Ferrari Mondial . Net

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!

After seveal weekends of rain some sunny autumnal weather finally materialized, so we decided to make the trek up to the north of Oxfordshire for the Auto Italia Autumn show. The “trek” was actually an idyllic drive straight up the M40 towards Banbury, and as we cruised along we were lucky enough to bump into a rare Lamborghini Espada making it’s way to the same destination. With it’s throbbing V12 and elongated yet incredibly low profile body, it was a sight to behold!

On arriving at the event we found the organisation was good, marshalls were on hand to guide cars into spaces based on their marques. There were about 20 Ferraris present: a Dino 246, 330, Testarossa, 308/328s, 355s, and a also an F430 Scuderia in light blue, which was the first one I had ever seen. On the Mondial front we were parked up alongside a very dark blue (or maybe black) 85 Mondial QV, there was also a Mondial 8 in attendance, but I don’t recall seeing any 3.2 Mondials or a Mondial t. There was an impressive turnout of other Italian marques too, plenty of Alphas, Lancias and Fiats. The real jaw dropping sight was the collection of so many Lamborghinis, especially pristine Countaches and Diablos, many of them in the classic pin up poster colours that adorned many young lads’ bedrooms in the 80s/90s (see photos). The scene resembled a squadron of space ships ready to take off from Battlestar Galactica.

The Heritage Motor Centre is built on the grounds of the old RAF Gaydon which was built as a secret World War 2 airbase and operated until the 1970s when the land was bought by British Leyland, who turned it into their own top secret research and development centre, complete with a high speed test track. After the decline of the British Leyland the site and main building were modernised by Rover and lottery money in the early 1990s as a museum to the British motor industry, and the main building now holds the largest collection of classic British cars in the UK. The £10 entrance to the Auto Italia show included admission to the Heritage Motor Centre itself, which is great value for money as the meuseum is well worth looking round. Rather than just an endless line of cars there are plenty of interactive and educational displays to keep kids entertained too (and hopefully they might learn something!).

Another hightlight of the show was that for an extra £20 you could take your car around the test track in one of the three sessions throughout the day. There are a few sensible rules: speed limit of 90mph, no overtaking, and strict following of the pace car, but it’s a chance to put your foot down at least a little bit. I didn’t take up the offer this year but might do next time round. The only disappointing thing is that there is no viewing point of the test track for observers to watch the sessions, also any kind of filming or photography is banned on or near the test track. This is deliberate because Aston Martin have a hangar containing all their latest developments, and they have understandable concerns of industrial espionage. One chap we talked to worked in the industry and told us that a few years ago, when Aston Martin were developing and testing one of their new models, light aircraft would appear and circle every time the hangar doors opened up. Clearly the motor car manufacturing industry is big business, and rival companies will go to great lengths to find out what the opposition are up to… just look at Formula 1!

Photos from the day can be found here.