Brooklands, 04 May 2013
An overcast chilly start, with blustery winds, didn’t deter a great
selection of Italian cars and motorcycles, along with thousands of
visitors, from attending the annual Auto Italia magazine Italian Car
Day, in the grounds of the Brooklands Museum near Weybridge
in Surrey. Maybe the lack of any real spring weather this year,
gave people an attitude of let’s make the most of it come hell or
high water! Certainly, in all the years that I have attended, I have
never seen the public car parks so full. The event followed its
regular format of providing track display runs on the adjacent
Mercedes-Benz World test track during the morning, where
Ferrari North Europe’s 458 Italia demonstrator and a Maserati
GranTurismo were the course cars, and runs up the steep test hill
in the afternoon, both of which attracted huge crowds of
spectators. Even a brief hailstorm at lunchtime didn’t detract
people, and when this had passed there was predominantly bright
sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.
... MediaCenter gallery >>>
Apart from the attraction of hundreds of Italian cars, ranging from
a nice array of Fiat 500s, both ancient and modern, to a bright
orange Lamborghini Aventador, there is also access to all the car
and aircraft exhibits in and around the historic museum buildings,
plus the London Bus Museum, making for a full and varied day
out for the whole family. Virtually every mainstream Italian marque
was represented, with a large display of Ferraris covering most of
the models from the early eighties to date, including a 360 Spider
“Polizia”, a pair of 599 GTOs, along with a few older examples,
like a 275 GTB/4, a 330 GTC and a 330 GTS, another bare shell
330 GTC displayed by Barkaways, a 330 GT 2+2, a 365 GTC/4
and a Dino 246 GT. Others at the exotic end of the spectrum
were a number of Lamborghinis, including an Espada, a
Countach, Diablos, Gallardos and Murcielagos, plus an
Aventador. Add in an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, an Alfa
Romeo Montreal, a Bizzarrini, a Maserati 3500 GT, a Ghibli, a
Merak and a Bora, plus numerous more modern variants, a pair of
De Tomaso Panteras and a Mangusta, together with an Iso
Rivolta Fidia, and it can be seen that there was a broad spectrum
of rare and special cars on display.
There was also plenty of variety amongst the more everyday
Italian marques, with both well preserved classic models, and
wildly modified examples, like a “work in progress” Fiat 600 with a
mid-mounted twin cam Abarth engine. There was a vast variety of
Fiats, apart from the previously mentioned 500s, ranging from the
classic 500 Topolino, through Pandas, Puntos, 131 Abarths,
Coupes, and a very rare 125 Coupe by Vignale. The Lancia and
Alfa Romeo displays were almost as equally expansive, including
a pair of pre-war Lancias, a Lambda and a Augusta Sedan, a
B20, numerous Delta Integrales in a variety of liveries, whilst the
Alfa Romeo contingent ranged from a 1953 3000 “Disco Volante”
and a beautiful 1954 1900C SS through Alfasuds, Giulias,
Giuliettas, including a SS, to the previously mentioned Montreal
and 8C Competizione. Add in rarities like Autobianchi and
Innocenti, and there was truly an eclectic mix for everybody’s
enjoyment and pleasure.
Keith Bluemel
05/2013
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