Brooklands, 02 May, 2015
The annual Auto Italia Magazine Italian Car Day, this year in
association with Hoyle Fox Classics, was held on Saturday 02
May at its regular venue at the Brooklands Museum Complex, in
Weybridge, Surrey. The day dawned decidedly chilly with leaden
skies, but that didn’t deter people from bringing out a wide variety
of cars to display and run, together with the largest crowd that I
have ever seen at the event. I seem to say this every year, but the
event really has grown in stature and popularity over the years.
Fortunately, the day both warmed and brightened up by
lunchtime, to make everything much more pleasant for everybody.
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The gathering followed its tried and tested popular format of
displays around the museum buildings and aircraft, with an
expansion into an adjacent parking area to accommodate a
dedicated Alfa Romeo and a modern Abarth display area. There
was the regular opportunity to drive on the adjacent
Mercedes-Benz World test track in groups before the lunch
break, together with the always popular “Silver Arrows” display
team slipping and sliding in harmony on the skid pan. The
afternoon activity centres on the old Brooklands test hill adjacent
to the main paddock area, and this is always lined from top to
bottom with spectators enjoying the spectacle of the wide variety
of cars that their owners take the opportunity to pit against the
steep incline.
Upon entering through the main pedestrian entrance one was
greeted by the dedicated Ferrari parking areas, which stretched
towards the clubhouse, with a broad selection of predominantly
modern examples on display. That is, if one considers 308s and
328s modern, when some of them are approaching their 40th
birthday, and even a 328 is at least 25 years old, whilst an early
348 is of the same age. At the entrance end of this area was the
expansive DK Engineering display, which ran from the unique 330
GT 2+2 Vignale Shooting Break, through a Dino 246 GTS, an eye
catching Rosso Dino 365 GTB4, an F40, to a 430 Scuderia and
an example of the limited edition 430 16M Spider.
The main paddock area displays in front of the clubhouse,
included a very nice pale metallic blue Ferrari 276 GTB4, a Dino
246 GTS “Chairs & Flares”, a spectacular Alitalia liveried Lancia
Stratos, De Tomaso Mangusta and Pantera, Iso Rivolta Lele and
Fidia, Alfa Romeo 4C and 8C, another eye catcher in the form of
a metallic green Lamborghini Huracan by Oakley Design, to name
but a few. Adjacent to this was the Hoyle Fox display around the
old petrol staion, and this included another Dino 246 GTS “Chairs
& Flares”, so two of the seven RHD examples imported into the
UK were in the same place at the same time, a recently restored
by them 330 GTC, together with a 250 Testa Rossa replica, and a
recently imported from the USA early 250 GT PF Coupe.
It wasn’t all about Ferraris, as there was a strong turnout of
Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Abarths both old and new, including a
rare Abarth-Simca Coupe, a massive array of Fiats spanning the
years, some standard and others highly modified. There were Alfa
Romeo variants aplenty, as were Lancia Delta Integrales, and
there was even a quartet of Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato Coupes,
together with examples of the very pretty standard coupe. Thus
visitors had a wide spectrum of Italian automobiles to enjoy, both
in static pose and in action, together with all the other attractions
of the Brooklands Museum complex, including the London Bus
Museum, aircraft hangars and the Concorde Experience.
Keith Bluemel
05/2015
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