The greatest racing car ever !

Italian legend from the 1950s proves a winner with modern audiences.






Nick Mason in his 250F in Pall Mall.


Car collector and rock star Nick Mason in his 250F.





The Maserati 250F has been voted the "world's greatest racing car"
and, to celebrate, Pink Floyd drummer and renowned car enthusiast Nick Mason
brought his example to Pall Mall in London where it stopped the traffic.

His glorious red 250F was welcomed at the Royal Automobile Club after
thousands of readers from Octane magazine had voted for the type,
which had been nominated by Sir Stirling Moss.

Mason said: “The accolade is well deserved. To many the 250F is the archetypal
Grand Prix car and, apart from being one of the most beautiful, it is one of
the most progressive and forgiving of racing cars to drive. Who can forget
what must be the most iconic of motor racing images – Fangio in a full
power-slide at the French Grand Prix in 1957, with battle scars evident on
the nose? The car that is, not the driver…”

The 250F competed between 1954 and 1958, during which it won 55 races. It
first raced in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix in the hands of Juan Manuel
Fangio, who won the first of his two victories before he left for
Mercedes-Benz. Sir Stirling Moss raced his privately owned 250F for the full
1954 season. In 1956 he won the Italian Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix
in his private car.

In 1957, Fangio drove to four more championship victories, including his
legendary win at the Nürburgring where he overcame a 50-second deficit in
just 20 laps, passing the race leader on the final lap.

Octane readers voted on a shortlist of nine famous racing machines
including an Auto Union Type C, Lotus 49, Porsche 917, Cobra, Mercedes-Benz
W196 and Toyota TS010 Group C. The cars were nominated by racing drivers and
personalities, including Brian Redman, Damon Hill, Derek Bell, Carroll
Shelby, Andy Wallace and Bobby Rahal.

The Maserati 250F was put forward by Sir Stirling Moss, who said: “I have
great affection for the 250F because it was the car that gave me my first
proper break in Formula One.”

The editor of Octane, Robert Coucher, said: “There has been a huge debate over
the years as to which car could be described as the Greatest Racing Car but
no one has put it to the test. We decided that we would ask our readers and
more than 100,000 users of the Octane website to vote.

“We also wanted the views of some of the most famous drivers in the world who
have actually experienced these famous cars over the years.”

that would be brill on the islands roads eh

Brilliant Drummer,nice car...............................No tax,insurance,numberplate???