Our very special guest will have to learn a thing or two about social etiquette now that he’s going to gala evenings…
They didn’t tell me to bring an evening jacket but, to be honest it, never even occurred to me to get one. Invitations to gala evenings like the one at the Venice Casino don’t come Pistunzen’s way too often. This time I was invited by mistake and found myself amongst the high-profile collectors in whose honour the gala dinner was being held. I hid myself away in a corner of the powerboat that was ferrying us down from the Lido and watched the gentlemen who’d brought their cars all the way from the US, Hong Kong, India, Argentina and South Africa to spend four days on the roads between Maranello Venice and the Colli Euganei hills.
These old Venetian palazzos can feel a bit oppressive with their stuccos, their big paintings and those enormous chandeliers I always feel might fall down at any moment. But the other evening the enthusiasm of the participants was such that the Palazzo Vendramin felt almost merry. Mind you, the ladies weren’t quite so merry, as they’d been forced to spend the summery Italian days but sitting alongside their husbands as they played with their Ferraris, rather than browsing the luxury shops and boutiques. I’m sure those slightly severe expressions were a prelude to demands for treats that will inject a few euros into our economy!
I spent a while chatting with my cousins – all of them quite elderly now as the cars they belong to are from the 1950s and 60s. They told me that they were a bit torn up when the 30 participating Ferraris really let rip on the old Lido circuit. The poor old Pistunzens were going flat out at 6,000 or 7,000 rpms. That might not seem like much today but for cars built in the days of coughy carburettors and fickle magnetos, it’s plenty.
In the end though, they were all delighted because – and this I attest to personally – we Ferrari pistons are proud to be the authentic heart of the emotions that are cars deliver.
PUBLISHED IN Pistunzen's blog BY Pistunzen ON 09.29.2011
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment