Auto Italia, 2nd May 2009
The Auto Italia spring show at the historic Brooklands motor racing circuit is always the first major show of the year, held on the early May bank holiday weekend. The weather had been very temperamental so I had been glued to the weather forecast for the preceding week, but my fears were unfounded, the prediction was for a warm sunny day, and I awoke very early that morning to glorious sunshine.
The reason for getting up so early was to meet up with a convoy of approximately 55 Ferraris at the Hilton hotel near Brooklands and then to head into the circuit in a convoy to enter the circuit via Mercedes Benz world, thus beating the rush and jams that can occur at this popular event, especially when the weather is favourable. On arriving at the meeting point we were not disappointed, the entire car park was full of Ferraris, including a brand new Ferrari California in light blue. It’s definitely a departure from the sleek Ferrari designs of the past, with a rather more chunky front and rear end. I’ll pass on giving a my verdict on the design until I’ve seen, and hopefully heard, a Rosso red one in the flesh 
Once inside Brooklands there was a great display of a variety of Italian cars, no doubt boosted by the favourable weather forecast. Some highlights included an original Ferrari P3 330 Le Mans racer, the above mentioned Ferrari California, an F50 (rare enough as it is) in an unusual graphite colour, matching Ferrari F430 Scuderia 16M spyder and berlinetta, a Ferrari 365 berlinetta boxer (easily mistaken for the slightly more common but equally beautiful 512BBi), a Ferrari 166 Barchetta (the 44th Ferrari ever made), and a 1930s Alpha Romeo (an original P3?) racer badged with Enzo Ferrari’s prancing horse shield, and a rare Alfa Romeo 8C ompetizione, I have to say it did look good. Whilst eating ice creams in the sunshine and goggling all the great cars on show I looked round to see none other than radio DJ, and avid Ferrari collector, Chris Evans chomping on a cigar as he pulled up with his wife in his £5.4million Ferrari 250 California. If that wasn’t enough he was closely followed by a friend driving a white Ferrari 288 GTO (I presume also owned by Mr Evans!), complete with baby Evans Jr in a baby seat as the passenger.
On top of all the fabulous Italian cars on display the Brooklands museum itself is well worth looking round. Some of the old racing cars they have (from around 1900-1940) are stunning, like the 24 litre Napier racer (yes 24 litre… mpg and CO2 emissions anyone?), and you won’t see cars like these in many other places in the world. There was also a Formula 1 exhibition which had Frentzen’s Jordan car, as well as Senna’s classic Malboro McLaren, this one was a demonstration car that never actually raced, but was used in promotion, so probably had the man himself pose with it for media photos at some point. Also in this exhibition, but sadly temporarily out of order, was a sit in computer simulation of driving the original Brooklands circuit. The driver initially gets a lap in a virtual Formula 1 car, but for the second lap this is replaced by a car with typical handling characteristics of a 1930s racer… we were reliably told that whilst people complete the first lap with ease, most people crash almost immediately on the second lap. Obviously car handling has improved a lot in almost a century 
The ticket to the AutoItalia show also lets you leave the Brooklands complex and take the short walk to Mercedes-Benz world. This was the first time I had been and I can say it’s well worth the visit. There are some pristine, classic Mercedes-Benzs on display, including a 300SL Gull wing Coupe, and the 1970s dictators’ (Idi Amin, etc) favourite car, the 600. You can also browse, and even buy, the latest Mercedes-Benz and Smart car range, plus out the back there is a mini race circuit and wet skidpan where you can watch professional and novice drivers putting the cars through their paces. If you are feeling brave you can pay to either be taken round by a pro in an AMG, or actually have a go yourself. Booking in advance may be best if you want to do this as it seemed very popular. For the less adventurous there is plenty of picnic space, and an indoor viewing area in case the weather isn’t so great, to watch the cars from. Mercedes-Benz world is a slightly mad place, it’s a museum, new car show room, and driving experience school all rolled into one!
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