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Exotica Bacchanalia: SuperCarRoadTrips II
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: IMG R.D. Wolf for ADLX ::: Super Car Road Trips 2010
WITH more than one hundred exotics present at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut and $10,000 raised for the Make A Wish Foundation, this September marked the second annual SuperCarRoadTrips rally.
From what I hear, the rally at one of the world’s largest casinos outdid the last year’s in both attendance and participation. Kudos to all involved and SuperCarRoadTrips founder Manolis Christo, in particular.
Luckily for us, our eye on the ground was the able Richard Wolf – a man whose keen eye couples with a clear discernment for separating the vehicular wheat from the chaffe.
What follows is a small sampling of the cars he witnessed two Sundays ago. Enjoy!
Bertone cool: the Lamborghini Espada.
GT40 Redux: Ford GT.
Go on then, step inside…
No exotic rally is complete without the Lamborghini Countach.
It was a Lambo fest, to be sure. Lamborghini of Boston had official event representation. And this black Gallardo didn’t disappoint!
They weren’t all Lamborghinis of course, as evidenced by this marvelous Ferrari 550 and a wonderfully familiar 348 TS Speciale in the background.
Giugaro’s perennial Lotus Esprit. Hot.
Anyone care to hazard a guess?
Exotica bacchanalia.
Super Car Rally @ Foxwoods
HOW could it be that whilst on the grounds of the world’s largest casino – so large it’s said that Foxwoods’ annual intake would account for 20% of Las Vegas’ gross winnings – that yours couldn’t find the time to gamble?
Not a penny slot. Not a quick turn at the roulette table. Not a few numbers in the bingo hall. Nada.
No matter, I had good cause for distraction. The best actually.
In what may go down in the history books as one of Connecticut’s largest informal gatherings of exotic cars, last Sunday SuperCarRoadTrips.com founder Manolis Christo with the help of some very enthusiastic sports car enthusiasts organized a rally spectacular that drew Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, Maseratis, and the odd Pantera and McLaren SLR from across the land (or southern New England, to be more geo specific).
It was an astounding sight. Foxwoods hosted. And the Hard Rock Cafe’s Pinktober charity partnered with SuperCarRoadTrips.com in an effort to raise some awareness and support for Breast Cancer. Drivers were offered a prix-fixe $17 a head lunch at the restaurant onsite.
There were plenty of side shows. A man who seemed a little down with his lot in life showed up as Bumble Bee from Transformers providing a funny, if melancholic distraction while a team of models from 80′s fashion label Jordache posed in front of a brilliant, tutto rosso F40.
Local car dealer extraordinaire Herb Chambers made an entrance in his own, particularly rare Ferrari 275 GTB*.
The event provided for another impromptu opportunity: the reunion of none other than our very own BMW Enthusiast Trio Hardy Drackett, Newt Clark, and Richard Wolf.
The air was thick with emotion.
Of course it wouldn’t have been a true exotic rally without the requisite Sunkist yellow Italian contingent.
As well as a smart, lean = mean set of road-legal roadsters from LotusTalk.com.
There was, however, a paucity of Porsches. And somewhere else that lovely morning, stewed a bevy of bruised egos. Apparently, more than a few German car registrant hopefuls were turned down. This led to sniping in some quarters: if so ‘n so’s Porsche got rejected from taking part in the rally, then why did that Mustang or that Infiniti get accepted?
It was an Italian party, gentlemen.
Manolis, the event-planner-in-chief recently did a reverse-Clarkson and traded in his AMG SL Benz for a Ferrari F355 Spider. Not that he had a moment to enjoy his car on Sunday.
In a subsequent email, Manolis expounded a little bit on what SuperCarRoadTrips.com was really about:
“[SuperCarRoadTrips.com] packages the best possible roads and social venues in the form of well organized events,” he wrote. “I seek to attain the premiere exotic car club for the North East. The twist being that it’s free to its members and comprised of a variety of exotic car makes.”
Luckily, the owner of this Mercedes McLaren SLR made the cut.
As did our Uncle Richo’s legendaryE39 M5.
Following an hour’s jaunt through southeastern Connecticut which included Mystic seaport, the procession of prancing horses and glistening tridents made its way back to Foxwoods.
Event planner Lane Baker, a mildly stressed 348 Ferrari owner from FerrariChat.com, was elated that the rally went off more or less hitchless. At least on his watch.
It was with not a moment too soon, then, that after a morning of gawking at exotics and parading around New London County the party segued inside to Shrine Lounge at the MGM Grand.
In a final twist in events, clothing designer Andy Jacques provided a sartorial cap to the day with a brief fashion show showcasing his own singular brand of couture based on sports car themes.
Karl Lagerfeld probably won’t call, but the display was lively and well received.
Meravigliosa!
___
*Corrected
