The best Best of France and Italy Car Show ever

Why drive to Monterey in August with everyone else when you can drive only as far as beautiful Van Nuys and get much of the same old-car thrill?

This was the 14th year of the Best of France and Italy Car Show, held on Sunday in Van Nuys, Calif., and it was the biggest turnout in the history of the event.

Why, we asked co-organizer Chuck Forward? Was it the fact that collector-car prices have dropped perilously, meaning owners of these rides have held onto their cars? Was it a form of escapism from the drumming madness of economic collapse? Was it nostalgia for a simpler time when carburetors ruled the world and you could actually get Fiat parts?

"The weather!" said Forward.

Indeed, at Woodley Park, it was a sunny, warm and clear day. Last year at the Best of France and Italy, it rained in the morning and was considerably cooler. This year was just about perfect. So, despite what car guys may say about their "passion," they're really just as flippant as anyone else.

On this day in Van Nuys, everyone was a laissez-faire southern European. Last year, in the rain, 330 cars showed up. This year, organizers brought only 400 of those little goody bags they give to entrants, and they ran out with plenty of Fiats, Alfas and Renaults still rolling onto Woodley's grass and dirt.

The show offers a lot of the same stuff you get in Monterey at Concorso Italiano and La Dolce Vita. Except Best of France and Italy is free, and it won't take you an hour to find parking.

We saw a beautiful 1924 Lancia Lambda, one of the earliest cars to have a monocoque construction and independent front suspension. The hood was open and the machined (not cast) narrow-angle V4 was right there.

Next to it was a Maserati 200SI that raced in the Targa Florio, according to the info booklet left on the deck lid.

We wandered among Citro

By Mark Vaughn