On Sunday, July 10, the Northwest Region of the Ferrari Club of America held their annual Ferrari Concours d’Elegance in Renton. More than 70 vehicles showed up to the event, allowing the public to peruse some very pricey rides.
One such vehicle was a 1-of-39 Ferrari 250 GTO; a vehicle worth untold sums. Among other Ferraris at the Concours were an F40, a LaFerrari and an Enzo – some of the biggest names in Ferrari. Most were driven, not hauled, to the show (including the 250 GTO). To quite a few members in the local Ferrari Club of America regional group believe that cars are meant to be driven and seen. The rain, while an annoyance, is part of living in or visiting the Puget Sound.
“This is the Northwest if you don’t get used to the rain you’ll never have events like this. This is fantastic,” said Jeff Reynolds, owner of a 1987 Ferrari 328 GTS. “To be fair, it did rain before the spectators were allowed in and it poured. Everyone quickly dried off all their cars.”
Even before the rain fell, the Concours demanded quite a bit of effort. Reynolds also helps organize the event and was in charge of the full grounds layout, which still had entrance calling in the day before the show. Everything came out well in the end, though.
“It’s really fun to see all these different models of cars come in, all the same mark, and just to see how they’ve evolved over the years,” Reynolds said.
After a slew of new vehicles from Ferrari of Seattle’s retail location and the big name vehicles previously mentioned, there were those from the 50s and 60s, then the 70s and 80s, those from the 90s crested the hill before going down into some of the newest models of Ferrari.
“This is our second year [as hosts], the first year went so smooth that we decided to commit to two more,” said Denny Dochnal. He and his wife, Bernadine, own a Ferrari 458 Spider, winner of the People’s Choice award, and the home where the Concours was held. “It’s just been really nice to get all the cars together, the people have been wonderful.”
Of course, entrants of the Concours were there to also be judged for their vehicles. All vehicles were judged with a 15-minute inspection and rated on a 100-score. The higher the score given a vehicle, the closer a vehicle is to represent how it came from the factory. Newer model vehicles were judged on how likely they were to be future classics.
“It’s very exciting. I’d never expected this to happen. There’s so many cool cars here that to get that honor is really cool,” said Brian Pollock of his 1970 Ferrari 246 GT Dino. “I bought it new, picked it up at the factory in 1970.”
There are many public and member-only events organized through the Northwest Region of the Ferrari Club of America, which has owners from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. The furthest a member had traveled for the Concours was around 300 miles one-way from Kamloops, B.C.
While this year’s Concours d’Elegance is over, you can look forward to next year’s event. It’s likely to be in the same place around the same time of year, so set a reminder on your phone and check in with the Northwest Region of the Ferrari Club of America web calendar around this time next year for the exact date!
“We are very happy for the Ferrari Club and for all the people that helped and the people that showed up and supported the event. We’re very pleased with it,” Dochnal said. “Come back next year, it’ll probably be better.”
