Day 5

It’s now very early in the morning here on Day 5 of the trip. I’ve had very little sleep from the day we left Seattle and it’s starting to catch up with me. We’ve got to be at breakfast at 7:00 AM and engines start at 8 AM sharp. It will be a full day for sure. Lots to do. I’ll write more as I can and I apologize for not getting responses out. I’m writing this in email form- sending it off to Christian who’s then posting it for me so we can get this all to you as quickly as possible.



Evening at the Giro-
The event kicked off with a welcome from management followed by a terrific dinner. Everything about it was outstanding. It was nice to have the open conversation about the brand and where it’s going. What was interesting about the Giro was the cross section of participants. They come in all shapes, sizes, and types and there is no way to stereotype this group. About the only thing they have in common is they love their cars. Everyone who’s attending this year’s Giro is an enthusiast first. That’s why they are willing to spend the money to attend and Lamborghini takes it seriously. You get the impression that if there is a way to do it better, they will do it.

First time I’ve met Wolfgang Hoffmann who took over for Pietro to run US
operations:



I had to roast at least one marshmallow:



Symbolic of San Diego brought up a Rosso Vik Superleggera that was one of the most stunning cars I’ve seen in a long time. I think it’s the combination of the carbon fiber, deep red paint and black accents. It’s unquestionably the event stealer for me. The yellow car is also stunning, but that red in that particular model is really something. Everything about it is gorgeous.



There was no talk about anything in the works, but I don’t think the group was expecting it either. What was also interesting about the Giro is that nobody seems to know each other. Manfred said it was all new faces. This year’s Giro came from the request for less travel from place to place where you have to be up early to check out every morning. Instead they decided to keep the group in one resort location and drive from there making it easy for people to relax a bit more yet still take in the driving time.






Somehow cars always look better on the lawn:




Every car gets their own little cabin. This is the courtyard view. The rooms are actually very nice.




One of the very few remaining SV's not in some owner's hands:




Dinner! Perfect!

 

Some random pictures from our drive down:

Not much room in the SV for clothes during the Giro unless you’re going to
wear nothing but thongs. I’m guessing this trunk will hold over 1000 thongs.




This is what I'm using to both write and upload pictures. I'm using a Sprint 4G MyFi and an inverter to keep the laptop powered. Both get the job done.





Neat old Plymouth cop car between Grant's Pass and Crescent City. Still had the old radio in it too.




Bubblicious Water Mellon gum tastes EXACTLY like shampoo. I did have to seeif I could blow a bubble. I could actually made a decent size but feared hitting a tree and that would be tough to explain.




I made up a snack pack for the friends of mine who were driving Highway 1 inthe fog. I left the little gift pack at a convenience store in Leggett with a note. Ifigured the snacks would give them a better reason to blow chunks.




Here’s where we left the littke care package in Liggett for my friends who wouldbe driving Highway 1 two days later.




This is what happens when you have a chainsaw and way too much time on your hands.




I’ve driven by this bull**** store for many years and never stopped. They finallygot me however I didn’t get suckered into buying a chainsaw anything.




What to do with that old stump you yanked out of the back yard? One man's waste is another man's fountain.






Two room suite at the Fairmont before I jump on the bed.




Typical accommodations at the Fairmont. Over the top for what you expect. Like I said, they treat me very well.




My trusty daily driver and a better distance car than my Phantom.





Notice the lack of gap between the rear wheels? There is less than a half of an inch of clearance on either side. I passed the precision slow driving course.




I was thinking of these bad boys for Concorso.




Dinner on Santana Row.

 

Great post and thanks for sharing!

Edwin

 

Got to love the Lexus LS 460. I totally love mine for a daily driver.

 

Yup, for long trips it's a wonderful car.

 

Day 5- Morning

I got up at 4:00 AM to get some of the writing done and get caught up on email before breakfast. At 7:00 AM sharp we all met for breakfast in the large meeting room were the four cars were parked the night before. Maurizio Reggiani joined us for breakfast after getting in late last night. Maurizio is head of R&D at Lamborghini and is truly one of the nice guys in the company. He sat at our table and gave us a little time to catch up. I saw him in Seattle just about six weeks ago. Maurizio is really an amazing guy because of his keen understanding of what Lamborghini is all about and his commitment to do something really unique. It’s always a pleasure to sit down with him. It’s similar with Manfred Fitzgerald, Director of Branding and Design, and the two together make an interesting pair. I’ve yet to have much time to sit down and chat with Wolfgang Hoffmann and get to know the guy. It’s hard to tell if he’s the guy to improve things in the US or not. So far I have no impression.





After our morning breakfast buffet, we started our engines at 8:15 AM and drove down to Infineon Raceway to spend some time karting and to take our cars on the track. The drive down was completely random because of traffic and no plans to keep the group together in any way, we just drove.



As we approached a four way stop, an old Bugatti on the tour from Kirkland, WA to Pebble Beach joined our procession along with other cars in the tour. The car is from the Seattle area I believe, and I just saw it in Kirkland last Monday as they were about to start south. What a beauty, but the driver and passenger never waved and I think were glad to see us get out of their way.



I’ve not been in a kart of any kind in years. Prior to that, as a kid I probably got a ride in a shopping cart. I think the last time I went karting was 1994 and those carts were as dangerous as they come, with no safety gear of any kind. Our karting safety orientation made me a little nervous, but once we were out there, it was a great experience. I can see the benefit of skill building. We made go-carts as kids out of lawnmower motors, wood and whatever else we could find.








I’ve got to admit, Lamborghini management has obviously learned a thing or two about driving as I was lapped twice by Winkelmann himself. After getting a stern warning about damage to the carts in our orientation class, I was more concerned about that than keeping up with him. It was a lot of fun and nobody died.







After our time karting, we took a short bus ride back to our cars to have our turn with our cars on the track. It started with a safety session and the groups were broken down into four cars at a time led by a pace car.












Each lap was progressively faster with radio instructions given to us on each turn. There was one short stretch where I could get up to 116, but that was about it.





I shot external video with the GoPro and internal video with the HD camera. It’s taken all night to upload the first 6G of video and I have a lot more so it may take a day or two to get all the video uploaded and some clips edited down. Vic also shot a lot of video, and together we shot over 700 photos.



I got to catch a glimpse of Maurizio running a couple of laps in the new Superleggera and his driving is very impressive. In fact when the car started out, I had no idea who it was and thought it was Balboni running a few laps. It’s now the morning of Day 6, but I’ve got to get moving. Yesterday was a very long day and I’ve got a lot more writing to do.

 

Here you go! The car was amazing.

 

Beautiful cars! A couple of new favorites.

 

Great stories and pictures Tommy! What a trip! By the way, I have been looking all over for a chain saw carving of a cartoon character cat. Keep your eyes open for me ok! LOL

 

Great documentary Tommy, sounds like a lot of fun.

 

great write up and pictures. keep it going!

 

Don't all Tractors Tommy




nice write up I look forward to more pics. Try Katy's Place in Carmel for breakfast if you get a chance. It's great. Lot's of people know it so it could be a little of a wait for a table.

 

ROFL, good one Mark!

 

Judging at the Concorso Italiano today...I didn't realize these were the judges until this moment:

 

My car won 3rd Place in Best Lamborghini at Concorso and at the club dinner, First Place in Best Murcielago. Hey Mark, here is a bit of trivia, I found out this evening that Lamborghini tractors used Porsche parts.