What a fun day that was! Meeting up at a local service station, so we could all drive-in together to the Classics at the Villa: Fast Cars and Slow Food, car show. At 9 o’clock this morning, there was approximately fifteen Ferrari’s outside a drive-though Starbucks, patiently waiting so we could convoy the seven miles to Villa Scalabrini, and once we arrived we were greeted by—maybe—another fifteen Ferrari’s who had made their own way to the venue.
Category Archives: Car Shows
Harpenden Classics on the Common
Last week was the setting for one of the highlights of my Ferrari orientated year: the Harpenden Classics on the Common. I had heard about it last year but too late to purchase tickets or even attend, so this time around I made sure that I bought tickets in good time. It was to be one of the biggest car shows I would attend, with over 1,000 cars, including several dozen Ferrari’s. I was looking forward to the idea of convoying in and arriving with other Ferrari owners.
Bath Festival of Motoring
What a great weekend! A big thank-you to everyone involved: organisers, owners, drivers, and the general public. From what I heard we raised quite a sum for charity offering rides in our supercars for a small donation. There was a nice selection of supercars, from Ariel Atom’s to Ferrari F40’s, and many in between (including my own Ferrari 360, of course).
Ferrari For Hire
So last week my 360 went off on an adventure of its own. My brother had asked if he could borrow it for a couple of days while his wife and he stayed at Limewood. As it’s a fancy place, and I had no plans to use the car for a couple of weeks, I agreed he could showoff for a few days. All I asked was that he try and get a couple of good photographs of the Ferrari in front of hotel’s main building, which he was more than happy to do.
CarFest
Another summer weekend, another car show. And again, this was a large one! Six days of cars and music, spread over two weekend and two locations; all in need of Children in Need. The Ferrari Owners’ Club had managed to secure fifty places per day for members to exhibit our cars, and I was able to put myself forward for the Sunday at CarFest South. After waiting excitedly for weeks, it all came crashing down the Thursday before when we were informed that due to the amount of rain that had fallen, the field was so saturated that the Owners’ Club was pulling out of the entire weekend.
Uxbridge Charity AutoShow
Another high profile outing, and this time one much closer to home. In fact, I have been looking forward to this show since last year, when I walked along to look at everything. Obviously being my closest car show, as soon as online registration was open I signed myself and my 360 up (although not for the concours, as my patience for immaculate cleaning is rather low—especially with a car I’d rather drive and not just look at). A whole day, looking at some absolute classics, alongside my modern-ish Ferrari: perfect!
Goodwood Festival of Speed
This is the big one! One of those events that not only every Ferrari owner should attend, but every car enthusiast must attend, at least once. I’m a little disappointed to say that it will in fact be my first appearance at Goodwood FOS, but better late than never. And what better way to make my first entrance in a Ferrari 360. The tickets I had were for Thursday and Friday which (was actually rather nice as it gave me the weekend to cruise around and see some friends, it also) allowed me to experience the Moving Motor Show in addition to the famous hill climb.
Sheesh
With the second bank holiday of May upon us, and a nice shiny, repaired front bumper, I managed to score myself a table and parking space at the Sheesh restaurant, in Chilwell, for a supercar lunch. I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather do on a Sunday afternoon than miss the Monaco Grand Prix, but I would have to eat something and might as well do it in the company of like-driving people. (End of sarcasm.) The only thing that was causing me some concern was the football at Wembley, which might cause a lot of traffic, but I hoped this wouldn’t be an issue at around 11 o’clock. The North Circular was busy but free-flowing, and it all became worth it through the tunnels—drop a couple of gears, keep the speed steady, and let her roar!
First Car Show, Storage and More
After the misadventure of the previous weekend I was excited to once again get to drive my Ferrari (although I was a little apprehensive). Unlike the previous week, I arranged for someone from Slade’s Garage to collect me from Beaconsfield train station. I had also decided to take a slightly different route back to the Cotswolds, via the M40 and Oxford; partly because I had also arranged to meet a friend in Cirencester later that evening. The journey was uneventful until I had passed Oxford and was cruising along the A40. Unfortunately I failed to keep an eye on my fuel gauge, and all of a sudden I was down to a single bar and a warning light! It was time to start paying attention and find a Shell garage.