Adriano Pascucci was a Member of the Club in the 1960s and 1970s, the zenith years of the David Brown era. He was a committee member for a long number of years. His car, during his membership, was a fabulous DB6, chassis number DB6/2410/L; however, this was not the only car he owned as he also had a collection that included Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari and an ultrarare Pegaso. He and his wife Mady lived high up in a stunningly beautiful area of the Swiss Alps overlooking the upper Rhône valley. The village of Montana is a very traditional small alpine village where no doubt there is a strong community spirit which the Pascuccis would have been part of. Montana had gorgeous traditional alpine chalets back in the 1970s and is little changed today. Adriano and Mady lived in Chalet ‘Los Picos’ in Montana, no doubt utterly charming. Adriano although living in Switzerland had strong Spanish connections and looked after the Spanish section of the Club for many years.
Adriano appreciated just how much the lady Members of the Club worked tirelessly to make the Club what it is today. They did it with probably little appreciation at the time by the male Club Members. When his wife Mady was tragically killed in a road traffic accident in Italy he decided that a trophy be created specifically for the ladies in memorial to his late and greatly missed wife. Most men would have arranged a cup of some sort to be awarded annually but Adriano was much more thoughtful than that and created what really should be considered a piece of jewellery. What he created was a Members’ badge that used precious metals and gems. This wasn’t a one-off, however, but a piece that would be kept by the recipient and a new one created annually and funded by him throughout his life. Sadly his life was cut short just a few years later and in fact the Club funded the last award given.
There were only four recipients of the award and they are very special ladies who did so much work for the Club at the time. They created a legacy still enjoyed by Members today. They are Jane Archer (1978), Carolyn Snowdon (1979), Clare Gardner (1980) and June Creed (1981).
I don’t personally know Jane Archer, Carolyn Snowdon or June Creed so it would be wrong of me to write specifically about those ladies. However, I do know Clare Gardner. For myself Clare is pretty special and unlike the editor of another car club magazine she appreciated my humour and where I was coming from. She laughed at my ridiculous northern humour, or was it that she humoured me because I was from the north. You the reader must be the judge of that. She encouraged me to write more and sadly for you as a Member, you are stuck with me. Please don’t blame me for it was all Clare’s fault for encouraging me. Clare edited AM Quarterly for so many years following on from Brian Joscelyne and preceding David Lewington. I know David worked alongside Clare and I think it safe to say she guided him into becoming Editor. In my humble opinion you could not have found a more deserving recipient of the award than Clare and her legacy lives on in the magazine you as Members receive each quarter. I think the Club should resurrect this award and it not be awarded annually but under special circumstances when the committee and the Members alike think it especially deserving.