NOTHING BUT THE BEST
It was like waiting for the Queen to ask me to the palace for tea, except way more tense. Would the selection committee for the world’s most exclusive and private concours event issue its first ever invitation to a Kiwi and his car? Okay, so the photo in last month’s New Zealand Classic Car gave it away. It wasn’t likely that I would rock up to Lake Como and queue up behind a one-off Countach outside the glorious Villa d’Este on the off-chance I’d be admitted. That is most definitely not how it works.
The email arrived in November, followed up by a letter confirming the invitation, arrangements, and timing. The car needed to be close by Lake Como no later than 19 May to be available in the grounds of the VDE (as we familiars call it) for publicity shots. Shipping to the UK was taken care of by the ever-reliable Ian Jenner and his team. We had fortunately kept the car’s UK registration on hold and, as I couldn’t get the car insured in Europe on its New Zealand plates, we had to remove them, reluctantly, and swap them for the garish UK items. The next step was from the UK to Italy. It was only our time constraints that meant it had to be trucked there. Obviously we’d have preferred a blast across Europe.
Pastel chinos
So far, so good. Now for the big issues. First, what would I pack? Shorts, obviously (big mistake), the blue chinos (another mistake, caught by Mrs D), black tie rig (mandatory), and complete car file (phew, just as
