Article by Lou Lollio and Lorraine Yapps Cohen
Photography by Lou Lollio, Jim Madsen, Maureen Newell, Maurice Rizzuto and Lorraine Yapps Cohen
What started as a parade turned into an exciting show of pride. Gleaming Ferraris of the San Diego region Ferrari Owners Club (SD-FOC) strutted their stuff on a hallowed town-and-country drive while celebrating a sense of freedom from worldly restraints.
The day shone gloriously with sun and warmth from the start on Saturday, July 31. Wake-up coffee and carbohydrates initiated the Parade for the 25 participants in 16 fantastic Ferraris at a convenient North County location. What followed included fancy prancing with Ferraris and flags through the famous Rancho Santa Fe Cars & Coffee already in progress at the village plaza. Heads turned. Car fans cheered as the Ferrari flag flew from the top of lead driver Lou Lollio’s rosso corsa Ferrari Spider. The entourage included those sixteen Ferraris ranging from the impressive 812 Superfast through a handful of 458 Italias to a couple of 355 Spiders, then skirted a few miles away to Cielo for a quick break…and maybe more coffee…then finally set out for the hills.
It is important to note that the Pacific Ocean limits our Club drives at the west, a sovereign nation bounds us at the south, and mountainous or desert roads do that too at the north and east. This can have the effect of limiting the performance of a stunning sports car, but never does when that car badges as a Ferrari. Our stunning sixteen performed beautifully.
Our parade also performed beautifully as a racy road ballet should at the behind-the-wheel leadership of Lou Lollio, SD-FOC Director. Club members give him and his wife Jeanne a hearty shout out for creating a brand new driving event and handling all the astonishing aspects of it. We stand appreciative of Lou’s trailblazing efforts including leading a batch of beautiful Ferraris at a very respectable pace behind his spectacular “racecourse red” 360 and an honorable mention of the unrequested helicopter escort, which no one noticed besides the spider drivers with their tops tucked away. New Board member, Gary Schultz, drove chase car in his also spectacular rosso corsa 355 Spider to make a matching pair of fancy red, top-tucked Ferraris to manage the entire colorful column. Such events show our Directors stepping up to the plate to make our regional Club among the best in the U.S.
The downwind drive concluded at La Valencia for lunch in La Jolla, the “jewel” as they say, of San Diego. The food tasted yummy, and we thank La Jolla’s La Valencia hotel restaurant for the great seating. The repast there consisted of the usual fantissimo fare, as our leader Lou likes to say. It put the final topping on a fine day of Ferrari driving, infatuation with the brand, and car club camaraderie. Forza Ferrari.
