Bristol, 28 April 2012
The annual gathering of Italian vehicles took place on Saturday 28
April in its regular location of the Corn Street district of Bristol,
close to the city centre. Despite rain during the early part of the
morning, and a distinctly chill wind that made it feel more like
Winter than Spring, there was a very good turnout of a wide
variety of cars, motorcycles and motor scooters lining the narrow
streets of the area. In fact the sky was so grey and miserable,
that it was a wonder that anybody made the effort to get out of
bed, so all credit to the hardy souls who brought their machinery
for the public’s enjoyment.
Ferrari and Maserati were both well represented, predominantly
with modern variants, although there were a couple of more senior
members of the Ferrari fraternity in attendance, a 250 GT PF
Coupe, s/n 1083 GT, and a 365 GTC, s/n 12461, plus a pair of
Dino 246 GTs. The classic Maserati spectrum was represented
by a pair of Meraks, and there was a loan Lamborghini, but a rare
one, a 1968 Islero, and a single De Tomaso Pantera. The Alfa
Romeo marque was out in force, and ranged from a 1929 6C 1750
Super Sport model, through a rare 1600 GT Junior Zagato,
Giuliettas, Duettos, a SZ and a number of more modern variants.
There were also some interesting and rare Lancias, which ranged
from a 1937 Aprilia, an Appia, a Flaminia, a Fulvia HF rally car,
Integrales including a splendid Martini liveried example, and a
Beta Coupe rally car in Alitalia livery. Naturally there were a
number of Fiats, including “Topolinos” in the form of a 1937 500A
model, and a 1954 500C example, plus a fine selection of 500s, a
600, a pair of 850 Coupes and a 124 Spider. Add in a large
number of motorcycles from the likes of Ducatti, Moto Guzzi and
MV Agusta, plus classic motor scooters from Lambretta and
Vespa, and it can be seen that there was a diverse array of
machinery on display for everybody’s enjoyment.
Keith Bluemel
04/2012
|
