Second Thursday of the month can only mean one thing to the lovers of Italian cars: Ace Cafe beckons. After the rather chilly meeting in March, most of which was also after darkness fell, anticipations were high that the extra hours of daylight would make the April gathering even more enjoyable.

ABARTH

Enthusiasm for this event is growing among the Abarthisti, and it was clear from the postings there that we would be putting on a good show. Even so, I think we were all surprised that when we counted the cars, there were 23 Abarths on site for most of the evening. Allowing for a couple of early departures and late arrivals, this means that even more than 23 cars participated. The furthest had come from Doncaster (and he was the first to arrive!), but with two from Staffordshire and one from South Wales, this was not just for locals (and as I was coming from Central London, I have to count as sort of local, I guess). There was a good mix of 500s, Grande Puntos and Punto Evos.

It was not all modern Abarths, though as this duo show. The Autobianchi A112 based car probably could legitimately claim the prize for rarest car of the evening. ALFA ROMEO

I don’t seem to have taken any pictures. There were a few cars, ranging from a 1950s Giulietta Coupe, through a few 145/146s, a couple of 155s to a 166, and a particularly sonorous 147 GTA.De TOMASO

If the A112 was the rarest, the one that everyone loved probably way beyond its actual talent was this, a Pantera.

FERRARII’m not sure that the drivers of the California and the 458 Italia were particularly amused at being relegated to an outside parking slot, but they arrived mid evening and the main car park was pretty full.

There was a 400 that arrived early. Anyone who was feeling cold could have warmed themselves by putting their hands in the massive amount of heat that the owner was hoping would dissipate by opening the bonnet. He said he had only driven a couple of miles, so was nervous about his car would cope with warmer weather. I did not take pictures of this, but I did get the 360 Challenge Stradale that arrived soon after, and a 360 Spider .FIATThe Nuova 500 appears so small compared to the modern cars. This time there was but the one car.

There were a few Fiat Coupes on show, some of them tidier than others.From a distance, this Punto looked like it could have been an Abarth as well, but it was not.LANCIAJust two, but how nice they both were. A Gamma Coupe and a MonteCarlo.

MASERATIFrom being the dominant marque in March, they were the absent marque in April. Just goes to show how you never know what to expect at these events.

Consensus among the Abarthisti was that this was a fun evening, and I completely agree. It was.

2011-04-15 12:26:45