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The weather finally held out for this years Mount Dora, Florida Festival of Exotic Cars. The weather was perfect this April 16, 17 and 18. The event began on Friday evening at the Meet and Greet at the Lakeside Inn, the host hotel. On Saturday we went on a back road tour through what can be called the hill country of Florida. On Sunday, 9 Panteras were displayed in downtown Mount Dora. Three Panteras were displayed on one street and the remaining 6 cars were displayed right around the corner.
During the day a brand new Ferrari Enzo was displayed on the apex of the corner between the 3 and 6 Panteras. Many folks commented how good we made the Ferrari look! We had three special treats this weekend. First, SE Pantera members Kjetil Finne and his girlfriend Lisa traveled across the pond from Norway to join us at Mount Dora and from Florida to Nevada to represent the SE Panteras at the POCA reunion in Las Vegas. Second, we welcomed new SE Pantera friends Natie and Bruce McColley, who showed up in their low mileage 1974 GTS. Third, long time members Rikki & Wayne Blaylock brought their beautifully Pantera Performance restored car to its first SE Pantera event.
This weekend was also unusual in that most of our cars are generally quite reliable. However, three Pantera automobiles that planned on making the trip were unable to do so due to mechanical problems discovered shortly before beginning the journey. Susan and Gary Proia's radiator sprung a leak. Sue and Jeff Vozeh's high horsepower engine broke a rocker arm a block from the house and Jeannie and Keith Hagen's P car came down with some ignition problems also within a short distance from their house. All of them attended the event in other cars.
In addition to the folks mentioned above, the following SE Pantera friends also attended. AJ Lilly, Nina & Roger Gossett, Cindy and Fred Zesewitz, Gwen Foster & Chris Cox, Carol & Gary Ford and their sons Andrew and David, Tina & Jay Sclafani, Liane & Mike Covelli, Rikki & Wayne Blaylock, Tannia & Marcelino Sotolongo, and their daughters, Krystal and Katherine and Tanyas Mom, Sandi and Tim Clinger, and Fran and I.
The folks at Mount Dora permitted us to divide the Pantera class into stock and modified categories and awarded two trophies in each category. In stock class the winners were the McColleys, in second was AJ Lilly. In the modified class the winners were the Rubins, in second place the Blaylocks. The awards in modified category come with a definite caveat. Two extremely beautiful modified cars were not judged. The Sclafani's registered their car for display only and the Fords car was not judged, due to the fact that Gary volunteered to be a judge. One important point must be made. The cars of the SE Panteras are getting better and better as time goes on. The bars in both the stock and modified class have been substantially raised within the last couple of years.
Thanks to Gary Ford and Gary Proia for serving as the Pantera judges. And thanks to Cindy and Fred Zesewitz for making all the forward planning and assuring that no one missed any of the 4 most important meals of the day.
The Cruise:
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The Show:
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Pantera winners:
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