A unique collection of more than 60 Ferrari arrived in London today to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the first car ever built by the legendary Italian car maker. The Italian Ambassador to England Signor Giancarlo Aragona hosted a reception at the Italian Embassy for more than 150 Ferrari owners and friends who were travelling in convoy to Silverstone race circuit carrying a specially created diamond-encrusted baton as part of the worldwide relay for the Prancing Horse.

The tour began in Abu Dhabi on 29 January and has already passed the Middle East, China, Japan, Australia, South Africa, America, Spain, Portugal, France and Holland before arriving in the UK on 18 April. In glorious sunshine more than 600 Ferrari owners have joined the UK leg of the tour and carried the baton as it has progressed nearly 1500 miles through Northern Ireland, Scotland, the North, Midlands, Wales, the South West and South East before heading to London for this special celebration.

To mark the passing of the baton through the UK a specially created mobile phone has been created by Vertu, designed and handcrafted in the UK from the Ascent collection engraved with the tour route, the Ferrari logo and featuring red and white leather detailing. This phone will be auctioned on 23 June in Italy, along with other gifts from countries through which the baton has travelled with all funds raised going to charity.

The Italian Ambassador Signor Giancarlo Aragona commented, "Ferrari is the pinnacle of the very best Italian style, design and technology and for 60 years has been an outstanding ambassador for our country. There has always been a deep and special relationship between English and Italian people and I am delighted to welcome the Ferrari 60 Relay to London and also so many Ferrari owners, friends of Ferrari and fans who share a passion for this great company. It is also a pleasure to receive the Vertu phone for auction and I will now carry this to Rome to join the other gifts from around the world."

Massimo Fedeli, Managing Director of Ferrari GB said in London "Since the Ferrari 60 Relay baton arrived in the UK on Wednesday we have been honoured to see so many Ferrari owners and fans joining us in this special celebration and sharing our passion for Ferrari. British Ferrari owners are amongst the most enthusiastic in the world and they reflect the unique bond between the UK and Italy.
 

"As we head to Silverstone for the final miles of the British leg of the tour we would like to thank the Italian Ambassador, all of our Ferrari clients and our many friends and fans who have participated in the tour," he added.

The UK leg of the Ferrari 60 Relay has also been promoting the incredible Ferrari Racing Days spectacular at Silverstone which takes place from 8-9-10 June. Featuring the UK round of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli with over 30 equally matched Ferrari F430 Challenge cars jostling for position on one of the fastest F1 Grand Prix circuits, and the ultra-exclusive FXX which will be making its only official UK appearance, Ferrari Racing Days will be an action-packed weekend of Ferrari festivities which will appeal to Ferrari clients and the ever-faithful Tifosi.

Ferrari Racing Days at Silverstone is the UK focus of Ferrari's 60th Anniversary and, quite appropriately, will also feature the Ferrari Shell Historic Championship in which classic road and race Ferraris compete in three different categories to relive the golden era of motorsport. Ferrari's customer motorsport division, Corse Clienti, are also supporting several Ferrari clients who will be demonstrating a range of famous and historic F1 cars from the company's illustrious racing past. Ferrari Racing Days at Silverstone will be the only opportunity to see all four activities (Challenge, FXX, Historic, F1 Clienti) together in the UK, and it is the only time that all these activities will be seen together outside of the Finali Mondiali , Ferrari's end-of-year racing celebrations.

The baton now travels to Greece for the next leg of the Ferrari 60 Relay. The Ferrari 60 Relay baton which travels through each country was designed and created to symbolise Ferrari's history and is topped by a dazzling platinum and diamond Prancing Horse made by Damiani. It also features 60 enamel symbols designed by the Intesta e D'Adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli and BBDO advertising agencies, and by creative talents Alessandro Migliorini of Area Creativa, Marco Morosini, Enzo Naso of the eponymous studio and Wolfgang Seidl of Seidldesign.