Hi all, In a nostalgic mood I was thinking again about the fabulous FF40 event in 1992, celebrating 40 years of cooperation between Ferrari and Garage Francorchamps in Brussels. It was one of the best Ferrari gatherings I've ever visited. A really impressive amount of historical cars and the presentation of the 456gt... I'm sure some people on this site may have been there too It would be great to see someone post some more pics or a website/image gallery in this thread to re-live that wonderful event... Thanks... Alexander
How could I forget this gallery http://www.barchetta.cc/All.Ferraris/events-stories/events/2003/ff40/ff40-index/index.html
I have some old books of the Ferrari Club Belgio with some articles about it, I'll scan them in this afternoon
Those major events are always great. I remember reading about FF40 in Cavallino and FerrariWorld. I visited the Ferrari Racing Days at the Nurburgring in 1996, where the 550 Maranello was introduced. All the big Ferrari-bobo´s were there and lot´s and lot´s of important Ferrari´s.
that was a fantastic weekend..... the cars they showed us, will never be put again together at one event ........it was unique. The ex - drivers as Trintignant-Frere-Gendebien-Hill were there, Chinetti, Pilette, Piper.... I had a drink with Derek Bell, I had dinner at the same table with 2 guys who talked about their participation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I met Jean Claude Andruet and much more .............. crazy, crazy, crazy and all those beautiful cars..... oh my god, yep I saw 250GTO's, 275 GTB, the breadvan, the 412P all driving at the same time on the most beautiful track of the world. This event was one of my first, but as I already told to my friend Jacques Swaters, it is his fould.... that my extreme passion for Ferrari began, Thank you Jacques, thank you. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very well said Vincent! I was 15 at the time and remember the day as yesterday. I have been there on saterday, at the Cinquantenaire Parc in Brussels. I was packed with photo - and videocamera, still till today the best event I have ever been too. The location, the weather, the cars and the atmosphere were unique. One week later I bought the most expensive photoalbum available in the bookstore; I knew that the pics I had taken deserved a special place.... Everytime I drive by the parc here in Brussels I think about the magic cars that once have been here, I can tell exactly where which car stood.... Memories.... RTBF Autovision at the time made a special about it, it was on a sunday evening at 06.00 pm. I don't remember the reason but I missed it and I was completely shocked. The day after, monday around 03.00 pm they showed it again... But I was in school. At 2.30 I had to make a decision, I interrupted the lesson and told the teacher I had to leave for something VERY important, no time to argue, I simply left, jumped on my bicycle and drove off..... I still have the videotape very well preserved.... FF40 Simply the best. Thanks for bringing this thread up Alexander! Cordiali saluti, Joren REMANS
As promised, the scans They are pretty...huge: 2550x3510 pixels and 41,1 MB in total. Language is Dutch and French... Enjoy like I did http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/1.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/2.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/3.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/4.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/5.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/6.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/7.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/8.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/9.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/10.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/11.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/12.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/13.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/14.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/15.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/16.jpg http://www.grabx-art.be/brol/ff40/17.jpg Jeroen
I remember it well too. I didn't have a car yet so I took the train to Brussels and stayed at a hostel. That way I could be in the Cinquantenaire Parc as early as possible to soak up the atmosphere and to see the cars being unloaded. The evening before I took a walk from the hostel to the big avenue that leads up to the parc. I could see the arches from the point where the hostel met the avenue so I thought: no need to take the subway, I'll walk down there. Took me more than half an hour! But it was worth it! When I neared the parc I heard a Ferrari being fired up. It made me walk faster! It was unreal to see so many important Ferraris together in such a quiet place. Trucks with six or seven vintage Ferraris rolling in, unbelieveable. To my horror I realised I didn't have enough film with me so I had to look for a shop to buy some more. Fortunately I succeeded. I also went to the second day on the Spa Francorchamps circuit. What a sight and sound... Ciao, Peter
This must have been a realy great event. Haven't seen too many pics of it so far. But the Bachetta gallery and Jeroens pics are very good. Does anybody have more to post?? I was just 7 years old at the time so a little bit too jung to visit the event. And I wasn't really interested in Ferraris back then Martin
It really was unique indeed! I was 15 back then too and I just knew I HAD to be in Brussels that day! Didn't have a driving license or a car yet of course... so I took the bus, the train, and finally walked all the way from the station too the Cinquantenaire. Nobody I knew was into Ferrari's so I went all by myself When I arrived I really was amazed! Words can not describe how amazing the whole atmosphere was... indeed, the sight, the sound, the weather,... it was all perfect... I remember I walked around like in a dream... Very soon my camera was completely empty But I didn't want to leave the scene... and just kept on starring at all the amazing cars... realizing that it was a truly unique gathering... with really special cars and really special people! By the time I saw the brand new 456gt inside one of the buildings I even missed my train in the evening and had a bit of a hard time to get home Has anyone got more pics of that 456gt and the design sketches that were on the walls back then? Really amazing that Belgium had a real Ferrari world premiere there too... but actually it was a bit in the shadow from everything that was outside...!!! I REALLY felt bad I couldn't make it to Francorchamps the next day... From the next year on I've never skipped an edition of the Spa Ferrari Days... I also think about it again very often, certainly when passing by the Cinquantenaire... that's also what made it so extra special to drive through the tunnel underneath it with the F355 Spider early July 2004... As far as I know, it really was the best Ferrari event that ever taken place on Belgian territory... I realized that even more when growing older... Really feeling honoured that I was there! Too bad it's already 14 years ago again... Time really flies... Vincent and Joren,... very happy to see you have great memories of that day/weekend too... BTW Joren, would be great to see that tape someday! Oh, and many thanks for the scans Jeroen! Alexander
Those external links are from 2006. Almost certainly dead. One of the reasons loading images and files directly on FChat is prefered.
