As luck would have it the 2nd Bristol Italian Car Show was plagued with poor weather; it rained on and off most of the time and I am sure this kept many enthusiasts away. However this didn't keep the Alfa Romeos away and Corn Street was duly filled with Alfas; or as one lady visitor put it to me "This show is all Alfa Romeos with the odd Fiat. On the telly they said there would be lots of Ferraris here!" Hardly suprising when the event was organised by the Bristol Alfa Romeo Club.

She obviously didn't look very hard for the Cotswold and Wessex Ferrari Clubs had turned up with a fine selection of cars, that included two F40s, round the corner in Small Street alongside the Pegusus Motor Club, whose members volunteered as stewards. They displayed a very un-Italian Damian, a race-prepared Alfasud and Reg Palmers race-prepared Biturbo Coupe. A lone Lamborghini, a stunning Pagani Zonda and an early Alfa Romeo roadster formed the centrepiece of the show.

I must confess that like last year, Maseratis were not very well represented. I had hoped that more of you would make an effort this year but by the start of the show only six Maseratis showed up. Alessandro's Ghibli GT, Adrian's Ghibli GT, my Ghibli MY94, David's 1980 Merak SS, Roger's 222 4v and Julian's 3200GT formed the basis of our display in Clare Street. Paul with his Biturbo Si arrived a little later but was unable to join us thanks to Longlife Exhausts' Range Rover, trailer and Ferrari F40 parked alongside.

On the plus side, Dick Lovett, the official Ferrari/Maserati dealer for the Swindon area, brought along a sensational RHD black Quattroporte, a blue Coupe and a Ferrari 475 MM.

After all the trouble Dick Lovett's had gone to, bringing along one of only twelve new RHD Quattroportes in the UK, it was most unfortunate the organisers chose to site them at the bottom of in Clare Street well away from the centre of activities. It would have been nice to see them in Small Street next to the Ferrari display.

Before the show I had only seen the Maserati press release photos and had been relatively unimpressed with the new car. Seeing it in the flesh soon changed my mind. For such a big car, it's over five metres long, it is really quite beautiful and most impressive. Those who managed to wander down to view it were equally impressed and the general concensus amongst the Maserati owners was that it was "pretty special!"