The largest collection of Ferraris in the island is to descend on the Isle of Man Motor Museum at the weekend.

That, at least, is the hope of the museum’s Darren Cunningham who is planning the show as a double celebration - firstly for Fathers’ Day and secondly to mark the 70th anniversary of the exclusive Italian car maker.

Mr Cunningham said the museum would be making its own contribution to the display.

’We have a Ferrari 400i V-12 which is part of the museum display,’ he said.

’So we will be bringing that out. It’s a 1984 model and quite rare because it’s one of only about 27 with a manual gear box: most were automatic. We’ve owned it since 2007 but it’s not been out of the museum for a couple of years so we’ve had it in our workshop to bring it back to life. We might take it for a bit of a run too - after all you have to test drive the cars occasionally.’

The show starts at 10am on Sunday, June 18, and all makes and models of cars and bikes (not just Ferraris) are welcome to take part along side the Ferrari festival.

’If you own a Ferrari - or know someone who does - then please bring it along on the day to help us try to get the largest ever collection of Ferraris in one place in the island,’ he said.

This will be the museum’s first Fathers’ Day show and the display, in the display area outside the museum, will be free though entrance to the museum itself is subject to the normal rates.

Seventy years ago this week, the first Ferrari hit the streets of Maranello, Italy for a test drive. The 12-cylinder 125 S was the first to bear the name of Enzo Ferrari, and the first to have the well-known Ferrari prancing horse badge. To mark the occasion, the company is planning official events in 60 countries around the world.

At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which runs from June 29 to July 2, there will be more than 35 Ferrari racing cars which will include grand prix, sports car endurance racers and road going cars. Single seater Ferrari racing cars at the festival will span the decades from 1948 onwards.