Clarkson, Hammond and May were nowhere to be seen, instead the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and Ford GT were parked on Church Street outside Lancaster jewellers Banks Lyon, roped off and guarded by two burly, yet jolly, security officers.

P1, a company that provide an exclusive supercar service, had brought two of their flagship models last Wednesday to promote their services, as well as Banks Lyon's display of the latest Tag Heuer collection.

Church Street was a buzz with people as the combined £255,000 worth of automotive heaven parked up, the noise of the exhausts reverberating from one end of the street to the other.

I was lucky enough to be given a ride out in the £125,000 Ford GT by P1 North fleet manager, Jonathan Mitchell.
Lowdown.



It wasn't the easiest car I have ever gotten into, as part of the roof is attached to the door, so you have to be careful not to clock your head on it. The car is obviously lowdown and the bucket seats sink you even further so forget about looking cool or graceful when trying to get out.

Setting off round a busy one way system, Jonathan explained a little bit about P1: "We offer a service that gives people the opportunity to drive some of the finest cars in the world, without any of the associated worries.

"Members know that they can take out anything we have, be it a Ferrari, Aston Martin or a Bentley and give the keys back afterwards without having to concern themselves with things like damage, insurance, maintenance and depriectation."

I suggested that as fleet manager of a garage full of supercars, he possibly had the best job in the world. "It certainly has its advantages!" he said, "It's a fantastic job and I do get to drive all the cars, but I have to say, after a few days and a few hundred miles of driving carefully round in something like this, I always enjoy getting back into my golf diesel!"

I'm not sure I believed him, but I can see his point. P1 offer a membership service which allocates a certain amount of points and miles, so drivers can enjoy an array of amazing cars throughout the year, completely hassle free.

Nick Bailey, P1 North General Manager, said: "Most members already own a prestige car, so they use the club in a variety of ways. Some use it to drive cars they want to experience but wouldn't consider owning, whilst others use the driving time to make informed decisions about their next purchase.



"Either way, both make great financial success as our fees are significantly less than the cost of depreciation and maintenance if they were to own just one of the cars in our stable."

After my short but thrilling ride in the GT, it was back to Church Street to see how big a crowd had gathered. I wasn't disappointed, as there were plenty of people still milling around the Lamborghini, and virtually the whole street turned round to witness the arrival of the aircraft-sounding Ford. Even our local council turned out to show their support – in the form of a traffic warden.

Escorted
Prior to the event, permission to park the cars on Church Street had been refused, so as expected a trusty warden showed up to adminster a ticket for each car and even had to be escorted to the cars by aforementioned security guard to place the ticket on the expensive windshields – not your average day in Lancaster I'm sure!

Organised by Samuelsonwylie, the rest of the day's events consisted of the opportunity for people to have an informal look at the offerings of Banks Lyon, P1 and Tag Heuer, followed by an invite- only evening event for a closer look at the Tag Heuer collection.



For further information about Banks Lyon jewellers, P1 or Tag Heuer, visit www.bankslyon.co.uk, www.p1international.com and www.tagheuer.com.