COPPA DELLA PERUGINA 2014
Corrado Lo Presto, very probably the greatest Italian classic-cars collector and one of the most famous in the world, told me that he would be at the 2014 'Coppa della Perugina'. We were in Villa d'Este having a Martini when we talked about the possibility to enter the 'Coppa' and spend some time together; the idea sounded great and Anna and I welcomed the occasion of joining the lovely Lo Presto family in this splendid meeting, organized every year by the CAMEP. Umbria is beautiful and the Perugina chocolate, main sponsor of the event, is very good.... It proved to be a very rewarding meeting
The Coppa della Perugina is a very old race, dating from 1924, so this year the CAMEP celebrated its 90th anniversary
Perugia is very nice: a Middle Age town perched on a hilltop with winding roads going up and down all over the place. The CAMEP organisation was splendid and a great tribute must be paid to its energetic President, mr Ugo Amodeo, and his exceptionally courteous staff
Friday Anna and I arrived (predictably) late in Perugia, my practice extending more than expected, but we were able to collect the number plates and gifts as exactly the last car of the list. Then we drove to the small pictoresque town of Deruta, one of Italy's great places for ceramics. From left to right Cliff, Elena Lo Presto, Anna, me, Corrado Lo Presto and, of course, Gigi, the real owner of the Lancia Flavia Zagato prototype (designed by Ercole Spada) that Corrado carefully chaffeured for him
We started the Saturday long haul around the most spectacular places in Umbria from the Brufani Hotel, a luxurious, old-style 5-star establishment in the center of Perugia. A beautiful hotel, and a piece of Italian history as well, as it was from there that the 'Marcia su Roma' of the Fascist Party began, in the final days of October 1922. Our Bristol was in very good company....
Nocera Umbra
The usual reaction when a passer-by sees our Bristol....'What the heck is THIS?' The Speaker of the Coppa, during the official defilé in Corso Vannucci, triumphantly declared ours to be 'one more Ferrari'....
Spoleto is wonderful, getting there through ancient streets up to the Rocca was spectacular
A beautiful trophy....
Sunday morning, time to move on from the Brufani Hotel
My great friend professor Giuseppe Fortuni welcomed us in Città di Castello for a guided visit at the splendid Museum dedicated to the works of Alberto Burri (he is, deservedly, a Member of the Board of the 'Fondazione'). A wonderful exposition split in 2 parts; the 2 panoramic pictures that you see above (and that you can download in their original 10 Mb size from ImageBam, clicking on the pictures) were taken in the spectacular warehouse of the 'Essiccatoi del Tabacco'
SUMMARY
The Bologna-Perugia-Deruta- Spoleto-Assisi-Città di Castello- Bologna trip was 515 miles long (849 kilometers), the 409 drove exceedingly well and the latest tweaks (the 'balacing tube' between the two main exhaust pipes) were a definite improvement. The road surface of many secondary roads was not so good so I made good use of the various setting of the Selectarides: they definitely made a difference
