One of the highlights of my trip to Monterey/Pebble Beach in 2006 was visiting Concorso Italiano, a massive display of Italian collector cars plus some new models and a not insignificant showing of "foreigners." I was simply overwhelmed by all that history and automotive beauty. Seeing Italian Riva speedboats and a nice little "basic" Italian aircraft just being introduced to North American buyers was a bonus. Heck, I'd have bought that plane had my budget not been utterly devastated by those outrageous motel prices. An economy class room that normally rents for $90.00 is $300+ during concours week.

You, however, won't be put off by such numbers so I recommend visiting Concorso Italiano on August 17th. If you make the trip you'll be enchanted by the 2007 feature cars. They include:

60 years of Ferrari... Siata 8V and Fiat 8V... Ugo Zagato - 1890-1968... 50 years of the Ferrari 250GT, Cabriolet and California Spyder... 50 years of Maserati's 3500GT... 35 years of the Lamborghini Countach. Alfa Romeos are, of course, popular at Concorso so if you plan on being there with your Alfa be advised that the Alfa Romeo Association is again inviting everyone to their "After Concorso Cocktail Party," a great way to wind down after the festivities of the day, see old friends, make new ones. Tickets can be reserved by sending an email to: JohnMaclay@aol.com. While driving down to Monterey from SFO last year I spotted a vintage Alfa heading south on the highway and thought "this has got to be good," and indeed it was. Have a glass of vino rosso on me.