MASERATI CLUB OF QUEENSLAND INC
Woodlands Winery Drive
21 December 2003
We assembled in the morning at John Cant Motors (Queensland’s then official Maserati dealer) – a breathtaking array of 14 of the marque (plus a stray Ferrari of Sam Catanzaro), and a missing 1984 425 of Angelo Frangiosa (Sandra brought her 4WD to accommodate all their passengers).
A convoy was formed and we headed off to our destination via a freeway. All speed limits were, of course, observed, although some owners were champing at the bit to let off some steam in the presence of their fellow marque enthusiasts.
We had chosen an interesting venue - ‘Woodlands of Marburg’ - a magnificent old building, previously used as a monastery. Our genial host, Carol Elton, was pleased at the prospect of having all these cars assembled there and kindly gave us permission to park the cars on the lawn in front of the building, so that we could photograph the cars not only on the ground, but from the balcony on the first floor.
The cars were marshalled in a semi-circle, arranged in date order from left to right. The ladies and children gathered on the shaded verandah, sipping cool drinks to quench their thirst on what was a very warm day, whilst individual photos of the cars & their owners were taken, then photos of the entire display. Many of the men were sporting various pieces of Maserati apparel. Caps were very popular, and we noticed a few polo shirts too.
At 12:30 pm we took our seats in our private dining room – 35 adults and 7 children – on 2 long tables, surrounded by festive Christmas decorations and a beautifully tall, illuminated Christmas tree.
Talk naturally turned to cars (by the men anyway) as we awaited the food, during the food and after the food. The ladies managed to find other topics to chat about. People moved around during the lunch, getting to know their fellow enthusiasts as this was the first time so many of us had met each other.
After lunch, the ‘Lucky Door Prize’ was drawn and a bottle of sparkling burgundy was won by Sandra Frangiosa.
