Wilton House 2016: I liked the Maserati 4200; my wife was more interested in the ceanothus.
From: Jonathan Sharp
Dear Pete,
Jose and I managed to grab two days away over the weekend, May 21-22 and saw a recently restored world famous steam engine, the Flying Scotsman, in full steam; Stonehenge, the Salisbury Cathedral and a low-key event at Wilton House for Italian and French cars called “The Wilton Wake Up.”
Lamborghini Miura at the Wilton house.
Whilst the cars at the Wilton House event were not particularly rare I think I have some shots which may be of interest. Lovely cars in a beautiful setting. Wilton House has been the home of the Earls of Pembroke since 1540. Last year we reported on a major event held at Wilton House but this was a smaller affair.
Probably the most famous Neolithic site in Great Britain, Stonehenge has a history which dates back over 5000 years.
Enroute we went to Salisbury in Wiltshire and visited Salisbury Cathedral where there is one of the four remaining Magna Cartas. I know you wanted photos but no photography was allowed, which I can understand as it was written in 1215 AD.
The foundation stone of Salisbury Cathedral was laid on the 28th April 1220 with the main body of the building being finished and consecrated on the 29th September 1258. The spire, with a height of 404ft which was added between 1300 and 1320 is the tallest spire in England.
It is written on sheepskin parchment and the letters are tiny, as parchment was very expensive so they used every inch. The info placard stated that the size of parchment used would have cost the equivalent of two weeks wages for a shepherd. Course we know they didn’t get paid much in those days!
They used to say back in the old days that in England every small boys’ dream was to be a steam engine driver. Ironically, Fiat used to run an advert for the Fiat Coupe in the 1990s with a lead line of “In Italy nobody grows up wanting to be a train driver”.
We think the Fiat ad writers were blowing smoke.
I have attached a shot of the Scotsman steaming out of Salisbury station. Unfortunately it is a head on shot taken between heads in the pouring rain from a bridge. As you can see from the other bridge in the shot the Brits love steam trains, especially the Flying Scotsman.
Which takes us to the rest of the Wilton House concours. Here are a few of the best:
Fiat 500 and Miura in front of Wilton House.
Alfa 916 Spyder.
250GTE in the Wilton shop.
Alfa 4C Just in case you did not know it was Italian!
Another car in Lord Pembroke’s personal collection an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.
A very quick way to get to the golf club; a 247 bhp Alfa Romeo 3200cc V6 156 GTA.
It’s a good job I did not have my cheque book as this phase three Alfa Romeo 916 2.0 JTS Spyder had a for sale notice. It would have looked great next to my 916 GTV.
Forming part of Lord Pembroke’s personal collection this Ferrari 288 GTO was delivered to its first owner in Padova Italy in 1985. Used sparingly the car was imported into the UK in 2010.
The sun is shining, the country roads of Wiltshire beckon, what could be better than a Fiat 124 Spider.
To my mind perhaps not quite as good looking as the earlier examples, but this face lift Fiat Barchetta is still a pretty looking car and far more interesting than a Mazda MX5.
Ferrari-Lamborghini sandwich.
Fiat Abarth 595SS. Original? In the window is an article about the car from Classic and Sportscar magazine.
Painting with light.
The three Stratos.
Grand tourers, French style. A very rare sight in Britain, an Alpine A610 and a now slightly less rare sight in Britain, a Citroen SM.
From every angle the Lamborghini Diablo is a big car, looks great in red though.
Ferrari 360s and a 430 show off their finery.
Not the best car to arrive in if you are a shrinking violet. This bright yellow Ferrari F12 TDF certainly drew a crowd upon its arrival. With it is Lord Pembroke’s Bugatti Veyron.
These Lancia Stratos replicas look great on the gravel in front of Wilton House with the Veyron in the middle.
Sometimes it pays to be one of the last to leave. When everybody else had left the owners of these two 488 Ferraris were allowed to photograph the cars in front of Wilton house.
Great to see a Wilton Wake Up review. There are x6 of those during the summer months every year, each to a different theme. The Wake-Up isn’t a concours – it’s just an excuse to get together. They are entirely free to attend and reflect Lord Pembroke’s desire to offer facility for enthusiasts, including a damn good breakfast. There’s no telling what will pitch up. There were several genuine Abarth Fiats there on Sunday, the latest R8 V10 Audi, x16 360/430 Ferraris including x2 Stradales, the F12 TDF, the two 488s… the x6 Stratos. When the weathers good you can expect about 200 cars. It’s all in preparation for the all-new Wilton Classic and Supercar event which is schedule for next June. Well done Jonathan!
Alas, when I presented myself with a rental car at Wilton House in September last year, the doors were firmly shut. Admittedly, my car was a dismal English Ford Focus diesel and some movie was scheduled at the premises, but admiring the glorious interior of Wilton House was definitely a no-no, whatever their website said about opening hours. Worse was to come: Salisbury Cathedral was close as well because of the flower show the next day. Oh well…. perhaps next time.
Oh Willem, Don’t you just hate it when that happens…? Alas the House is never open in September, or only for a couple of days at best. Website states all. On the upside, had you turned up in a Alfa Monza rather than a Focus Diesel Lord Pembroke would probably have personally cooked you a fry-up. And had you upped your game further and come in a 8C 2.9 or even a mere Zagato A6GCS you’d have probably got croissants thrown in as well. We aren’t car snobs at Wilton but there are limits…