Renowned automotive designer Tom Tjaarda arrived in Texas on Wednesday where he will be the honored guest at this year’s ItalianCarFest weekend, a gathering of Italian cars and motorcycles in Grapevine, Texas.

Since this is Mr. Tjaarda’s first visit to Texas, he was taken to a local restaurant, “Love & War in Texas” to be welcomed by his fans and enjoy some refreshments. Several samples of two of his most prolific designs, the Fiat 124 Spider and the DeTomaso Pantera, were on hand to welcome him as well. Mr. Tjaarda was very personable even after a 15 hour flight from Italy and the group soon moved to the parking lot for photo ops with several of the cars and their owners. It didn’t take long for glove box doors to come off for obligatory autograph signing.
 

After quite some time discussing cars and taking photos, Tom was escorted to the Gaylord Texan, the host hotel, by an Italian car caravan. ItalianCarFest is a weekend gathering of Italian cars and two-wheelers in Grapevine, Texas (near Dallas/Fort Worth). This year’s show will feature a special area to visit with Tom Tjaarda and view some of the cars he designed. They will be held September 8, 9 and 10.  More info on the weekend can be found at www.ItalianCarFest.com