The Best of France and Italy

[UrsaMajor]

On Sunday I went to this year's incarnation of an event for automobile enthusiasts that is held in the Los Angeles area each November.

It is a very low-key event that has the name, "The Best of France and Italy", with participation limited to French and Italian cars - as you might guess from the name. Admission is free to spectators and entry fees are only $20 for participants, so almost no one shows up with a "trailer queen" and the atmosphere is very relaxed and enjoyable.

My eyeball estimate is that the number of entries were in the general area of about 500 cars. I'm a member of the local chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, and we had over 150 Alfas in our area alone. Here are a few of the images that I shot for the local Alfa club's monthly newsletter. These 3 images are of Alfas from the 1950 - 1960 era.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[UrsaMajor]

Here are some additional images from the event.

The first of these is actually a working replica of an Alfa Romeo 3000CM race car from the early-mid 1950s. It was custom built recently by a local enthusiast who duplicated the shape with the assistance of an extensive set of photos he had taken 22 years ago of an original 3000CM race car. To be true to the spirit of the original, the engine, transmission, etc, all come from various Alfa Romeo street cars.

As I mentioned, unlike the "big name" shows such as Pebble Beach, etc., this is a very relaxed event, and I think that the entrant in the second shot below captures a bit of that spirit of keeping life in perspective.

The last shot is just one of the many, many "daily driver" entries. In this case, it is an Alfa GTV from the 1966-1975 era.

FWIW, this event is held on the first Sunday of November at Woodley Park, which is located in the San Fernando Valley section of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[Greg Beetham]

Now there's a labour of love and dedication if I ever saw one. One even built a replica car from scratch from photos, amazing. I must plead ignorance in large part of the Alpha dynasty, I just never got really involved with cars, being more your 4X4 type.
They are a credit to the ownwers Tom, I know how much work is involved in restoring and preserving really old cars just the same..nice sharp pix too.
Greg

[bossel]

Nice cars! Don't see them a lot around here, though I am in France and just a few miles from Italy Guess they're even more rare in the US! And the most famous one is of course the Peugeot Cabriolet of Columbo

[aster]

Excellent event, Tom !

I loved the Alphas displayed here and would love to have a drive in any of them ...must be a wonderful feeling.

They certainly have 'sexy' round features and very neat detailing. All very classic...an classy.


Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[UrsaMajor]

Now there's a labour of love and dedication if I ever saw one. One even built a replica car from scratch from photos, amazing. I must plead ignorance in large part of the Alpha dynasty, I just never got really involved with cars, being more your 4X4 type.
They are a credit to the owners Tom, I know how much work is involved in restoring and preserving really old cars just the same..nice sharp pix too.

Definitely a labor of love. He did some of the work himself and hired a specialist metalsmith to do the actual fabrication of the bodywork. He described the cost of the project as "Two years and $80,000."

BTW, in regard to the "sharp pix", all of the images except the last one were taken with my KM 7D and a Sony 18-250mm lens. I took both my A700 and the KM 7D with me, but I had recently acquired the 18-250mm lens and wanted to do a real-world evaluation of it on my cameras. Accordingly, I put my KM 28-75mm f2.8 on the A700 for shots in lower light when I might have to bump the ISO, and ended up using the KM 7D at ISO 200 for most of the shots - since it turned out to be a relatively bright day.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[alphaomega]

Never been to USA and wondered why none of the cars displayed frontal number plates. Is this the rule in USA or just veteran cars? I can't remember from my trip to Canada if they also allow cars without number plates at the front. In any event these are beautiful pictures of extremely well restored gems of cars.

[alphaomega]

I meant to say also that I acquired the Sony 18-250 as well and I am very pleased with it. The pictures are sharp, the colours beautiful and the AF is faster than I anticipated.

[bakubo]

Never been to USA and wondered why none of the cars displayed frontal number plates. Is this the rule in USA or just veteran cars? I can't remember from my trip to Canada if they also allow cars without number plates at the front. In any event these are beautiful pictures of extremely well restored gems of cars.

Typically autos in the U.S. have license plates on the front and rear, but some states mandate them only on the rear so some people don't put them on the front.

By the way, where are you?

[alphaomega]

Thanks bakubo. I remember now. I think Alberta in Canada has the same regulation. Rear plates only mandated. I am located just outside Glasgow in Scotland. 15 miles to Glasgow and 30 miles to Edinburgh.

[Dusty]

You know, somehow I was expecting Brigit Bardot and Gina Lollabridgida, but I think the 300Cm is sexier that either.

Dusty

[bakubo]

You know, somehow I was expecting Brigit Bardot and Gina Lollabridgida, but I think the 300Cm is sexier that either.

Dusty, you are getting old.

[Dusty]

You know, somehow I was expecting Brigit Bardot and Gina Lollabridgida, but I think the 300Cm is sexier that either.

Dusty, you are getting old.

Have you seen Brigit Bardot these days? YIKES!

Dusty

[bakubo]

Have you seen Brigit Bardot these days? YIKES!

Yes, I have. YIKES is the word. I thought you were talking about the Brigitte Bardot and Gina Lollobrigida of similar vintage as these autos. You can add Sophia Loren too who I like even more.