THE AUGUST DILEMMA; So many places, so little time.(News)

Byline: WILLIAM JEANES

Because August brings with it so many car-related events, adherents of the automotive faith consider it a holy month. But for those of us without a private jet, August also presents hard choices: Pebble Beach or the Woodward Dream Cruise? Monterey Historic Automobile Races or the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance? Concorso Italiano or the Christie's auction? These and other grand occasions epitomize all that's wonderful about being an enthusiastic member of the automotive culture, and the following pages will give you an insider's look at many of them.

But first, a word about enthusiasm itself. Enthusiasm goes beyond being forced by heartless promoters to choose between Pebble Beach and the Woodward Dream Cruise each year.

Those captivated by automobiles will spend a lifetime paying for that enchantment. But the expenditures are freely made. Just as adventurers will lay out thousands to ply the infested waters of the Amazon or struggle up remote Himalayan peaks, so too will the automotive enthusiast hand over a bushel of hard-earned dollars to buy that fourth or fifth car. A Series 1 XKE perhaps. Or an original Mini. He will buy that E-type or Mini not because he needs it; he will buy it because he has to. Without it, he knows his life will be a failure. Locusts will lay waste his pastures, and mongrels will snap at his heels.

Car enthusiasts are often called grease monkeys or gearheads by dullards unable to understand why the fragrance of a Ferrari interior can send sane adults into raptures that would shame a Holy Roller. Or why an in-person sighting of Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill or Dan Gurney can bring real tears to the eyes of real men. Or why driving a 300SL Mercedes Gullwing at breakneck speed through the inky Italian night will convince you that you own the world-and make you forget you're ...