More than a 10th of the world’s surviving pre-war Aston Martins gathered in Olney, Bucks on Saturday as pre-eminent specialist Ecurie Bertelli celebrated its 50th anniversary. Founded by Judy Hogg, Nick Mason and Derrick Edwards as Morntane Engineering in 1976 and morphing into Ecurie Bertelli after the Middlebridge Group took over Morntane.
The company was taken over in the early 1990s by Andy Bell who had started there as a youngster and since 2014 has been run by former pilots Ali and Robert Blakemore, who have recently been joined by a third director Simon Boreham.
The special celebration attracted a host of the most famous cars and characters including three members of the Bertelli family and and Chloe Mason who brought along some of the family’s best-known cars, including its famous red pair of 1934 and 1935 Ulsters (chassis LM17 and LM18).
Other star cars included the Halford Special (Octane 262), the oldest surviving Aston Martin A3, brought along by the Aston Martin Heritage Trust, plus a trio of ex-works team cars: LM4, the 1930 works car that is the subject of a recent book by Steve Waddingham, LM7, the 1931 team car that notably raced twice at Le Mans as well as in the Brooklands Double Twelve and the RAC Tourist Trophy and LM9, which won its class and was fifth overall at Le Mans in 1933.
Two famous 2 Litre Speed Model racers were also there, Red Dragon and the Spa Special.
The event kicked off at the Ecurie Bertelli HQ at 10am with music and presentations by Steve Wadddingham and Rev Adam Gompertz among others, the open workshops and refreshments before some ad hoc awards.
Chief of them was the People’s Choice award for the car of the day, which was won by Julia de Baldanza’s spectacular Headlam Coupé. The one-off was built in 1930 on an International chassis for Whitby shipping magnate WS Headlam.
Other awards went to David Freeman, whose Spa Special 2 Litre Speed – famous for being driven single-handed to fourth place in the 1949 Spa 24-Hour race by Jock Horsfall – which took age Pre-War Workhorse trophy, while the Exceptional Effort to be at the Event award went to Alex Sampson who made the 800-mile round trip from Fife in his 1ovely white 5/98. Jake Longhurst tool the Next Generation trophy while Chloe Mason and Oscar received the Time Travllers title for their period overalls and helmets.
After the awards, most of the cars headed off on a two-hour tour around glorious country roads before reconvening at a local Pub for drinks, dinner and a party.
For more info, see ecuriebertelli.com
