Having what turned out to be a bare metal respray on the entire car (see previous entry) meant my beloved F355 was off the road for much longer than I had originally planned.

It ended up being a long and boring 5 months without the 355, especially since it was mostly over the beautiful summer months here in Southern California. But I have just received her back, after what the body shop is now calling a “restoration” as opposed to a full car respray (only in the Ferrari world could this term be used to help justify the incredibly long time it took) and I am once again heading up to Monterey for the Italiano Concourso, Historic races at Laguna Seca and Pebble Beach.

This trip is a little special as my freshly painted 355 is traveling up for most of the journey in a friend’s transporter. This helps reduce boring freeway miles being put on the car and more importantly saves the perfect paint job from receiving any stone chips or other road rash. As seems to be expected with such events, we leave at the crack of dawn and arrive at a Ferrari dealership called Auto Gallery at 7:00am to meet with a large caravan of Ferraris organized by the Ferrari Club of North America (FCNA).

We unload my 355, 2 Stradales and a 360 coupe ready for the convoy with FCNA to a lunch destination up the coast. A great breakfast has been generously hosted and then we start our engines ready for the 150 miles drive up north. The convoy consists of about 50 exotics (mostly Ferraris and Lamborghinis) and we remarkably manage to all arrive at our lunch destination without incident or tickets. After lunch, our four cars are loaded back into the transporter and we relax and sit back in the leather appointed Freightliner cab, complete with multiple TV screens, satellite TV and DVD player.

The Italiano Concourso is a yearly gathering of all things Italian and is held at Blackhorse Golf Course in Monterey, CA. Cars are displayed and parked by Marque and model, so I park my 355 as directed alongside other 355s and am surrounded by a couple of hundred Ferrari’s along the fairway. After a wipe down using Meguiars detailing spray and micofiber towels, the 355 shines like a jewel and all my complaining about owning a black car is temporarily forgotten.

Laguna Seca and Pebble Beach are less about your own vehicles and more about the incredible machinery being driven, displayed and unveiled. The Ferrari 599 Fiorano is unveiled at a private party, and the Enzo based P4/P5 is proudly displayed (next to other unique vehicles including the 2 door Maybach Exelero and several other concept cars).

During this weekend in Monterrey, it is the only time where millions of dollars of Ferraris and other exotics are parked on the street and outside modest hotels rather than being stored in their climate controlled garages under covers. After my initial hesitation of leaving my newly immaculate 355 outdoors overnight, I enjoyed driving it to the various events, always in convoy and always sounding amazing!

I come to accept that the 355 can be easily cleaned and driving it around the glorious coastal roads of Pebble Beach and Monterey is something to be savored and enjoyed. This weekend is one of those times when having a Ferrari engenders an even stronger than usual pride in ownership and the smiles are even broader than normal too; I’m glad I’ve got mine back.