Since a few years there are two major outdoor Italian car events in the Netherlands. The well-known Italia a Zandvoort will be held at the end of this month, but on sunny Whit Monday the TT circuit of Assen in the east of the Netherlands hosted the Viva Italia event.

This year the central theme of the event was De Tomaso. A lot of Panteras were present including a Gp. 4 racecar. Of course there were others as well, including a yellow Longchamp and a very nice Deauville. The Lamborghini Club Nederland had many cars present as well with Countachs and Diablos in all shapes and colours. Of course there was a Murcielago on display as well but the history of the marque was not forgotten either. Included in the oldies where two very beautiful 400 GTs, a very nice red Islero, and some Espadas.

The Assen circuit is still in use for Moto GP races and is therefore a modern circuit with a very large infield. Because of this there is enough space to accommodate many different car clubs and they all showed up with large quantities of cars. The stands of the Fiat and Alfa Romeo Clubs were mainly filled with the more modern cars. At the Maserati Club stand there were several classic cars on display as well as many modern cars. The Iso marque presented some beautiful machinery to the public as well.

The Lancia clubs had several interesting cars. The majority of their corner was filled with the famous Delta Integrale. Visitors also had the rare opportunity to inspect a Lancia Hyena up close. For the Ferraristi there were three cars of particular interest: a very nice yellow Stratos and two Thema 8.32 saloon cars.

The engine of these saloons is almost identical to the ones fitted in the several 328 Ferraris on the track. Although most of the Ferraris present were red, it was interesting to see some ‘odd’ coloured cars as well. How about a brown Mondial 3.2 or a similar tipo in white with white interior? Not to mention a green 308 GTB and a Fly Yellow 208 GT4!

The most spectacular Ferrari at Assen was without a doubt an immaculate F40. Sixteen years old it still attracts lots of attention. The blue Bugatti EB110 Supersport next to it made it a great day altogether.

Although there were no official races scheduled on the track, the owners of all that marvellous Italian machinery put on a nice show by driving around the track and doing short sprint competitions on the main straight. This event clearly attracts a very nice diversity of Italian cars and puts down a great show for the spectators. The name of it clearly covers it all: Viva Italia!

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