A
s I write this, I’ve just come back from Auto Italia’s annual Italian Car Day at
Brooklands. This is an always exhausting but always rewarding event; this year
more than most. The weather played ball (mostly) and there was some great
track action at the Mercedes-Benz World circuit. For me, though, it’s wandering
around and eyeballing cars I’ve never seen before that really gets my juices
going. A Spidereuropa with 1200 miles on the clock; a Touring Maserati Bellagio estate; a
Monteverdi 375; the list goes on and on.I’m told that a remarkable 6000 visitors were there, so if I missed you on the day, apologies
but at least you know why! Turn to page 70 for our full report on the show – and see if you
can spot your car in the pics...I always try and draw a theme out of each issue’s contents. While it’s not perhaps a
dominant theme, there’s a certain ‘electrifying’ thread this month, by which I mean of
course electric cars. We’ve been driving a 1970 Fiat 500 converted to battery power and I
can tell you, it works far better than I was expecting, as you can discover on page 34.If classic electric Fiats work, Fiat will be very much hoping for the same in its future, since
the new era will be defined by battery power. The next-generation Fiat 500, which will be
launched exclusively in electric form, is now just nine months away. And Fiat has redoubled
its commitment to battery power with the Centoventi concept car – effectively the next-
gen Panda – which is intended to be the cheapest electric car on the market.And it’s prescient that we have a 450hp Tesla-powered electric Ferrari 308 in this issue,
because by the time you read this, Ferrari will have launched its latest new model, a
stunning petrol/electric hybrid supercar. There are so many innovations on it that I can’t
begin to list them; you’ll just have to watch out for our full story next month.WELCOME
Auto Italia®is published twelve times a year by:
Ginger Beer Promotions Ltd,
Enterprise House, Building 52, Wrest Park,
Silsoe, Bedfordshire, MK45 4HS
Email: [email protected]
ISSN 1357 - 4515
EditorChris Rees
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Photographic EditorMichael Ward
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Events DirectorPhil Ward
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Editor at LargePeter Collins
ContributorsKeith Bluemel, Peter Collins,
Richard Heseltine, Andy Heywood, Martin
Buckley, Peter Nunn, Simon Park, Simon
Charlesworth, Mike Rysiecki, Tim Pitt, Richard
Dredge, Bryan McCarthy and Phil Ward
Art EditorMichael Ward
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Managing DirectorMichael Ward
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Promotions Ltd, 2019Auto Italiais brought to you by a group of journalists
and photographers united by a passion for Italian
cars. Contributors to this issue include:CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Rees
Editor
[email protected]Chris Rees Michael Ward Claire Prior Simon Park Richard Dredge Mateo Grazia Bryan McCarthy Shane O’Donoghue