So – what did I see? The first thing that caught my eye was a pair of Alfetta GT racers, courtesy of Alex Jupe – the Telefunken one was my favourite…
...But the Marlbro liveried one was just as nice…
Moving on, I spied this great looking Trofeo Alfasud, belonging to none other than Ted Pearson!
He’d brought the car all the way down South just to participate in the parade laps around the adjacent Mercedes-Benz World site…
...Which if you haven’t seen it before is a wiggly loop of track built on the flattest part of the old Brooklands airfield. More often than not one of the modern supercars ends up in the kitty litter so most of the time the participants tootle around behind some enormous GL500 pace car, so I haven’t bothered to go over there for the last few years. But Ted – thank you for making the effort, and making my day!
Ted tells me that this car is a 1974 model, with all the correct Autodelta kit. Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic!
It was hard work tearing myself away from the Trofeo Sud, but the temperature was dropping and the skies were threatening, so I headed off to see more sights…
...Like this ISO Rivolta race car, a regular on the historic racing circuit. Also with a hint of racing pedigree was this…
Now, I know what you’re thinking – I thought so too, at first. But closer inspection revealed that it was in fact a 206 Dino replica, built on the frame of a 1971 Dino road car. Anyway, it was really nicely done, and not a hint of small-block Chevy V8 that usually ends up in the back of P4 replicas.
Another regular visitor to Auto Italia is this rare Lamborghini Islero…
...And this equally nice Series 2 Espada…
Moving slightly down-market, this mildly modified Fiat 128 3P caught my eye…
...And the sheer breadth of the Fiat 130 coupe always impresses…
Moving back down the banking, I found this really nice early (non-hatch) version of the 128…
...And at the other end of the luxury scale, this Maserati Quattroporte…
Now, this is one for the Puzzle Post I guess. Any ideas?
I expect you’ll get it in no time. I didn’t set out to make a puzzle picture, it just looked so good from this angle.
Now, I’m not a big fan of modern bikes, but this Ducati really stood out – I just love that 1970s cafe-racer look…
...This MV Agusta is more my era, although everyone else seemed to be looking at the matte-black monstrosity in the background!
Home straight now. Here’s an ISO Lele…
10 points if you correctly identified the De Tomaso Deauville in the background (you did, didn’t you?). And speaking of De Tomasos, here’s the fabulous Mangusta with its gull-wing engine covers open…
So that was the end of my colour roll. I shot a roll of black & white as well, but it is going to be a bit longer before that gets processed. There was a nice Alfasud L and a Sprint lurking amongst the sea of modern Alfas in the Heights car park, and a small selection of early Giuliettas (including an SS) in a secluded corner. By 2:00 PM the sleet had started to fall, and the rain showers became more frequent as the Test Hill closed for the day, so it was time to head home. All-in-all, it was worth going just to see Ted’s Trofeo Sud, and meet the man himself. I returned home with renewed enthusiasm – next time I am hoping there will be a flash of green amongst that sea of red Alfas…
Lauren
