Pantera Club by proxy not many (any?) of the Italian cars at this year's show belong to formal members here, but it is good to see that these cars are out there.

SVCC's 2014 Cars in the Park - pictures of the Italian cars

The Sierra Vista Car Club's annual Cars in the Park show is a really nice event!  There were a lot of beautiful cars on display.  There were 332 entries - including 4 Italian cars seen here.  The Fiat 500 Guggi was presented for sale at the show by a local dealership.  The "Faux-rrari" GTO (Datsun 240Z-based kit) took 2nd in the 2-Seat Import class!

  

Pictures from the 14 September "Picnic on the Peak" Sunday Drive

WOW - What a great event!  This was a joint event with the Southern AZ Panteras club.  We had participants from Phoenix, Sierra Vista, Benson, Nogales, and of course - Tucson.  The turn out was nice.  The weather was a bit warm but no complaints. Traffic was light after Gates Pass and there were no know issues or break downs.  Let's do this again!

Check out the picture albums here
Album 1
Album 2