Italian Car Fest 2005, Grapevine Texas

It's been a busy fall for the Texas Chapter, which so far, officially has one car, but growing interest. There is no shortage of Maserati in Texas, so hopefully with time, we will get a bit more organized. There is a lot of interest in car clubs in the Houston area and I've had the pleasure of meeting a good group of Italian car enthusiasts who get together monthly.

The Italian Car Fest in Grapevine, Texas on September 10th, was a great day. Grapevine holds their annual wine festival the same weekend, so there are lots of activities to make it a nice weekend get away. The car fest was well organized with associated cocktail party, dinner, and track day. We trailered the Merak up from Houston because of a fuel system problem, but it is a nice drive. Still being new to Texas, it was our first real country drive.

The show was also our first time to show off the Merak and it was a hit. There were eight bueatiful Maserati at the show including a 1962 3500GTI Vignale Spyder, a 1966 5000 GT (Last of 33 made), a 1967 Ghibli, a 1985 Quattroporte, a 1986 Biturbo Spyder and a few newer model cars. See winners list below.

On October 8, the annual Houston Italian Festival invited Italian car owners to display their cars. The show is gathering growing attention and this year over thirty Italian cars and motorcycles attended, including four Maserati.

Another great Texas day with good people, good food, and good fun. I would like to thank Michelle Belco of the Houston Italian Association for all of her hard work to bring us all together.

Another piece of good news is I finally got an annoying fuel system problem worked out. On October 30, we went on a drive with the Space City Panteras and Delorean Club of Houston up to College Station. We drove over 220 miles without a breakdown, although we did get lost.

Anyone interested in meeting other Maserati owners in the Houston area should give me a call or send me an email. I try to show up at the monthly Houston Area Fiat Lancia Unlimited meet, every second Tuesday of the month at Beck's Prime in Memorial Park. They are a very freindly bunch and any Italian car is welcome.

Ciao,
Archie Morgan; Regional Director

Italian Car Fest Maserati Winners:

Maserati through 1996
1st: 1967 Ghibli, Blue
Maserati through 1996
2nd: 1974 Merak, Red
Maserati 1997-2005
1st: 2002 Spyder, Red
Maserati 1997-2005
2nd: 2002 Spyder, Silver

TEXAS REGION
Archie Morgan, Regional Director
Home: 281-391-4497
Mobile: 281-391-4497
E-mail: morganiv@ix.netcom.com