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| Getting instructions for placement on the field. |
The last public appearance The Alfatross made was more than 6 years ago at the 2016 Santa Fe Concorso where she won Third Place in the Alfa Romeo Class. Considering the World Class competition she was up against at the time I thought that was a pretty good showing. A few months ago when I noticed that the theme of the 2023 Arizona Concours d'Elegance in Scottsdale, AZ, was going to be "The Art of Aerodynamics", I thought that sounded like a good fit for The Alfatross and submitted her application.
The Art of Aerodynamics
The Alfatross is aptly named. Humans have been fiddling around seriously with aerodynamics for only a little over a century (the Wright Brothers first flight was 120 years ago). Albatrosses have been doing it for probably hundreds of thousands of years, earning their reputation as the most legendary of birds, capable of incredible feats. The Southern Royal Albatross has the greatest wingspan of any existing bird species (up to 12 ft.!). They can glide several miles with but a single flap of their wings. Talk about aerodynamics! They are known to live more than 60 years, 80% of which they spend literally living in the air! And they mate for life. After living with The Alfatross for the last 53 years I sometimes feel like we mated for life too--and every now and then it's nice to show her off!
Preparing for a Concours event invariably entails a lot of time, effort, and some level of anxiety (imagine what your car would look like after a trailer roll-over). What the visitor sees on the show field is just the "fluffed and buffed" result, belying all the reservation-making, route planning, trailer and tow-vehicle preparation, weather monitoring, behind the scenes. It's enough to make you think twice about whether you really want to do it. And we wouldn't have without the enthusiastic support of Dave Carrell who volunteered his truck, trailer, and Big Rig driving skills.
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| Thanks to Dave Carrell for getting us there and back in one piece. |
Scottsdale is a long way from Santa Fe. Weather in January in northern New Mexico and Arizona can be rugged, and this January was particularly sketchy, forcing us to detour south for a 1,300 mile, 18 hour round trip with snow, ice, and high winds keeping us company most of the way. In spite of the weather, we got to Scottsdale a day in advance on Friday where a team of Concours volunteers efficiently unloaded The Alfatross on the street, secured her in the covered, secure parking garage and showed us where to stow the trailer in a nearby lot. As this was also the first day of Scottsdale Car Week, we spent part of the afternoon at the tumultuous Barrett-Jackson circus before making our way to the other end of the entertainment spectrum, the Concours Reception at the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum. I've been to a lot of museums in my life, but this is one of the most interesting, professional and delightful museums I have had the pleasure of experiencing. I highly recommend it to anyone.
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| One small gallery in the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum. |
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| The BAT 5 "Dream Car" design exercise in aerodynamics. |
The next morning we were on the show field bright and early, lining up with the other cars in Class 8: the "Modern Development of the Art - Sportscars 1948-1960". There were 9 other cars in the class, including 2 Jaguars, 3 other Alfas, a Pegaso, a Lancia Aurelia and a 1958 Ferrari 250 Granturismo Ellena. One of the other Alfas was the outrageous 1953 BAT 5 car which, like The Alfatross, was built on an Alfa 1900 chassis. Sizing up the cars around us, I thought the Pegaso would take First Place, but the judges gave that honor to the Ferrari, while The Alfatross and one of the other Alfas, the 1949 Alfa 6C 2500 Cabriolet Super Sport, received "Class Awards".
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| The moment of truth . . . |
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| 2023 Arizona Concours Class Award |
The Fifth Arizona Concours d'Elegance
It would be hard to improve on the Fifth Arizona Concours d'Elegance, but we did have one idea: Perhaps in the future it would be possible for entrants to attach a QR code to the placard provided by the organizers that would enable visitors to quickly harvest more information about the subject car without cluttering up the show field. In the case of a car like The Alfatross, extensive documentation and hundreds of photos could be readily accessed online via a cell phone equipped with a QR code reader app. We mentioned this to our Class Host, Mr. Sherwood Parker, who liked the idea and said he would bring it up with the organizers.
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| Example of QR code placement on placard. |
The Arizona Concours is back after a 3-year hiatus thanks to the tireless efforts of its Directors and volunteers working in cooperation with entities such as Scottsdale Arts and the Civic Center venue. From our experience volunteering with the Santa Fe Concours we know it is no simple undertaking. We were impressed by how well it was organized and orchestrated, given that they were essentially starting over from scratch. The Alfatross enjoyed her outing and ogling, but was relieved to return to her nest no worse for wear.
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| At the finish line . . . . |
