[DeTomaso] Bug Infestation - Bugattis and Panteras

[Mike Thomas]

Every Saturday morning, there is a cars and coffee gathering at Redmond Town
Center, in Microsoft's backyard, and there are ALWAYS a great bunch of cars
showing up on beautiful morning.  Thursday evening, Chris Papendorf,
Panteras Northwest member, flashed out to the chapter that there was going
to be a Bugatti event this Saturday morning, August 28.  I hooked up with a
friend from work, and arrived at Redmond Town Center early enough to get a
front row parking spot in the rotunda with the other exotics (Ferraris,
Lambos, Masers, Lotus, NSXs, Porsches), and right next to where the bugs
were going to land when they came in.

It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky.  There had to be 200 cars
there including those who parked in the outer lots.  At 9:00, a French blue
Veyron targa, and two vintage Bugattis, not sure what they were, rolled in.
What an incredible car.  I got a shot of the Veyron rolling by right in
front of 6328, and they parked not 50 feet from me.  The Bugs were joined
shortly by a cream white Rolls Royce Phantom, and a 1931 Rolls Royce
Phaeton.  The crowd was drooling all over the cars for about an hour and who
should show up, but Enzo himself, parked right behind the Veyron.  Now, mind
you, these cars were not sequestered and roped off from the unwashed masses:
they were right there to walk up to and touch.  I leaned into the Veyron to
get some great shots of the dash, and close ups of the wheels and engine.
Not everybody that will do that with a $2,200,000 car!  I'll post pictures
shortly to the POCA website.

With all of this expensive machinery, it was great to get a lot of
compliments on the Panteras.  We had three Panteras Northwest members in
attendance.  Besides myself, there was Chris Papendorf in his yellow 74
#6152 and Roydon Hughes in his very early pushbutton #1295.

Look for pics on the POCA website.

Mike Thomas
Panteras Northwest