Montreal 2004

(more photos & video below)

The Story

Well, another epic Mid Atl Ferrari List/Chat/Crew excursion to the Canadian GP has come to an end.

A lot was learned, a lot was confirmed and many myths were dispelled.

We all gathered at the Walmart parking lot of Hunt Valley Mall off of I-83. Matt and Lindsay Parvis were there well before our 0700 meeting time. Nick and I arrived at 0704 to begin our first adventure.

Of course, *no one* was on time. And yes, everyone likes to make fun of my tardiness but I'm punctual when it counts.

Gathered there were Matt and Lindsay (Twin Turbo Maxima), Charles Perry and Co. (Twin Turbo Yukon Denali), Myself and Nick (348TS), Peter and Vic (87 Testarossa), Fritz and Brian (E55 AMG), Steve and Lisa (C5 Vette), Marc and Dave (308GTSi), Matt and Brian (308QV), and lastly, David and Kerby and Antony (360).

While we waited for all to arrive, someone noticed that Marc's 308 was leaking coolant at an alarming rate. We traced the leak to a leaking hose in the lower right side of the radiator. Vic took the helm and started to repair the issue.

After 2 hours, the parking lot resembled an Operating Room as we had tools and supplies spread all over the surrounding area. During this relatively minor issue, Marc was pacing frantically blurting out "Oh GOD, Oh GOD I'm not going, no way , Oh jeez, a rock chip, will this car make it????"

We casually laughed him off, fixed his car and we were on our way at 0930 a little behind schedule. We started moving at a sharp pace up I-83 to I-81 with relatively little drama. There were claims of a red Testarossa *very* similar to Peter's hitting 155 (km/h??) on I-81. What a nut case, glad we weren't driving like that.

Peter's clutch started acting funny, so Vic decided to flush the old fluid out and bleed in the parking lot of an auto parts store armed with nothing but a cellphone, two Q tips and 5 blue M&Ms. Nice job again!

We roll into Montreal after a mini GP on 401 involving a 355 and a 911C4S at about 8:30pm to an energetic and dense Peel Street Ferrari Festival crowd. David and Antony were quick to drop the jaws when I motioned to the police officer to part the gates and allow us to park on the famed streets of Peel for display.

The two 308s, the 360, and the 348 were lined up and swarmed instantly. We collect all of the group and head into the restaurant. Actually where Chris, Sam and his cousin were all waiting.

When leaving Peel, the crowd parted again to allow us an FIA Rally style spectator lane. Someone in our group let out a wild, fishy, burnout on the limiter in two gears causing a gasps and applause. The oversteer at 50mph+ was dramatic enough to cause cries of terror from women and children. Hehe, after that *every* cop walked over to my car and sternly reminded me that I needed to leave slowly.

After dinner, most of us got cleaned up and headed to Crescent to sample its signature taste of drunk tourists and annoying race fans. Sam got spotted by a blonde admirer and started a promising dialogue with some new Canadian friends while the rest of us pondered whether we liked our 40 something, augmented, blonde bartender.

Now, if you have never been to MTL before, you're missing out on a city with such vibrant energy and appeal. The weather is simply perfect as are the women. There is no shortage of very attractive, young women. The formula was simple, elegant, and 19 yrs old. How does the city produce this type of girl? We're convinced that there is a warehouse in Hull that is secretly producing hords of these chicks and at the same time recycles the ugly ones on an exchange basis.

Friday we made it to the track to experience the thrill of F1 from the Budweiser tent!!!Sam insisted that we check it out before we did anything else. Hot girls in latex outfits, beer flowing faster than Niagara, classic rock and sunshine. Could it get any better???

Yes, a fellow Mid Atl Ferrari friend brought his Ensign F1 and his 312T5 (Gilles Villenueve) to run in the historic GP race on Saturday. You name it and it was all there. Tyrell 001, 004, McLaren M30, Ferrari 312T3, 312B, etc.. (see MPEGs). He invited us over to check out the car, sit in it, stroke it and fulfill our childhood dreams to sit where GV did. (See Pics and MPEGs). WOW. Puff also took a seat, although, watching him get out was way more fun! (see MPEG). Bud, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Our evenings were spent in the typical way dinner, then an outing onto the streets of Montreal. Friday night we went to Forquet Forchette, a charming French Canadian restaurant near Lake Chambly. As the La Fin Du Monde flowed freely, we watched intently on a table full of women at a bachelorette party. Before Sam and I could figure out what happened, we realized that the brides Adam's apple was a bit too large. DAMN!

Before we went out that night, Nick and I noticed that TLO had finished half a bottle of Jack Daniels all by himself. Oh boy this was going to get interesting. Into Club Tokyo on St. Laurent we go up through the levels TLO is gone! I was meeting a friend and her C Blocking ex-boyfriend, so I didn't pay much attention. We manage to find another bachelorette party that TLO has already befriended. We stumble out of Tokyo to Club Radial? It was dead inside but TLO hits on EVERY single girl in the place, avec boyfriend or not.

On the way downstairs, he hits on the wrong one finally. I help TLO out of the club and trip down a stair near the front door. I feel an arm whiz by my right ear, then see it make an indirect contact with the side of TLO's face. Yes, it's on! I turn around and there's a full scale bum rush (PG County style). Two guys are seemingly lunging at TLO and myself. We get stuck in a dorky pushing match with TLO and a large guy exchanging sweet nothings. I manage to reach an accord with the other guy and push TLO out about 40 feet into the street. The temptation to lunge was alive and not so easily restrained. Turns out that the other guy was the owner and then summarily told all of us to "GET OUT NOW¨, then translated it into French, just like he was calling the GP! HAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, this was turning into a typical Mid Atlantic Motley Crue style evening. All we needed was someone trying to snort ants through a straw.

Afterwards, we were enthralled by TLO's commentary on various subjects: women, burnouts, Peel Street, the calendar and frogs.

The race was terrific, our hangovers still allowed us to enjoy the invigorating sounds and style of Formula One. A world where the amazing is possible. Rather than sitting in the hot stands next to a hairy, fat Canadian full of Molson Export, we decided to take in the race from the Budweiser tent underneath an umbrella. We moved plenty of beer that day and could basically see Anheuser Busch's stock price tick up at the market opening Monday morning.

Sunday night we dined at Jardin and relaxed with a few cigars out in the Old Port. We relaxed and contemplated the situation in Iraq, world currency markets, and Anna Kournikova. As the rest of the gang had some unfortunate luck with tickets on the way home Monday, Nick and I decided to let the 348 relax a bit and slow the pace down. The car performed flawlessly over the weekend and we were glad to be home without incident. These Montreal trips just keep getting wilder and wilder. How can we possibly outdo this without lawyers on retainer? Until next year... LS