Balloons and Ferraris Sunday 5th August 2007, Groombridge Place, Kent
This proved to be a great day at Groombridge Place, which is tucked away in the hilly Kent countryside, not far from Tunbridge Wells. The fine weather from the week stayed with us and Sunday was scorching: blue skies, blazing sun, and it must have been getting on for 30C. After enduring some mind numbingly slow traffic on the M25 Dartford crossing, and through Tunbridge Wells itself, we knew we had found the grounds of Groombridge Place as we descended a windy country road to see a huge Ferrari logo banner, courtesy of the Kent Ferrari Owners Club.
There was already around 20 Ferraris present, with more trickling in every few minutes. There must have been another 20 or so turning up over the next couple of hours, but by the time the gates were open to the public there was already a great display. There were some fine Mondials, 308/328s, 348s, 355, 360s and a really mean looking racing spec F430 complete with giant Atari logos. A fully restored Dino badged 206(246?) also turned up later in the day. I saw a Mondial 8 for the first time, they look identical to the Mondial QV from the outside, but the layout of the central button column and dashboard is completely different! With a reasonably priced bar, a members only FOC marquee showing the Grand Prix on a big screen, and a free BBQ for drivers kind enough to bring their Ferraris you could not ask for much more… and I haven’t even mentioned the grounds of Groombridge Place itself, the maniac stunt plane demonstration, the Brass and Caribbean steel bands, or the huge balloons that were slowly inflated behind the parked Ferraris. Overall a really enjoyable Sunday!
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