Chattanooga Motorcar Festival draws thousands for races, auctions, rallies

Oct. 16—Chattanooga's downtown West Village took on a European flavor Saturday morning when nearly $100 million of vintage Ferrari sports cars rolled onto the Westin Hotel patio for display to thousands of vintage car fans during the second day of the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival.

The classic Italian-made Ferrari models that were trucked to Chattanooga for the weekend festival from across the nation included two Spyders from central Florida that together are valued at more than $50 million — including the last of only 55 Ferrari 250 California Spyders that Ferrari built in 1963 (popularized in the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off").

The other Ferrari Spyder on display is one of only 10 1967 275 NART (North American Racing Team) Spyder models that were the first Ferraris to be offered for sale with a transaxle.

Tom Hill, manager of Rare Wheels Collections in Windermere, Florida, brought the Ferrari models to Chattanooga for the first time and praised the setting for the car display.

"I love Chattanooga's downtown," said Hill, who regularly displays cars from his collection across the U.S. "This is a special place I never knew existed, and I'm happily surprised at how great this festival is turning out to be."

Byron Defoor, the Chattanooga developer, investor and race car enthusiast, helped create the Fifty Plus Foundation to put on the first Chattanooga Motorcar Festival two years ago.

Defoor estimates this year's event will be nearly triple the size of the 2019 festival with the addition of the two-day Mecum Auction of more than 600 vintage cars and the addition of more car displays, rallies and races.

"We're bringing Chattanooga to the forefront of the world," Defoor said after dedicating the 2-mile track erected on the former Alstom riverfront site to Jim Pace, the late race car driving who helped organize the motorcar festival before his death to COVID-19 last year. "We never thought that we would get 14 of the most sought-after Ferraris in the world here. But we're getting the attention of motorcar fans from all over the world this weekend."

On Sunday morning, an array of vintage cars from the nearby Corker Museum and from other collectors will be on display in the West Village.

"This is a wildly successful weekend and shows that Chattanooga is a car town, from when it made the Nyberg in 1910 to now when it is making electric vehicles for Volkswagen," said Corky Coker, the owner of the Coker Museum of vintage cars and the grand marshal of the festival.

Coker raced his 1911 Mercer Raceabout Saturday morning.

"I think this shows the appeal of vintage cars that people love because it takes them back to some of their favorite times in the past," Coker said.

Defoor hopes to triple 2019 revenues, a portion of which will be donated to help support the NeuroScience Innovation Foundation at CHI Memorial Hospital.

"Chattanooga is not the biggest city in the country, and it's certainly not the richest, but it has a very big heart," Defoor said.

The event lit up the skies Saturday afternoon when a memorial service for Pace included an airplane using vapor trails that spelled out "PACE" in the skies over downtown Chattanooga.

While thousands flocked to both days of Mecum auctions at the Chattanooga Convention Center and a second full day of racing at the racetrack at the Bend, 45 vintage cars hit the road both Friday and Saturday for road trips to the nearby Ocoee River and Lookout and Monteagle mountains as part of a road rally competition in which drivers are judged on their ability to stay at predetermined speeds during different legs of the race.

Rick Goolsby, the rally manager, said the participants came from throughout the nation and included cars ranging from a 1931 Ford Model A to a brand new Tesla Type S.

George Bruno, a retiree from Pensacola, Florida, drove in his first rally this weekend with a 1974 Triumph TR6, which he rebuilt over the past decade and a half.

"The rally was a great experience, and the scenery around here is fabulous," Bruno said.

Wade Kawasaki, a partner in the Chattanooga-based Legendary Cos. — which owns Coker Tire Co., which makes many of the classic wheels and tires for the vintage cars — said the initial success of Chattanooga's Motorcar Festival should help the annual event to continue and grow in future years.

"I've been to vintage car events all over the world, and the Defoors and the organizers here have done a great job and been successful in bringing people from all over the country and the world," he said. "I think in three or four years this festival is going to be a monster and a must-attend event for this area."

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.