Napa Valley 750 - 2024

Cobra all day long, buy American:}.

Day 1 in the books. This was a coast run through the Napa Valley, out through the coastal redwoods along the Russian River. Then down the coastline and back east through the dairy farms and vineyards.

A few highlights. This was the longest drive my wife has done with me in the speedster since we purchased it over 7 years ago. And she enjoyed it!  The other highlight was following the 356c, driven by the 92 y/o original owner. And boy could he still drive it. It’s obvious his many years as a fighter pilot paid off in dividends by being able to drive that Porsche the way it was intended.

Great drive. Great cars. Great people and great food.

Looks like a great time Kevin. Thanks for sharing the adventure for a good cause.

Day 2 of driving brought us out to Tomales Bay via the Oakville Grade. Lunch was fresh oysters from the bay.  We had a coffee stop at Elephant Rock (the panoramic photo included). And dinner at Chappellet in Napa Valley (photo is the view with the vineyard and lake).

Spectacular!!!

Kevin Buckler of "The Racer's Group" and Adobe Road Winery has a pretty cool tasting building (much more than just a room) in Petaluma.  Hopefully, you'll be able to stop by for some of his "Racing Series" wines.  My son and I spotted at the Rolex 24 for Kevin - Twice!  He and his wife Debra are super nice people and their wines are superb!

Day 3 was the longest morning route. Coming in at 172 miles before stopping for lunch. It was comprised of technical s-curves and switchbacks as we drove over the side of Mt St Helena to the Clearlake plateau. From there we cascaded down along the cache creek, a road where the engineer must have been an automotive enthusiast. This road was a subtle downhill that twisted and turned next the the creek, within a ravine flanked by cliffs on each side. And each turn was banked to handle high speeds, err 55mph. This road terminates into almond and pistachio orchards, where we were greeted with a 5mi flat straight in the middle of no where. Once again, begging the cars to be driven flat out (at the posted speed limit of course). I was passed by a blur of a D-type Jaguar that no doubt thought it was on the Mulsanne straight. I had our professional photographer in the car with me. Given the route, I couldn’t take any pics or videos while driving. But the photographer got some amazing shots as we either passed cars or they passed me. Grins were all around for sure. While I didn’t take many photos of the drive, I managed to take some from our lunch and dinner destinations.
Every dinner is held at a winery in Napa Valley. The first was at Merryvale, the second night at Chappellet, and today was at Round Pond.

Spectacular!  Not only do I miss my Speedster and Coupe now, you've also made me hungry.

Last “photo dump”.
In the past four days, my waistline certainly expanded. But my core and arms bulked up as well from throwing the car into the curves.  Four straight days of driving the speedster 180 miles each day on rugged curving roads makes me really begin to realize just how boring it is to drive cars with automatic transmissions. You really become one with the car, responding to its noises, it’s smells, and the feel.
I only have a 1915cc in the back with a 4-speed. And while that may have major shortcomings with the 12-cylinder Ferraris in the straights, it handles its own through the mountains. It appears it’s all about timing.
At the end of each rally, there’s a farewell dinner at the hosting hotel. Each year 2-4 cars are selected to be the centerpiece. In the past, the 275GTB/4, the Emory Special, the 911 Carrera RS, D-Type and cobra have all been back there. This year, I was asked to put mine back there. With the Carrera 2. I felt honored.

I always appreciate this travelogue when you put it up, Kevin.

It's everything "guys of a certain age" think of when they think of Kalifornia. For 4 days at least, you were living every car-guy's dream.

Thanks for bringing us along.

It’s been some time, but the photographer finally sent us around 1500 photos to go through of the 4-day event.
I thought I would share a few. The photographer rode in the car with me two of the four days. So a number of the photos of the cars were taken from the passenger seat.

Love it, Kevin!

Wow! That D Type makes me weak in the knees

A master class in automotive photography . These shots are spectacular.  I can't tell you how jealous I am that you were able to do this in such awesome environment, and with a group so obviously smitten by the Madness in all its glory.  This looks first class in every possible way.  Just WOW!

@edsnova, take a hard look at all of this and see what a really fine rally/cruise looks like.  Take notes . . .

Thanks @El Frazoo. We are blessed to have a great group of people to attend the rally; some of which have attended it every year.
This year I played Uber for my wife the first day (her first extended drive in the speedster), the photographer on days 2 and 3, and on the 4th / last day of the rally, a fellow participant joined me. His car unfortunately broke down on day 3. This gentlemen’s speedster won its class at Amelia last year (the 5th speedster produced). Unfortunately his Gmund coupe did not place at Pebble.  The intent of the last two sentences was not to gloat, but meant to simply state car people are car people. This gentleman had the iron in his garage to snub a ride in a plastic clown car; but requested the drive. Because at the end of the day, it’s a car that brings enjoyment.

@Kevin - Bay Area which back road is this? Nice picture👍 Thanks for sharing.

@edsnova posted:

Wow! That D Type makes me weak in the knees

Ed, here's your chance!

Jaguar D-Type Re-Creation by Realm Engineering for sale on BaT Auctions - ending August 19 (Lot #159,057) | Bring a Trailer