Newsletter of the essex group of the ferrari owners club of great britain

issue 332 - may/june 2017

Every now and again we receive requests that tug at the heart strings and just seem too difficult to turn down. Sometimes the AGO gets all giddy and turns a request for a ride in a Ferrari into a full blown event. And when the initial feeling of giddiness is rewarded with an event that sees everyone involved going home with a spring in their step and a smile on their face, well, the AGO’s relief is accompanied by a deep sense of satisfaction.

But let’s start at the beginning! I received a call late last year from a chap asking if I could arrange a ride in a Ferrari for his 6 year old grandson who is recovering from leukemia and of course, I said “no problem”. But, as it was late in the year and most of our cars were in winter hibernation, coupled with the fact that his grandson, Archie was still quite poorly, we decided to leave it until he was well enough.

So, I had some time to think about it and wondered if we couldn’t put on a bit of a show and hopefully raise a few quid for Great Ormand Street Hospital, which is where Archie was having his treatment. Expecting to get just a couple of locals to help out, I was very happy to receive 9 replies all offering their time and cars for the day. Brilliant!

Archie murphy ride out

Due to the great response it was agreed that we could use Archie’s school playground as a meeting place which meant we were off the main road and everyone would be able to walk around the cars and get some nice pictures. Archie’s grandparents even laid on tea and cakes for us which was a nice touch and very much appreciated.

The sight of 7 Ferrari’s - accompanied by the recently acquired and very pretty Mustang Convertible owned by Dan How’s father, Chris - did draw some attention from passers by who were asked to drop a donation in the GOSH collection bucket before being allowed to have a mooch around the cars, thankfully all were willing to oblige and these small gestures finally totalled just over £100.

News seemed to spread quite quickly and we were soon joined by a local councilor who came down to see why there were 7 Ferrari’s parked in a local school playground, which resulted in an article appearing in the local newspaper.

Eventually it was time to take the boys for their rides, and surprisingly, a couple did take a little persuading before we were all strapped in and ready to go. Fortunately for Archie’s grandad, the children were all too small to strap safely in Dan How’s F40 so it was him that took the privileged position of co-pilot in this very special car.

Thanks to Mark Biddle, Adrian Haylock, Dan How, Keith Marzetti and Ricky Moore for joining the AGO’s in giving their time to a worthy cause. Thanks also to Chris How for bringing along his beautiful Mustang.

Alex Hoyle PhotoshootAfter months of trying to pin him down, we finally managed to set a date with Alex Hoyle - son of Terry and Gwen - for the planned photo-shoot around the old Bradwell Airfield.We arranged to meet near Terry’s house where Gwen had prepared tea and scones for us while we drooled over the 275GTB Terry is ‘looking after’ parked provocatively on the lawn. This must be one of the most beautiful cars ever built and it looked absolutely stunning in this setting.

It was agreed that we go to the airfield two cars at a time whilst the rest of us made the pilgrimage to Terry’s lock up to view some of the gems hidden within. Among these were a blue 275GTB 4 cam which Terry once owned in the 80’s a n d t h e e x - E d C a r t e r 3 3 0 L M B recreation, which was started by Ed but unfortunately not completed before his tragic death. The car has since been sold a n d i s b e i n g completed by the new owner.

So, with Alex perched in the boot of his own car and armed with his cameras, we set off in pairs to get those all important pictures of our cars, examples of which are below. I think you’ll agree, they are quite spectacular.

A big thank you to Terry and especially Gwen for hosting this event and for keeping us all well fed, watered and entertained while we waited to go to the airfield and also to Alex for giving up his Bank Holiday for us.

250 Pininfarina - Mike Kliskey

456GT - David Billison

F40 Michelotto - Dan How

348ts - Steve Target

550 Maranello - Jonathan Eckersley

Club Night hosted by lancaster ferrariOur May monthly meeting was held at Lancaster Ferrari, Colchester where we were joined by some members of the Anglia Group. In all, nearly 40 members in 19 Ferrari’s enjoyed Lancasters very kind hospitality as we took the opportunity to present our awards for 2016 and hold a small raffle for a bottle of F&M Valpolicella that made £42 for the Essex funds.

The trophies were awarded as follows:The Essex Trophy - Andrew Wood-Hill. This trophy is awarded to the person who has suffered the worst luck with their Ferrari during the year and is made of the tailpipe from none other than a Ferrari 250 GTO. Early on in our trip to Reims the windscreen of Andrews 308 was badly damaged by a stray rock, but Gina and Andrew didn’t let it ruin their weekend and continued on to enjoy the rest of the trip. True Essex Ferrari spirit.The Bill Thomas Avisford Award - Graham Collett. Awarded to the most enthusiastic member of the year and made from the gearstick from Jeff Simpsons 246GT Dino and the gate from the ex Bill Thomas, Richard Allen, Steve Target and now, David Billison 308GT4. Graham was chosen as the recipient for his well organised ‘pilgrimage’ to the hallowed ground of Maranello for a tour of the factory as well as attending many other events throughout the year.The Bunty Abraham Award - Janet Target. The most recent addition to our trophy collection is awarded to the most supportive partner in memory of Bunty Abraham who was always by husband Roberts side at every Ferrari event he attended. Janet is the long suffering wife of AGO Steve (no nepotism, Steve didn’t choose this one!) and has not only partnered him to many events but has also helped with organising trips and made the table decorations etc. for our Christmas dinner parties even though she has absolutely no interest in cars at all!Raffle - Phill Simpson (Anglia AGO). Another new idea in order to raise some much needed funds for the Essex Group. Not content with crashing our party, the Anglia Group made off with the spoils from the raffle too!A big thank you to all at Lancaster Ferrari for hosting our meeting and for laying on a very nice buffet, which was eagerly tucked into by all in attendance.

Those ugly

Barkaways Open DayWhen in convoy, never set off from Capstan Court without a plan. I did have a plan but it was all gone within about 1 minute. You see the first real obstacle is the lights on the roundabout at the top of the hill. You blast off in your yellow Dino hoping that all will follow, but no! Within seconds the lights have changed and you are off down a busy M25 completely by yourself.Not following behind were Graham

Collett, Vernon Smith, Martin Jones, Mark Kieve & son Elliot, Andy & Gina Wood-Hill, Antony & Lewis Shine, Rod Key as ever in his F40 and a couple of passengers whose names…..and also the black wannabe Fordrari of Andy Hull. Later I discovered that Adrian Haylock had just caught our tail. So we had Yellow, Red, Red, Red, Red, Red, Red, Red, Black, Red which just about regrouped 8 miles later on the M20. It was at this point Kay and I opened up the carbs and went for it – an indicated 90 up the hill which must have been at least 70 in real money. Pitched into the busy A20/M20/M26/A25 quadrangle a few miles later we were a hopeless mess again but somehow got it together for the slow “7 mile lane” to East Peckham. The final blast, which Ian Barkaway later referred to as “our local test track”, was along the East Peckham bypass. Mark’s 458 Spider passed me at some knots and despite being somewhat less powerful I couldn’t help having a go. This resulted in a previously unseen 110 mph in the Dino (80 real money) – and we overtook Mark (or he let us) and then had a heart stopping brake moment as we reached the end of the road. This was all too much excitement and I promptly led Mark into the wrong industrial estate. But we got there eventually. The big car park was full of amazing Ferraris and other species. Who could have missed the immaculate baby blue Lamborghini Miura sitting in the corner, looking like it had just left the factory. The owner also had an award winning red Iso Grifo, and a 246 GT with only 11,000 miles on the clock.

With a band playing soft string music, warm sunshine and a Pimms in hand it was easy to just stand and gaze. However we forced ourselves for a walk round the warehouses. The main workshop had the usual cars in construction; a blue Alfa Guilia Spider, a pair of Bugatti race cars and a black on white Countach (a childhood dream). Moving on to the body shop where something uninspiring becomes a painted wonder like the 512 BB sitting outside (adult dream)!

Finally the “70 years of Ferrari” exhibit and storage shed. Here we were treated to the traditional presentation from the Barkaways team which oddly ended in tears. The theme this year was Ferraris through the ages and there were about 12 cars representing the different eras of the marque. At the end of the rolling presentation was a lone silver Dino with red interior freshly prepared by the team. Ian described the work that had gone into it following on from detailed consultation with its racing driver owner. The project was very nicely underway in late 2016 when the owner suddenly died. The car was to be presented to his widow and daughter. Emotion got the better of Ian and he couldn’t finish the presentation. Kay was in wiping her face beside me and it might have been the heat or something but my eyes started to smart too. You had to be there.

Meat pie or BBQ lunch, beer, Pimms, Bugattis and Countach all for free. Well virtually – I suspect that sooner or later something will need doing, and Barkaways quality will come to mind. They

have expanded into such things as photos and videos of your car. But the wins at Salon Prive etc are the bedrock. It was once again a great (and emotional) day out. Greg Thompson

wonderful news for essex ferrari membersSince our last newsletter, the Essex Group has received the wonderful news of not one, but two engagements. The first came during the May meeting with the announcement that Graham Collett proposed to Vicky Atkin-Nash whilst on holiday in Venice and the second came in early June when Simon Walker proposed to Kate Sampson whilst in Monaco - our boys know how to do it in style!

I’m sure you’ll all join us in congratulating the happy couples and wish them all a very long and happy future together.

CALENDAR 2017March Event Venue11 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner Savoy, London19 Shuttleworth Collection Drive Out Old Warden29 Club Night Fox & Goose CM1 3SN31 Restoration Show NEC

April1 Breakfast Club The Hare, Roxwell13-14 Piazza Italia Horsham18 Trackday Silverstone GP Circuit22 Essex Weekend Away The Narrowboat, Weedon23 Annual General Meeting Whittlebury Hall23 National Drive It Day National26 Club Night The Fox & Goose CM1 3SN28 Auto Italia Driving Experience Longcross Test Facility29-30 Essex Ferrari French Trip Chateau Cocove29 Auto Italia - Italian Car Day Brooklands (Lancaster Convoy)

May13 Archie Murphy Ride in a Ferrari Benfleet 13 50th Anniversary Celebration Scotland21 Disability Challengers Event Churt, Surrey27 La Vita Rossa - Hillclimb event Prescott31 Club Night & Prize Giving Lancaster showroom

June7 Motorsport Hall of Fame RAC Club, Epsom10 Barkaways Open Day Tonbridge, Kent11 Northern Ferrari Day Vale Royal Abbey Golf Club12 Trackday Goodwood17-18 Le Mans 24h La Sarthe, France18 Club Picnic Crich Tramway Village, Matlock22-25 Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood25 Herts & Essex Air Ambulance Event Audley End House28 Club Night TBC

July2 Maldon Motor Show Maldon, Promenade Park8 National Event & EFG Club Concours Danesfield House Hotel, Marlow11 Porsche Club BBQ Rivenhall Golf Club16 F1 British GP Silverstone16 Wings & Wheels Damyns Hall Airfield, Upminster18 Trackday Oulton Park19 Lancaster 70th Anniversary Dinner Lancaster, Colchester (812 Superfast)26 Club Night TBC28-30 Silverstone Classic - Club Car Display Silverstone

CALENDAR 2017August12 Trackday Goodwood13 Italian Festival Brands Hatch27 Essex Ferrari Picnic Tiptree30 Club Night TBC

September Event Venue2 Southend Italian Festival Southend3 F1 Italian GP Monza8-10 Goodwood Revival Goodwood22-24 Ferrari Racing Days Silverstone24 Grand Motorbilia Day Battlesbridge27 Club Night TBC

October4-6 Factory Tour - Group One Maranello9-11 Factory Tour - Group Two Maranello25 Club Night TBC

November10-12 Classic Car Show NEC29 Club Night TBC

December2 Essex/Anglia Ferrari Christmas Dinner TBC

*Events highlighted in purple indicate Essex group specific events*

Essex FerrariEssex Ferrari Monthly Meetings

Our monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month at The Fox & Goose, Wyses Road, Chelmsford CM1 3SN

Next MeetingWednesday 28th June 2017

Steve Target

07944 690723steveferrari308@gmail.com

Jonathan Eckersley

07967 600800home@jeckersley.com

We always look forward to meeting new members (both FOC and Prancing Horse Register) and would love to see you at our monthly meetings and various other

events. We would also be delighted to hear from anyone with any suggestions for events and would be particularly happy to receive your pictures and articles for the

newsletter.Remember, it’s Your Club and Your Newsletter

A full calendar of National events and the relevant booking forms can be found on the Ferrari Owners Club website at:

www.ferrariownersclub.co.ukplus Essex Ferrari updates and our calendar of events can be found

in the Essex Area Group page of the website.Office Tel: 01327 855430