The Southern California collector-car scene is lucky to have a guy like David SK Lee around.
Lee’s first car as a youth was a humble 1978 Datsun pickup truck — an affordable and efficient vehicle, to be sure, but it gave no hint of the great collector Lee was to become. As he built his business over many years, he kept in mind the cars he wanted to someday own. He liked a lot of cars, but Ferraris were always at the center.
And Ferraris are still at the center. Two months ago, he won Best in Show at Concorso Ferrari in Pasadena with an achingly gorgeous 275 GTB4 2S. He brought five Ferrari supercars –- including a real GTO — to Concorso Italiano last year. And exactly a year ago, he brought those same five to the San Marino Motor Classic, a show held almost in his backyard in San Marino, California.
David Lee’s P1 GTR – not a Ferrari
This year, Lee will bring eight beautiful cars to San Marino, some of which we’ve seen before and some we haven’t. Our favorite may be the yellow 2017 F12 Tour de France. Or it may be the 1967 330 GTS CV. Or the 2015 LaFerrari. Maybe we can’t decide. The photo gallery above shows all the cars he’s bringing. Scroll through it. It includes non-Ferraris: a McLaren P1 GTR, Pagani Huayra Da Vinci and Porsche 918. Lee is always humble and pleasant. People talk to him about watches (his business) and cars with equal welcome.
But Lee’s cars make up just a handful of the over 300 that will be parked on the lawn for the seventh annual San Marino Motor Classic, a concours held on the ginormous lawn of Lacey Park in San Marino. The show runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 11.
Among the rest of the field are everything from Abarths to Volkswagens. With Brass Era, Preservation and rows of CCCA American and European Classics, it’s like Pebble Beach without the those pesky sea otters. Except that at San Marino, there are also hot rods, muscle cars and (progress!) a class of Japanese cars.
You can order tickets online here for $25 or pay $30 at the gate. Who wants to wait all summer to drive all the way up to Pebble?