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Cars International Service Ltd ... just off the M4 Motorway at Hungerford in Berkshire


Ferrari 275 GTB Comp’ Conv’ over McLaren F1 GTR

Ferrari 275 GTB Comp’ Conv’ over McLaren F1 GTR

Maserati A6 GCS Monofaro # 2006

Maserati A6 GCS Monofaro # 2006

2004 Jaguar R5 F1 Car

2004 Jaguar R5 F1 Car

2004 Jaguar R5 F1 Car

2004 Jaguar R5 F1 Car

Maserati A6 GCS Monofaro # 2006 over Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Comp’ Conv’ # 16617

Maserati A6 GCS Monofaro # 2006 over Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Comp’ Conv’ # 16617

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Comp’ Conv’

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Comp’ Conv’

Ferrari 312 F1 Car # 0015

Ferrari 312 F1 Car # 0015

McLaren F1 GTR # 27R

McLaren F1 GTR # 27R

Ferrari 275 GTB Comp’ Conv’ # 07173

Ferrari 275 GTB Comp’ Conv’ # 07173

Jordan EJ13 over McLaren MP4/9

Jordan EJ13 over McLaren MP4/9

 

Concurrent with Cars International’s move to Kensington at the beginning of 2007 they opened a workshop facility, Cars International Service Ltd, to extend their client service base. With security being very important, given the value of the cars housed, the premises are discreetly located, deep in the countryside, just off the M4 Motorway at Hungerford in Berkshire, which provides easy access to the showroom in London.

Paul Osborn teamed up with Tim Preston, who runs the operation on a day to day basis, to head up the new operation. Tim has impeccable credentials to lead the team of six personnel, as he worked for the Williams F1 Team between 1989 and 1997, initially as a design engineer and then as a race engineer. He then went to the Sauber F1 Team for the 1998 and 1999 seasons as Head of Track Engineering, before returning to Williams in 2000 as a race engineer, becoming Senior Test and Development Engineer prior to leaving to do “his own thing” at the end of 2004. During his F1 sojourn he worked with the likes of Jenson Button, Damon Hill and Juan Pablo Montoya. Most of the staff have worked for F1 teams, and one of them is a Ferrari factory trained technician, so there is a wealth and depth of experience to meet almost any clients requirements, on any specialist cars from the fifties to date. 

As might be expected in a workshop based on F1 standards, the degrees of cleanliness and ordered working are very high, all within a well lit and spacious environment, with its own fabrication and machine shop, housing a delectable array of machinery during our visit. The selection of vehicles was almost as varied as the eclectic array in the London showroom, ranging from a Maserati A6 GCS “Monofaro”, chassis # 2006, being prepared for the 2008 Mille Miglia, to a 2004 Jaguar R5 F1 car. There were also three other F1 cars in the course of restoration and preparation, a 1968 ex-Jacky Ickx Ferrari 312, chassis # 0015, which he crashed during qualifying for the Canadian GP that year, a Jordan EJ13, chassis # 4, in which Giancarlo Fisichella took Jordan’s final GP victory in the 2003 Brazilian GP, and a 1994 ex-Mika Hakkinen McLaren MP4/9, chassis # 3. There were also a trio of competition converted Ferraris, a 250 GT Lusso, a 275 GTB and a 365 GTB/4, and perhaps the star turn, a lurid orange 1997 McLaren F1 GTR, chassis # 27R, which was run by Parabolica Motorsports that season. 

This facility will also be the nerve centre for Cars International’s Club PF1 venture, acting as the preparation and storage centre for the programme, which with the credentials of the staff, and the facility at their disposal, should prove to be a great success.

 

Keith Bluemel           
12/2007