NIIMC supports Giro d’Italia

Thousands of people young and old embraced Giro d’Italia for 3 days  from 9th -11th May as the cyclists swept through Northern Ireland. NIIMC members were keen to participate in the action and were delighted when Charles Hurst Specialist Car Division asked the club if we could display some of our cars in front of Parliament Buildings to complement the impressive collection of Maseratis and Ferraris that they had brought along.

We happily obliged and although only a handful of members could join  the family fun day in the Stormont Estate due to the time commitment (the cars needed to be in place for 12 hours from 8am to 8pm) the club vehicles were a welcome addition and generated much interest and discussion from members of the public who came to admire them.

Charles Hurst had over £1.5 million worth of cars on display from the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, FF, 458 Speciale, California and 430 Spider as well as the latest offerings from Maserati in the form of the new Ghibli, Quattroporte and the Gran Sport. Our club cars may have cost a fraction of this but they certainly helped to showcase what is good about Italian cars – undeniably stylish design which other manufacturers envy and copy but rarely better.

My thanks to Simon and  Brian for bringing their cars along and a particular word of thanks to Herbie, our oldest club member who brought his Fiat 1500 Cabrio to Stormont before 8am and stayed on site for more than 12 hours until after 8pm when the event drew to a close. Well done Herbie for your commitment and stamina. Thanks also to Lauren from Charles Hurst and her colleagues who made us feel very welcome and were genuinely appreciative of our support.

The whole atmosphere at Stormont was electric and Parliament Buildings provided a stunning backdrop for the cars. Even the weather was fairly kind to us with only the occasional burst of rain. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and a great event to have been involved in. I hope you like the selection of Giro d’Italia photographs that I took – plenty of stunning Italian cars but also some of the bicycle action too.

Tim Logan
Club Secretary