The unveiling of Club member Lorraine Yapps Cohen's Ferrari F430 painted in an oil portrait constituted the unusual focus of a special event for the Ferrari Owners Club of San Diego. Club member Steve Wheeler and his lovely wife Lynne held the event at their home as hosts extraordinaire serving BBQ pulled pork slider sandwichettes and wine donated by a local vintner. A local La Jolla artist famed simply as 'Krista' withdrew the drape from her car art, a departure from her favored seascape subjects painted solely with palette knives rather than paint brushes. The portrait imparted an energy representative of all fast moving Ferraris but difficult to express in a painting for mounting steady on the wall. Several Club members expressed interest in having their Ferraris painted in portraiture or in fantasy too, because we love our cars for the inspirational art they are.

Presented by Viejas Casino & Resort.
Photos by Lorraine Yapps - Cohen & Maurice Rizzuto
Saturday, November 3rd San Diego Ferrari Owners Club shared the spotlight at the new Willows Hotel & Spa located adjacent to Viejas Casino & Resort for a first time high end car show displayed on the grass of their outdoor Concert Venue. Ambassador of Car Aficionados and FOC Board Member, Maurice Rizzuto, pulled exotics from assorted car clubs in San Diego to create a sampling of cars to please every onlooker. There were only 26 spaces available; the display was exceptional.

Just another day in paradise..
A really fun car show with, a great Rancho Santa Fe Food Company Brunch, music, lots of car guy talk

Photos by Rich Fatuzzo
The San Diego Region of the Ferrari Owners Club held their annual Enzo Birthday Party celebration at the Temecula Valley, South Coast Winery and Spa. We met first at Bobileff Motors, with coffee and pastries hosted by Gary Bobileff. We perused the vast collection of cars currently undergoing restoration, as the group gathered for the drive.
We left Bobileff Motors right on time. Luckily, with the dry winter we are having, there was no chance of rain, as we have seen in the past. Once on the road, we had to re-group a few times, but for the most part we stayed together the whole drive with the exception of a “side trip” that a few members took in Ramona. Happily we were all re-united in Santa Ysabel at our half way bathroom break.
With the evil eye of the CHP watching us, we left Dudley’s Bakery and drove the remaining route up to Temecula Valley without any further incidents. Upon arriving as a group at the winery, we arranged the cars in “display parking” outside the Barrel Room where we had our lunch….. a traditional Italian meal.
I would like to give thanks to Gary Bobileff for hosting us, yet again, at his restoration shop; perfect meeting point to start the drive. Thanks to Rich Fatuzzo for providing pictures for both the Pilota and our web site.

In case you missed it, over 35 attendees had a great time visiting the Peterson Automotive Museum, on Saturday 1/13/18. This prestigious museum, has 3 levels with a private classic car basement called “The Vault”. The entire museum has gone thru some major upgrades over the last few years. Many of us had not seen the new additions; the changes were spectacular.
Our group went on a “Private Vault Tour”; viewing the many historical and/or special vehicles, not on display upstairs. The tour guide was excellent with great knowledge and has been involved with the museum for many years, including working with the Petersen Family personally. A tour to remember……………
After the tour we were able to browse the rest of the museum which had fabulous Ferrari and Bugatti displays. The Bugatti display was on loan and was leaving the next day. For lunch everyone was on their own. The inhouse restaurant, DRAGO, was very good and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the museum.
The trip to and from LA was a breeze in our private limo bus; too much fun, thanks Scott Cairncross for making it happen.
And a big shout out to Chuck and Marlene Ettari for hosting us to a delicious continental breakfast in their home that morning, and to Wayne Weisman for serving as the liaison to the museum. Ron and Tina Tinkham coordinated the event; Rocky and Alice Gallo assembled badges for the group to wear on the trip and Rich Fatuzzo took photos. A great time was had by all.

EXOTICS ENJOY CHRISTMAS BRUNCH
AT THE SD YACHT CLUB
Ferrari Owners Club - San Diego Region Photos by Rich Fatuzzo

Enzo Ferrari Birthday Event - March 25, 2017
2017 Enzo Ferrari Birthday Event - South Coast Winery Photos Photos by Rich Fatuzzo

16th Annual Mickey Miller Memorial Bella Italia Auto Show
The Ferrari Owners Club of San Diego is proud to sponsor this celebration of exotic Italian super cars on the beautiful San Diego Bay.
Featuring Concours Level Italian Classics and cars from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, and more!
Live music, great food, top line vendors and renewed friendships. Mark your calendar and join the fun!
Photos by Rich Fatuzzo & Doug Gates Photography

BELLA ITALIA 2015 – AN HISTORICAL EVENT! Photos by Ron Tinkham and Lynda Ingersoll To our 2015 Bella Italia Exhibitors: The young boys standing slack jawed as they stare at your Italian exotics…..it’s the stuff of dreams for them. Soon the posters will go on the bedroom walls and they will study the specifications of displacement, horsepower and valve trains. They’ll go to U-Tube to hear the sounds. The father coaching his child about your car and silently experiencing the bittersweet emotions of admiration and envy. He thinks to himself, “Maybe someday…..”. You came to Bella Italia for the venue, live music, Italian lunch menu, fellowship and perhaps the hope that you prepared your car for judging better than anyone else in your class. What you may not realize is how profoundly you affect those who came to be in your company. Above all else, thank you for sharing your dream with them.

Enzo Birthday Ride & Drive – February 21st Photos by Tina Tinkham and Mike Morgan

PETERSON TO SHAW MYSTERY RUN San Diego Region’s Fall Fun Run Photos by Ron and Tina Tinkham and Ann Shaw

Album Name: FOC San Diego Ferrari Tour Photo by: Rich Fatuzzo

This is the annual Ferrari Owners Club car show, Bella Italia 2013. It was a great day, warm & sunny, for this fabulous show of about 100 Italian cars. Included in the show was a Wonderful Italian lunch for 215 car people. It doesn't get better than this.............

The San Diego Region Escapes to Paradise Rally Master, Ron Tinkham could not have hoped for a more perfect morning as 30+ brave drivers and co-pilots arrived at the Starbucks in Solana Beach on October 8th, to venture out on a driving excursion that offered no map; only clues pulled from your favorite mystery novels. The written coded directions for the rally were dependent upon words such as "prowl", "stealth", or "lurk" to describe a direction or way to turn. There were signs or objects along the route to note on the rally sheet and phrases to fill in along the way. This is the job of the co-pilot and it is important, for one missed sign can send you off on a long drive to L.A. Co-chair, Tina Tinkham checked people in and Ron wrote their time and mileage as he sent each Ferrari on the rally 5 minutes apart so no one would follow another car. The rally route traveled through Paradise Valley and ended in HELLHOLE Canyon where co-chairs Chuck and Marlene Ettari, flagged each car in and rewarded the thirsty drivers and co-pilots with bottled waters. There were fast and easy directions back to the coast; but a mystery sentence needed to be solved in order to determine the winner. The sentence was set up as a Wheel of Fortune type of puzzle with a few letters given and the puzzle, relating to the rally itself and its final destination. This challenging Ride and Drive ended with a turn into the Crosby Estates in Rancho Santa Fe. FOC members, Dr. Steve Wheeler and his wife Lynn were gracious in opening their gorgeous estate home to the club for a catered Italian luncheon. The food was prepared by Chef Gaetano Cicciotti of Cicciotti's Trattoria in Cardiff. Chef Gaetano was on site to display and serve his Antipasto Misto, Lasagna, Chicken Marsala and Sea Bass Entrees. The beautiful buffet was a delight to the eyes as the tired, hungry members arrived one by one, checking in with the Rally Master and coming into the Wheeler's home for a welcomed glass of imported wine provided by Cicciotti's Restaurant. These wines were excellent; we received many positive comments on the great food and quality of the wine. The group relaxed and enjoyed the panoramic views of the Crosby Estates from our hosts' Tuscan style patio. As coffee and desserts were served, the three winners were announced and trophies awarded. They were as follows:
Gary Peterson and co-Pilot Dee Dickson won "Champion" (best rally score with the best time)
Dr. Steve Wheeler and his son-in-law J.J. Bailey won "The Winner" (best rally score) Richard Fatuzzo and Shari Caviness Wareham won "Top Gun" (closest to the predetermined time)
Trophies were designed and manufactured by Steve Maxwell of Exotic Car Services . They were great looking, coveted awards and they were donated by Steve, to this special FOC event . Thank you, Steve!
The Mystery Phrase that needed to be solved to help determine the winners of this rally was as follows: True Paradise is driving my Ferrari to HELLHOLE and escaping to Rancho. Nothing is further from the truth!

The car corral was well attended both day with 18 cars on saturday and 22 on sunday. the weather was perfect, overcast in the AM and just right in the PM. the lunches from Calypso cafe were great as usual also during the day there was coffee, pastries, soft drinks and snacks. the tent worked out perfectly as it gave a place to rest and meet other ferrari members. We sold out all the shirts and hats, next time we will plan to have more available. would like to thank everyone for all their help in making this a successful venue.

Enzo Birthday Event - February 20, 2016
2016 Enzo Birthday Event- South Coast Winery Photos- February 20, 2016 Photos by Rich Fatuzzo

The SD chapter of FOC had our annual Xmas Party on Dec. 9 at the San Diego Yacht Club, The weather was perfect and the 67 members enjoyed the great food and the outstanding location.