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Knotts Berry Farm Car Show 2004 April 24 & 25, 2004 |
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California Sun Shines Bright on FFR Owners at Knotts The 2004 Knotts Berry Farm Show was a record setter in many ways. One of the hottest replica shows in the country turned even hotter this year as temperatures crested the 100º mark - making even dormant side exhaust hot to the touch. |
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This year’s event witnessed more than 70 of the finest FFR cars and their owners having made the trek from all over the western US to join us on the black top of the Knotts Berry Farm Amusement Park outside Los Angeles, California. The West Coasts largest hand-made car show was attended by just over 100 1965 Roadster replicas. Seventy four of those replicas were FFR’s! There were also eleven (!) Type 65 Coupe Replicas, seven of them being FFR’s! |
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Caravans of cars came from the north, south and west as they all filed in to the show, quickly coming to dominate the diverse field of replicas. In all, 70% of the roadsters in attendance were Factory Fives, and nine of eleven coupes wore the FFR badge. AWESOME! The FFR owners from Northern California AGAIN made a strong presence, headed by Tony Repepi (who earned 1st place Coupe and 1st place Grand Touring awards), The perennial Russ Thompson (1st Place under construction category) and the rest of the hardy NorCal Travelers. NorCal owners have an earned reputation for road tripping and this year was yet another example. When it came time for awards, the FFR cars swept the AHA roadster awards categories, taking all available trophies in almost every class. Factory Five roadsters won 8 out of 12 total roadster awards. |
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FFR owners were also awarded the AHA’s award for Best Under Construction and a Grand Touring award. The huge number of awards were a nice tribute to the FFR owner’s and their craftsmanship. Today’s FFR kit will compete toe-to-toe with the best and most expensive replicas anywhere. 2004 was also memorable for the fact that the hard work of our factory guys was recognized when Factory Five Racing was presented with the 2004 AHA Good Manufacturing Practices award for consistent quality, design and customer service. |
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| We received this nice note from FFR customer Doug Wonderly (pictured
above): "Hey..that's me! 4985 was basically delivered at the end of February. My oldest son Kevin and I decided to take our 5 week old chassis to Knotts just to see some other builds and to find out if we had put anything on upside down. We are really stretching the maxim of "anybody with average mechanical skill can assemble one of these". What we didn't expect was to make as many friends as we did. We arrived at 7:30 AM, had FFROGS swarm all over the trailer to help unload and set up; we were walked over to breakfast, shown all kinds of tricks and pointers, and finally got back to our car around 10:30. Before we knew it, it was time to go. And now I see my polished frame pictured on the FFR website. Very Cool. Thanks for picking up the show fee and for the cool hat (wearing it in the photo) and T-shirt. All put to good use. I think Factory Five Racing is missing part of the build process in the manual. You forgot to mention that in addition to providing a very buildable dream, you also provide a large group of new friends who have the same interests. I know it's a business, I know you gotta make a buck but thanks to all of you back there. You guys make a little piece of the world nicer for me and my family. See ya next year...I will win a trophy." Doug Wonderly |
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The AHA awards list: 1st Place ’65 Roadster < $25,000 Jack Hammond 2nd Place ’65 Roadster < $25,000 David Knight 1st Place `65 Roadster $25,000 - $35,000 Glenn Diorio 2nd Place `65 Roadster $25,000 - $35,000 John Rymer 3rd Place `65 Roadster $25,000 - $35,000 Robert Driescher 1st Place `65 Roadster $35,000 - $50,000 Al Solomko 2nd Place `65 Roadster $35,000 - $50,000 Michael Treece 2nd Place ’65 Roadster > $50,000 Mike Viromontes 1st Place Under Construction Russ Thompson 3rd Place Grand Touring Tony Ripepi |
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FFROG Awards: Most Innovative Design Russ Thompson Best Use of Chrome Chuck Robertson Best Paint Bill Dobbins Best Engine Bob Zook Best Interior John Hudson High Mileage Award Paul Gillespie Best Under Construction Ken Bush Best in Show – Roadster Mike Treece Best in Show – Spec Racer Tim Noble Best in Show – Coupe Tony Ripepi Best in Show – Overall Ken Aoki Big thanks and congrats go out to all of our customers who attended the show – with or without their cars – from all of us here at the Factory Five extended family. |
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We’ll see you next year at this event and hopefully at the 2004 FFR Nationals in Virginia this coming labor day weekend! |
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