This was the first car meet I ever organised. A few months earlier I had just picked up a Ferrari 348 and having done a couple of countryside runs with other Ferrari owners I thought it would be nice to do one nearer to home and at a much slower pace.
I persuaded Dem, who I had met at a previous meet to get involved, although I think his then girfriend, now wife Hayley did most of the work!! She came up with the idea of the Sanderson Hotel as the final destination point and Dem picked up the trophies.
The meet was posted on the Ferrarichat forum which many UK Ferrari owners used at the time. The list of attendees slowly grew and Dem and I didn’t actually think all of them would turn up. I was the first to arrive that morning and I remember thinking that most people would still be in bed. It was October after all., but then the Ferrari’s started arriving and kept on coming. Parking now became an issue and they were double parking alongside each other. In the end we had well over 40 Ferraris turning up. I recall one owner driving down from from Birmingham to join us. He eventually got lost during the cruise.
The route was a big loop taking in some of the London’s landmarks. Hyde Park, Picadilly, Soho, Tottenham Court Road, Euston Road, Baker Street, Oxford Street and back to Hyde Park. It was such fun that we did the loop again.
The unforgetable moment for me was whilst leading the cars and waiting at the lights on the Baker Street/Oxford Street juction, I could hear a couple of Ferraris revving their engines and other Ferraris joining in and creating a symphony of noise echoing off the surrounding buildings. As the lights turned green and I turned right into Oxford Street to find countless pedestrians waiting for us to drive past drove past.
We did get a bit of criticism about the meet afterwards from fellow owners. One individual said that it was against the ‘ethos of Ferrari’, whatever that means. All I can say is that they didn’t understand what the meet was actually about. Yes, it was a bit of posing in London, but it was ultimatly what the Drivers Union is all about, a way to meet fellow enthusiasts.
I made a lot of friends that day, many of whom over, 15 years later, I’m still in touch with and often drive with. They are of course also Drivers Union members.
Any regrets? Not really. Althought I did wish that I had bought a Ferrari convertible instead of a hard top. Posing is so much better with the roof down!
Dem Tersigni (Ferrari 355 Spider)
I don’t do early mornings. I especially, don’t do early mornings when there isn’t an obvious coffee stop along the route. However, I’d been persuaded by Sy that an early start was definitely the right thing, for what we expected to be, a reasonably well attended Ferrari meet and drive through the heart of London. So, we settled at him getting to the Hyde Park meet point at 10am and me some time after that; after all, it was a long way from my house in North London.
The meet and drive was planned not long after we’d first met at a smaller Ferrari gathering I had organised in Epping (Essex) a few months earlier. It was a time when there was pretty much only one stand-out Ferrari themed internet forum, Ferrari Chat, so most events were organised there.
I’d dipped my toe in the water to organise a meet the previous year, not long after I’d bought my Ferrari 355, managing to attract a whole two other members to turn up at the pub. Neither of whom had brought their Ferrari. Hmmmmm….. Comforted by the fact that the choice of a North London pub as a meet point on a wet and windy weekday evening wasn’t the best, I came off the ropes swinging for round two; a sunny Sunday in the Essex countryside. Not only did this smash my personal best with a grand total of 6 cars, but it meant I met Sy for the first time With barely a pause between sarcastic jibes throughout that day, it was clear that we could work with each other.
So, fairly soon after, we began concocting a plan to organise something bigger and better; something that really captured the essence of Ferrari ownership; something that was absolutely nothing to do with exploiting the great speed or handling of these cars. And so, the Poseur Run was born.
The concept was to bring together a decent enough number of Ferraris to the centre of London and drive them around so that a lot of people could see them. See them, or see us driving them? Either way, we came up with the ‘Poseur Run’ moniker for the event. I remember Sy selecting that spelling as opposed to using ‘Poser’, believing that it might add a hint of classiness to what we were going to do. On reflection now, by definition (according to Google), “calling someone a poseur is an insult because it insinuates that the person is a liar, a sneak, or delusional. The word poseur is derived from the French, like the words raconteur and liqueur.”. Ah well, nobody who signed up for the meet seemed to notice.
Anyway, over a few weeks we had the framework for the event. A start point, a route map and a drinks / lunch venue. We even decided to prepare some awards for distribution after the drive at the final destination, The Sanderson Hotel in North Soho. Sy planned with the hotel to expect a rabble of noisy cars and people. I made arrangements for trophies to be customised and ready for the day. We agreed that these should be awarded as follows;
- Loudest exhaust
- Best car
- Most laps of a roundabout
- Biggest poseur
Of course, it was all a very subjective and a bit silly, but then, so are me and Sy. So, with our plan fairly well sketched out and too eager to wait for the following summer, we decided on Sunday 5th October 2005 as the date for the event, positing this on the F-Chat forum.
From memory, there was a bit of debate on the forum around the concept of this meet and drive. Probably as many people derided the idea of a ‘Poseur Run’ as supported it. You pays yer money, you takes yer choice!! As the date of the event drew closer, we were seeing an encouraging number of people signing up to attend. The weather forecast wasn’t looking too shabby and as there was a decent amount of parking at the start point in Hyde Park, the key ingredients for a well-attended meet were in place. Apart from a coffee shop.
Anyway…………I was definitely not one of the first to arrive at Hyde Park. Sy, of course, was already there well before me. I was honestly shocked to see somewhere between fifteen and twenty Ferraris lined up on Hyde Park’s South Carriage Drive and they kept coming….. I can’t remember the full and final count, but it must have been approaching forty cars. We were also joined by a very articulate gentleman, who drove slowly past our parked cars in his new Ferrari 360 Spider with a big dog in the passenger seat. He stopped opposite me, so I asked “what’s your forum name?”. He eloquently responded “What the f**k is all this? I’m just taking the dog for a piss in the park”.
So, adhering to our strict code of conduct and event organisation rules, I said “Feel free to join us if you want”. “Great”, he said; “I’ll drop the dog home and be back in a bit”. It was that sort of event.
At around the 11:15am planned start time, we did our best to gather the group for a carefully prepared briefing. Or, Sy shouting something about us leaving soon and for everyone to take one of the printed route maps. We’d decided to keep the planned route a secret prior to the start of the drive; absolutely no idea why though.
As drivers and passengers started getting onto their cars, it was clear that we were probably going to have as much success with keeping that lot organised as we would pushing water with a fork. Or herding fog. Certainly not sticking to a carefully prepared route.
So off we ventured. Our extensive experience of large motoring event organisation really came to the fore at the start. Maybe ten cars got through the traffic lights on green at the exit to the park. About five chanced it on the yellow. Maybe twenty or so just sneaked through on the red. Looked like we still had most of a convoy and anyway, we were guaranteed to all bunch up again soon enough. This wasn’t about driving fast. This was the Poseur Run!
There were so many great memories from the hour or so that we spent on this drive around the busy touristy area of London; along Piccadilly, around Parliament Square, back through Hyde Park. That gorgeous noise from the absurdly pointless revving of engines, ricocheting off the buildings around us. Arriving at a junction and seeing a few Ferrari’s heading towards us; well that wasn’t the right route then! Interloper Ferraris suddenly appearing in the convoy, who definitely weren’t there at the start in Hyde Park; neither would they be there at the finish. People on the pavement, clapping, shouting, taking photos, dancing even (no joke; it’s on video!); their reactions, every single one, positive.
As part of our ‘on the job’ training for managing a group of cars, we decided that continuing laps of Parliament Square might be a great way to bring the convoy back together. OK, so it pretty much clogged up the road outside Big Ben, but it looked fantastic; and that was from inside the car. From the outside, it must have looked like an official, formally organised Ferrari event. Only we knew the truth…….
Amazingly, everybody made it to the Sanderson Hotel underground car park. The only collision from the whole event happened there, with a wheel scraped against a high kerb. On the plus side, fixing that would seem cheap once they’d bought a drink in the hotel. I know Sy regrets buying me a portion of chips there, but at least we know what a tenner’s worth of fried spuds tasted like now!
The awards were handed out in the courtyard garden of the hotel. A light hearted and fun affair and a nice way to round off the event.
So, was it right or wrong to have done the ‘Poseur Run’? Did it give us a bad rep as Ferrari drivers? As with everything in life, there will always be those for and those against. Most importantly, did it hurt anybody? No!!
Did it bring a memorable moment of excitement and wowness to a lot of people in London that day? Yes. Absolutely, yes.
Jas Hayre (Ferrari 348 Spider)
It’s hard to believe it’s been over 15 years since we did the inaugural Ferraris in Central London drive. At the time, I posted online that Mayor Ken Livingstone should pay us to do this regularly as we must have boosted tourism in London that Sunday in October 2005. There were countless happy smiling faces, and hundreds of people photographing and filming us. Some of them stood in the middle of the road to photograph us and so many of them gave us a thumbs up en route.
I have so many vivid memories of the day. These include the biker cop who called two more of his colleagues over which made us stop revving for a while. He made me nervous about my lack of front plate, so I closed the gap to the Ferrari in front to a few cm’s to avoid him seeing the front of my car.
Then there was the long straight on the first run where five of us SCREAMED down the road, and the tourist at the bus stop whose jaw dropped as he shouted “F***!!” Priceless! And of course, The Tunnel. Try to imagine so many old school Ferraris screaming through there. Many of them with exhaust modifications, like my 348 Spider with its Tubi exhaust and no catalytic coverters to dull the sound, and at least one 355 with a Capristo exhaust.
There was also the Preacher on Oxford Street, preaching about “the sins of avarice and greed”. He was talking to the backs of about 50-100 people all gawping as 30 Ferraris drowned him out! Absolutely hilarious! He was shouting something at us along the lines of “You are slaves to your cars!”.
Then there was the European tourist in Parliament square who wanted me to take his wife/girlfriend for a few laps around the square.
A Ferrari owner jokingly informed an elderly tourist, “that’s the last 30 lottery winners mate”. It made his day. He arrived looking rather sad/expressionless and left with a huge smile, which was nice to see.
I also vividly recall setting off the car alarms near Oxford Street as the vibration of 20 Ferraris revving set them off one after another.
It was great to hear all the different cars and sounds. The 355 did sound very different to a 348. Both great, and both different. And the 360CS barks at you - very loudly!
We created a mobile red traffic jam wherever we went and it was a hugely exhilarating day with fantastic cars, sounds, crowds, scenery and so many wonderful memories. Sadly it’s also something that can’t be repeated these days.
Marc Hedge (Ferrari 328 GTS)
I vividly remember the first Poseur Run, back in October 2005. Meeting Sy and the famous clipboard, feeling epic in my ‘brand new’ 16 year old Ferrari 328 GTS, cruising alongside Ferrari’s classic and new, exchanging smiley-eyed glances with fellow pilots circling around Parliament Square and Piccadilly Circus, and enjoying the appreciation of Londoners and tourists waving and taking pictures of what must have seemed quite a spectacle.
One of the first meet-ups I attended, and an early realisation that Ferrari ownership was a real club, full of down to Earth people who shared a passion for cars, but also had a lot more in common. I was proud to be part of it and the day will always be a treasured memory.
Andy Gibbs (Ferrari 360CS)
As I recall, it was a chilly October morning back in 2005, sixteen years ago as I write, and the sun was out and barely a cloud in the sky. With 425bhp of V8 sitting on the drive, it was going to be a good day!
Before we go into the events of one of the greatest ‘spontaneous’ Ferrari meetings of the decade, I feel I should start by reminding you this was 2005. These were different times. Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister for the third time, London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and MG/Rover went bankrupt. In these different times it was expected, even demanded, that children of all ages could and should play, have fun and make a lot of noise – even if they were over 25 or, in a lot of cases including yours truly, over 40!
And so it was, on Sunday October 2nd 2005 a meeting was arranged, a Sunday communion if you will, of like-minded Ferrari owners who simply wanted to get together and show their prides and joys to the world. We were fortunate that computers had recently been invented and chatter began on the early online forum of FerrariChat. The talk of a meeting in an ‘undisclosed’ location where all those – well, most of those – with a prancing horse or other exotica would be welcomed.
I was fortunate in the day to own a new Challenge Stradale and having recently returned to the UK from Switzerland where I’d been living for a number of years, I was relishing the thought of meeting new friends and reacquainting myself with the streets and the traffic of London. The time was set and the location, Hyde Park.
The meeting was typically chaotic for such an unorganised, organised meet, but what a meeting it was. As I entered the park, there were Ferrari’s and other delicious cars everywhere. Every colour but mainly Rosso Corsa, it was a little boys and a grown adults dream. The contrast of the park in backdrop to tens and tens of gleaming dream cars was stunning and it wasn’t long, after brief introductions and hello’s, before the first cars thundered into life. The procession that was the Poseur Run had begun!
I can’t remember the exact route we took from the park, but I do recall passing many sights on more than one occasion as we circled and circled London Town. I’m sure it was an awesome sight watching a train of red snaking its way along the streets, it was certainly magical to be part of it. The noise was incredible. It wasn’t what you could hear so much as what you could feel, and as we progressed you could tell that every passer-by and onlooker was feeling it too. The mix of V8’s and V12’s burbling and on brief occasions, within the law and traffic constraints of a very busy city, screaming, it’s one of those occasions that stays with you. Today it’s unfortunate we’d almost certainly be called anti-social for this event, but in this different time it was unique. It was a first and it was in the middle of the day in an already noisy and bustling centre. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
As we wound through the streets towards Knightsbridge the main group of cars dispersed and the mass was broken up into smaller groups of five to ten cars as we dealt with the traffic, crossings and lights. But all knew where we were going, there was a tunnel to be had and although the tunnel was in fact the Piccadilly underpass, it had to be experienced. While it is very short, more like a very long garage if we’re honest, it was oh so very sweet as we entered and every exhaust went into ‘loud’ mode. The Stradale is known for its extreme exhaust note but when enclosed and combined with half a dozen other raucous V8’s, it is nothing short of mind bending.
As we entered Piccadilly, 10 or so in our group, 10 ahead, many behind, the sense of occasion wasn’t lost. Moving now at a glacial speed due to taxi’s, busses and pedestrians,we began to see the joy on people’s faces. Dad’s pointing, kids squealing, mum’s looking on with wide eyes and wider grins. Old and young alike turned at the sound of something very different to be greeted by the visual splendour of Pininfarina’s finest creations.
As we rounded the city on our way back to Parliament Square for the first of what seemed many visits, I noticed that crowds gathering a crossing’s by traffic lights weren’t there to cross, they were there, mostly, to watch. As Ferraris’ three abreast and four or five deep, came to a stop at the red lights people gathered. As lights turned from red to green, only a few moved. Most though just stayed and stared. Pointed. Smiled. Applauded. It was almost moving, like an impromptu Lord Mayor’s Parade.
Another new phenomenon was also visible, for me at least, for the first time. People were jumping into the path of the cars and taking photos. Almost putting their lives at risk for a better shot of a parade of spectacular cars. These were the original car bloggers/spotters before they had anything to blog about! Remember, these were different times and while many were using early digital cameras, most corner photographers were still using their faithful 35mm cameras. The iPhone wasn’t going to hit the streets for another 2years!
Onwards then to the spot where we would, inadvertently, reconvene. It wasn’t an arranged stop to join back together. In fact, it wasn’t a stop at all. It was Parliament Square. I remember as our group entered, we were soon joined by stragglers from behind. As cars and taxis and busses came onto the square and left, we just kept going around. Doing this meant that soon we’d encircled the entire square occupying all the lanes of the square as we joined together. With little room for London buses, taxis or other traffic, the square was a blaze of colour and noise all moving in unison to the tune of the traffic lights until we couldn’t move anymore. There were just too many Italian horses occupying the streets and we soon realised that it was more than the public that were taking an interest in what was happening. It was time to break together and head north – to the Marylebone Road and a route that would ultimately bring us back down Baker Street.
The run down Baker Street was one of the most memorable parts of the entire day. Not only had a lot of the group remained together but many that were lost on the way towards Oxford Street, were found. And there, at the red lights of Baker Street and Oxford Street, outside of Marks & Spencer, the orchestra began. It was naturally loud at idle anyway but as twenty to thirty cars began to simultaneously rev their eager engines; shop windows began to vibrate and soon parked car alarms were joining in the cacophony. The faces on those that witnessed this were striking. Open mouthed, many with fingers in their ears or protecting small children from the assault of noise, there was wonder and delight. Not a single complaint or jeer, just smiles and expressions of genuine joy. Some people were actually jumping and clapping as they were hit with a wall of noise – Ferrari noise! This, for me, was the icing!
After the run, most of us descended on the tremendously swanky Sanderson Hotel in Berners Street for a drink and a small ceremony to reward the biggest poseurs of the event. I can’t recall the winners that well other than to remember they were indeed fine, upstanding members of the group and if memory serves, one was a particularly handsome chap.
The main reason to gather was to share and recount the experience we’d just had as we all only saw things from our own perspective and much was missed while navigating priceless, to us, machinery through the bustling streets. And in the gathering it was clear that everyone, to a tee, recalled the faces of the onlookers we’d encountered and the joy that so many had seen. Where we had stopped, there were no shortage of adults and children alike wanting to know more about the cars. Where we passed, people waved and were entranced. Sure everyone in London has seen a Ferrari or two, but the amount of cars we had that day was perhaps the first time people would have seen its like. Even when I think back all these years later, the impact of what we did would have been huge to a casual, unsuspecting onlooker.
Given the success of the day we naturally vowed to repeat the Poseur Run the next year, but it wasn’t to be. Even though I called this a spontaneous event there was of course a huge amount of work behind the scenes by others to bring us all together and I remain forever grateful for the efforts that made it possible. It wasn’t until three years later that the smaller but similarly fun drive out called the ‘Scud-Run’ took place and while an incredible day as well, the Poseur Run of 2005 will always be the first – and the best!
