Formula Vintage through the eyes of a 7 year old

Every parent knows the very real pain of spending a lot of money, time and effort taking the children out just for them to moan and complain all day, if I hear one more “I’m bored” on a family day out I may just combust!! For this reason alone I was excited to be taking my son Dylan to the VSCC Formula Vintage Round 1 at Silverstone at the weekend. Having heard me wax lyrical about the virtues of the Ecurie Bertelli Aston Martin Speed Red Dragon for the last few weeks he was suitably enthralled by the idea of getting up close and personal with a few vintage motors. And let me tell you the Vintage Sports-Car Club did not disappoint!

This 80 year old soirée has recently had a facelift and rather than it merely being a day for petrol heads and engine enthusiasts the organisers want it to be a weekend for all the family. The previously one day event now stretches out over both Saturday and Sunday and includes many of the races which have been going since it first started. For most families this could be their first experience of historic racing and I’m sure that it would make them want to follow Formula Vintage on to its next rounds dotting around the county.

Silverstone is the perfect place to start off a love for outstanding racing of yesteryears cars . As always the drivers and race teams are chatty and amicable, there is no cliquey feel here, being able to enter the paddocks to see the teams either gearing up for their race or doing some last minute adjustments is a thrill in itself. How many other race tracks allow you to stand in the pit lane?

Vintage motorsports will be a dying artform if we do not enthuse the youth of today with a love for these sublimely seductive super cars of the past. With this in mind the VSCC know they need an event that not just Dad and Grandad wants to attend or has to drag the family to kicking and screaming, it needs to be an event that everyone wants to go to and can have a brilliant day at.

For my son’s first foray into the world of classic racing he couldn’t have picked a better day, location or event. Considered by many as the official start to the racing calendar , the ‘Spring Start’ was awash with classic cars of all persuasions both on and off the hallowed Northampton race course. With the illustrious opportunity of being able to peruse the races from the balcony of the media suite my son had a first rate front row seat to cheer on the cars he most admired and to be waved at by the affordable drivers as they returned to the pit lane. He was enthralled by the perpetual motion of these resplendent masters of the track speeding around the celebrated tarmac.

As we walked around the grounds looking at all the assembled car royalty it was the Ecurie Bertelli Aston Martins he was most drawn to. My usually shy and reticent 7 year old was happy to converse with Alan who was on his first race day in his new (well new to him) illustrious 1936 ex-Works Aston Martin Speed Red Dragon (Le Mans 24 hour participate), having reached fastest lap on his first ever race he was in good spirits and was more than happy to let Dylan sit for ages in the driving seat. Also racing was Bertelli MD Robert Blakemore who not only let dylan sit in his beautiful 1936 Aston Martin Ulster , he took him for a little drive as he backed out to let Alan past and gave this excited child the job of flipping the switch to turn it off.

And it wasn’t just Astons that Dylan was able to enjoy with all his senses, we came across this adorable American Hillegass Sprint Car and her driver Douglas Martin. Dylan was right at home with his USA style leather bomber jacket and looked like he was made to sit in the driver’s seat, which he did!

However the award for the most gracious and obliging driver must go to Anthony Fenwick-Wilson who took Dylan for a jolly little jaunt in his 1935 Railton LS Tourer. With a smile from ear to ear and a quick thumbs up they were off in this decadently beautiful maroon motor. I don’t think I have ever seen him so happy, he would have been content to have driven off into the sunset had he been given the opportunity.

Other additional attractions offering off track entertainment were the Army representatives stationed in one of the lots who were not only casing for future cadets but were also offering virtual reality parachute jumps and had bought along a tank and helicopter which children and adults alike could look around and get into. Dylan was given a cap to wear and shown how to salute whilst standing in the tank with his head just poking through the top. Again the leather jacket was in its perfect surroundings in the helicopter and sporting a borrowed pair of Bigatmo pilots sunglasses Dylan really fit the bill, the addition of the extremely heavy helmet really did complete the look.

With other accessions such as the vintage train which took passengers all around the site, a vintage fair ground and retro music from the delectable Candy Girls every element was covered to assault all your senses with a fully rounded weekend of joy and excitement for all ages. And to top it off children get in for free!

I can’t thank Communications Manager James Taylor enough for including us in this magnificent weekend and being so accommodating letting Dylan join the media team for the day. I can see this event going from strength to strength over the next few years as more and more families attend for a scintillating day out amid decades of motoring history and racing prowess.