by Mike –
My friend, Bruce Caron, was looking around YouTube when he came across the video below where my Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada was featured on My Classic Car With Dennis Gage. This episode was recorded in November 2008 and broadcast in July 2009.
Dennis Gage rode around the wet Woodley Park in a golf cart early that morning looking for the cars he would feature in this episode (it had rained the night before).
When he spotted the silver Bizzarrini he stopped and immediately came over to talk to me. After our 10 minute talk he said he wanted the Bizzarrini in the show. I pulled the Bizzarrini out from its spot into a open area more suitable for the video cameras.
He told me how he would conduct the interview and that we would do it all two times. That way he and his editors would have two versions to choose from and blend together if necessary, in case I said something they did not want to use.
Dennis Gage is a terrific car guy and he is as friendly in person as he is on his TV show. After he was finished he left and Jay Leno came by for a few minutes. He told me that he had met Giotto Bizzarrini in person a few years before.
The Best of France and Italy is held the first Sunday in November at Woodley Park in Van Nuys, California. This event is a fun day even if you are not on TV.
Below are a few still photos from that day.
Dennis Gage walking around my Bizzarrini GT 5300 in 2008 at The Best of France and Italy Show
Mike Gulett and Dennis Gage
Video for the TV show My Classic Car With Dennis Gage
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Video for the TV show My Classic Car With Dennis Gage
A biased, but experienced opinion that this may be the world’s best Bizzarrini coupe.
I agree with you Ken, unlike all the other fully restored cars this one has that original soul.
I’ve been to the French and Italian car show a few times a few years ago and that’s where I’ve met some great car enthusiasts: Jerry Hathaway from SM World, Joe Alessandrino a Ferrari restomod builder, Larry Ruben a Maserati expert from Oregon, and the incomprabale Mike Kerns from LA, a collector of Italian exotics. It’s one of the best car shows I’ve attended. Jay Leno usually shows up with some interesting vehicle.
I first laid eyes on Mike’s GT 5300 at the now defunct Marin Concours. Fantastic to see it in person.