Cars and Coffee: Brescia – Highly Addictive

19 April 2016 Redazione Alex Marrone, Events, Lifestyle, News

Words by Alessandro Marrone

Photos by Davide Carletti

Never, and I mean never, I have been able to breathe so much anticipation for an automotive event. A crowd able to embarrass the best Monza Formula 1 Grand Prix has literally encircled the convoy of cars that took part at the first event branded Cars and Coffee Italy for the 2016 season, held in Brescia and which has raised a very important as expected success for the organizers and creators Gabriele Morosini, Francesco Canta, Luca Obert and Edoardo Fornelli, who with their usual impeccable care have packed an event that you can simply describe with one word only: perfect.
Perfect, like the cars that have met at Corte Francesco, in that of Montichiari, starting from 9.30 am – we did not limit to bring the photographic cannons of our Davide Carletti, but we entered the game with a car to fully enjoy the Cars and Coffee experience.
6:00 – The alarm sounds relatively early this morning, and finally the great day has arrived. This time I will not dress the role of “reporter”, wanting to enjoy at 100% an event like the fan I have always been and this means no meetings, no shooting, none of this – just a car, my girlfriend and a great desire to see some among the most beautiful cars in the world, exposed with strict order in the fantastic garden of the restaurant chosen for meeting and lunch. The chosen vehicle for this occasion is the very Italian Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, which although does not boast a setting such as to pop your pupils (see what I mean in the next issue, with the full review) draws many glances from the first stop on the motorway, looking for fuel and breakfast.

At 9.30 am, after a quiet trip of two hours and a half, we arrive at the gates of Montichiari and we note that, in the Sunday silence of a town still sleepy, a group of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche roam free, all converging towards a single point, that of the meeting. From the entrance of the estate, we can see that the organization was once again designed and finished to the smallest detail, with friendly and extremely welcoming staff. The small Alfa makes its way through a sea of ​​photographers lurking among the vegetation as snipers ready to shot deadly bullets, and there are many familiar faces that I find with pleasure (Matteo, Diana, Tommaso and Luca, to name a few). Then, finally, we head to the main garden and park the 4C in the dedicated area, just in front of a vast array of Ferrari. After the accreditation and taken the delicious gadgets it is the time to start snooping around, taking advantage of the fact that we arrived among the first (43rd). The attention is immediately magnetized by one of the two Maserati MC12 (the second, the one that will win the “Best in Show” award, will arrive a little later) – it’s not every day you can see such a monster in a context that is not a fair or a mere indoors exhibition. Next to it, there is nothing unusual, if you consider normal cars, things like a LaFerrari, three F40, an F50, Enzo, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, 288 GTO, 275 GTB, 488 GTB … and I could go on for hours without either a fed up moment, just like when the cars paraded one by one, adjusting each in its own dedicated area. Talking about this, at every corner of the park it was virtually assigned a brand or the nationality of the cars – how not to mention the seemingly endless Porsche’s pit, led by beautiful Carrera GT, a ’73 Carrera RS and numerous GT3 and GT3 RS, or the English corner, where there were beautiful pieces like the famous McLaren 675LT of YouTuber Shmee150, Sam’s Jaguar F-Type R (Seen Through Glass) and Seb Delanney’s Lotus Elise Club Racer. Keeping our attention on YouTube, not far away, Paul Wallace’s all-new AMG GTS (Supercars of London) and yet the GT3 that belong to James (Mr JWW), with whom we exchanged a few words. If you like flashy car, you probably spent several minutes in contemplation with the four Pagani Zonda, or the SLR McLaren, which with the doors and the bonnet open, looked like a threatening ship taken from a science fiction movie with some really bad lads . Have you seen the 6X6? Of course you have, it was impossible not to notice it – extremely big, dusty and dirty, not far from the 300 SL Gullwing. Fortunately, the exposure is long enough to allow us to devour with our eyes all over the car park, through the US area – the craziest were undoubtedly a Hennessey Camaro (with an exaggerated rumble) and the green Viper brought by Alessandro from Mistral Motors. Finally, honorable mention for a large number of Lamborghini, including Aventador, Gallardo (also the son of Valentino Balboni, with the Balboni of his father), Huracan, Murcielago, but also the beautiful Diablo, Diablo SV and a Miura, passing through a Bugatti EB110 from our friends of SupercarSafari, a Lancia Aurelia Spider and so on.
12:45 – after having silenced the stomach with a lavish buffet, we head into the dining room for a dose of good food. Fine cuisine and expertly presented dishes allowed us to rest our feet before starting the second part of a day that for many, including us, will be unforgettable. And after a C&C dessert, coffee could not miss right? No, of course not.
13.30 – Cars restart the engines and sunroof are opened (there are as many as 25°) and revs follow, while everyone head to the exit, in convoy, one by one, ready for one of the most anticipated moments of the day: departure for the Parco Sigurtà Park of Valeggio. Cameras and smartphones turned on for the crucial event of acceleration, where some have some very notable burnouts (did you see the white F12?). About forty kilometers driven happily, until a nagging column, also due to tourists who have decided to come to the lake today, stuck us under the sun, in the midst of the road. Stuff happens if you have to move a convoy of more than 250 cars, but it is an excellent opportunity to allow passersby to take some pictures and some lady who surely hate V12s, to yell to the owners of a black GT3 to “stop making noise with that trash!” A few laughs and happy for not being set on fire, and we are at the gates of Sigurtà, where a lot of people is waiting for us, and incessantly scream to “push the throttle” – there’s those who do, those who have already done, who does not think twice and stepped on the gas like there’s no tomorrow and those who should pay attention to the temperature, to the already highly stressed clutch and therefore, can’t wait to put the wheels on the grass, park and turn off the engine.
18.00 – After parking our Spider, I still have a way to greet friends and guys that I finally got to meet in person, as Lodovico with his crazy Ferrari 488, or Sara Nase, that unfortunately had troubles with her Porsche 911 press car. And while our Davide (Carletti, the photographer, editor’s note) fills memory cards without the slightest restraint, we draw conclusions on what has been a pretty damn satisfying day. It is not the first time that we at ACM take part at an event organized by the guys of C&C Italy, but it is the first time that I can finally take part in first person and for this reason I wanted to do it as a proper participant, with only one goal in mind: to have fun, leaving all the work to the good Davide and his cameras. It’s pure madness that some people still criticize this event because it is too static – know that the guys of C&C have planned a tour over several days in May – but even though I had the belief that many do that for sheer envy, having taken part in the formidable Brescia stage I can confirm that this is one of those events that every car enthusiast should have fixed and highlighted in red on his agenda – and I say that not only at Italian level, but European or even worldwide. The amount of cars was impressive, but what really amazed me was the quality: museum pieces, but also the hypercars and supercars of our dreams, all together and on the road. Corollary of such ingredients were the accurate hospitality and an unparalleled organization, which a number of participants of more than 500 people and about 25.000 fans attending the second part of the day. 24h after the event and even after an exhausting queue during the come back home, under 26° in the letterbox cockpit of the 4C, I would be ready to get back behind the wheel and go back for another dose of Cars and Coffee. Take me for a madman, but events like these really make you fully enjoy the passion, love, fidelity to the cars verb. There are many Cars and Coffee in the world, but that of Gabriele, Francesco, Luca and Edoardo has an edge and creates high addiction – such as coffee, but more noisy, and with its aroma leaves you a taste of fulfillment that makes you feel lucky. Lucky to have had the chance to share something so special holding a good cup of coffee in one hand, and the keys of a sports car in the other.