MOTOR-BLOG from Coventry

Yep we was there, if you’ll excuse the poor english. The Auto Italia Magazine Italian car shows are always a great affair, but this one really was tops. Why? Well because unlike last time, we actually went in an Italian car. I say we, I mean myself and Jim, our Italian car corespondent.

The show is also good as it is at Stanford Hall - a great venue, and not far from the greatest city in all of Britain. Well Coventry, but you get the idea. So with this show on the doorstep, Jim fired up the Monte and piloted it to his first show in his dream car. I followed on in his everyday car, an Alfa GT JTD. Yes it may be modern, but I actually like it a lot, it’s very stylish and it’s true what they say - driving an Alfa really is a special experience.

The attendence was cracking too - perhaps because the public were show starved last year with all the poor weather we had? Perhaps. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Top Gear were doing one of their adventure pieces and driving three Alfas to enter in the concours. Shock horror - some broke down and they kept bashing into each other…

I’m sure when they edit it all together it’ll be very amusing, but it did make kind of a mockery of the concours - and people were quite disrespectful to the ‘proper’ cars entered - some of them sitting on very rare top condition motors to watch the filming. Were these people really car fans? I suspect not - a real petrol head wouldn’t sit on and risk damaging a car at a show. No, a lot of these people were celebrity chasers…      

Still, it brought the punters in, and the car selection were great. The many Ferrari’s in attendence left me cold (as they always do) and why do the owners all insist on wearing red Ferrari branded T Shirts to match their cars? I’ll keep my opinions to myself on THAT one I can tell you, but an ISO Griffo? Yes please. Maserati Khamsin? Yup, I’ll have one. Alfa Romeo Montreal? Well, if you insist…

Also present was the Lea Francis club with a fine display of fine Coventry built cars to round the day off. Oh, and Jim was interviewed by Jeremy Clarkson and James May about his Lancia Monte Carlo, so a good day was had by all, and Clarkson was quite nice about Jims car, so that won’t make it into the show then…

Yep it is indeed a Mark 1 lancia Monte Carlo! My mate Jim has wanted one of these for as long as I’ve known him, and now he’s got one - at last! It’s always great to get the car you’ve always wanted and I must admit I’m a little jealous. A bit like my career path (if you can call it that) I’ve never really had much direction when it comes to cars.

I’ve always wanted to be like those people who’ve always wanted a Ferrari, and spend years and years saving up to get their dream. Ok, so perhaps that is a bad example as I for one cannot fathom why anyone would ever want a Ferrari - except perhaps a Magnum Spec 308 - now there’s a thought… However, I’ve never really had a dream car of my own.

OK I’ll admit I it -I DID have a Ferrari Tessarossa and a Lambo Countach poster on my wall when I was a kid - but that was the Eighties and we all did. I also had a MG EX-E and a Jaguar XJ220 poster too - I was particulary fond of the Jag poster as the photo was taken outside the Whitley engineering plant, and I was at that time walking past the same factory everyday on my way to school.

My favourite poster though - and it wasn’t even really a poster - was of a Ford Sierra. No it wasn’t a Cossie or even an XR4, it was a standard red five door sloping fronted mark one rep-wagon. I had cut the picture out of a Motor Show sourced Ford model range brochure from when it was first launched. Don’t ask me why, I was only about seven at the time - but I really liked that car. It’s still up on the wall of my old bedroom too - although it is now quite badly faded and the Blu-Tac has greased up the edges.

I guess I’m just a realist - perhaps this is why I like Triumphs rather than Jags? I’ve got nothing against Jaguars you understand, and I’m due to have a date with an XK120 very soon which I’m quite excited about, but I just can’t imagine ever owning one. Unless someone out there knows where my Great Uncle Andrews 420G automatic has disappeared to? NUF 835G where are you?

Anyhow back to the plot. Jim now has his dream car which is great, and I don’t - because I don’t know what it is yet. Ho Hum, I’ll just have to stick to my Vitesse then, although there is currently a Triumph Courier on Ebay for £300. Me wanty…

Jims new car - but what is it? Answers on a postcard please…