A trip to Venice and a car show

When the opportunity arose to have a weekend in Venice, and take in a car show, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Over 130,000 visitors came to Padua, bucking the trend of the biggest industry events

The Finarte Auction house’s top lot goes to the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Cabriolet Pininfarina sold for € 639,060

The event’s international reputation continues to grow with collectors, enthusiasts and journalists from all over the world in attendance

The 27th October 2019 marks the end of the 36th edition of Auto e Moto d’Epoca and a new record being set: 130,000 visitors attended the event dedicated to the world of vintage cars, organised by Intermeeting in the Padua Fair pavilions. The slogan for the 2019 edition of the event was “Cars ignite passion”, and once again this year the visitors’ response was resoundingly positive from the opening day.

The Exhibition’s international reach is growing, as proved by the number of international collectors, visitors and accredited journalists from over 30 countries. To give just one example, a group of 15 journalists from some of the most important German newspapers drove from Munich to attend this event for the first time.

The event was also more present on social media and visitors were sharing their enthusiasm for it, especially on instagram; many uploaded thousands of pictures, videos and comments to the social media platform to share their favourite models and their excitement for taking part in the event.

“This is a difficult time for international industry events; despite the general trend, Padua continues to grow” – says Mario Carlo Baccaglini – “We are going against the current because we put the spotlight on the visitors’ passion, and it’s only here that they can find over 5,000 high quality vintage cars. The data we are collecting today proves that Auto e Moto d’Epoca is a key event for enthusiasts all over the world.

Another interesting phenomenon has been the “Youngtimer”: models from the 80s which are appealing to young people, allowing them to access the world of vintage cars in the right way, that is through passion, which is what fuels our event”.

National and international traders registered very positive results as they met buyers and collectors from all four corners of the globe, that is people hailing from Europe, Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil.

The best-represented brands were Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati; however, there were dealers who made excellent first-time AME debuts. These include Dr. Konradsheim and his high-level Porsches, and Girardo & Co, one of the best-known dealers in the world, who has invested heavily in sports cars, such as the 1972 Alfa Romeo Type 33 TT 3, the last Alfa to have taken part in the Le Mans race.

It was also a fruitful first time in Padua for Dutch company Real Art on Wheels which sold 3 cars, including the one-off 1998 Porsche 993 2S Cabriolet. Another gem and the same level of satisfaction was the sale of two Alfa Romeo mini-buses, the 1970 F12 and the 1960 T10 Romeo, two extremely rare cars masterfully restored and refurbished by two enthusiasts from the province of Modena.

In terms of cars accessible to the wider audience, the demand for the Maggiolino Volkswagen and Fiat 500 remains strong.

And in terms of cars of excellence, some of the Righini Collection cars were also at the event, including one of the most important no.46s in the world, which features the first Ferrari ever built. Righini also took park in the Le Rosse in abito da corsa exhibition, the feather in the cap of the 36th AME edition organised by ACI with Auto e Moto d'Epoca, with its 8 barchetta models exhibited in Pavilion 2 of te ACI Arena.

“Once again this year, enthusiasts have honoured us with their interest for historic cars; the stream of visitors to the Ferrari barchette exhibition was continuous” says Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of the Automobile Club d'Italia. “Auto e Moto d'Epoca has an extraordinary pulling power and it represents a crucial place of exchange between operators, as is highlighted by the debate which took place regarding the tax system and vintage cars.

From this conversation, we learnt that we need to establish a “safeguarding list” to manage the fleet of cars in circulation which are more than 20 years old, in order to protect vehicles of real historical interest and to scrap those which are simply old, unsafe and highly polluting.”

There was a great deal of interest in the Finarte auction which took place in collaboration with Automotive Masterpieces, registering more than two million three-hundred thousand Euro in sales, an amount which is constantly increasing due to the exceptional trend of post-auction sales.

The 1947 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport was sold as the top lot for €639,060, with chassis no. 915303. The only Pinin Farina cabriolet to have taken part in the Mille Miglia in 1949 and a great result even for the “world premiere” of the ID|EM “Twin Works” project, which features two twin Porsche 911s: one is a vintage car, refurbished to perfection, and the other is a modern car, tailor-fitted; both cars have matching livery. This lot also went under the hammer for €639,060. A unique Fiat-Abarth 750 Spyder (Zagato), chassis no. 100*519476 was sold; this car is believed to be the one presented at the 1958 Turin international Car Fair. Sold for € 81,529, it will be added to an important Abarth car collection.

In addition to bringing models of excellence as per usual, such as the 1964 Luxury Ferrari 250 GTL and the Maserati 3500 GT, Ruote da Sogno has an eye to the future when it comes to vintage cars and is keen on promoting eco-sustainability through a project that allows you to turn your vintage car into an electric car, while maintaining the license plate and vehicle registration certificate.

Speaking about his participation in the event, the Director of the National Car Museum in Turin, Mariella Mengozzi said: “We are delighted to have showcased MAUTO in Padua for the very first time. We wanted to put into practice the common goal we share with Auto e Moto d’Epoca – that is getting people to learn about and preserve the history of cars – and we did with the car of Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, the founder of our museum and the legendary Itala of the Peking-to-Paris race.

In this beautiful and vibrant city, we have met many industry professionals, even international, with whom we plan to carry out initiatives in the future; what’s more AME has made it possible for us to share our museum with the wider audience of vintage car enthusiasts. All in all, this has been a very positive experience”.

The Gino Macaluso Foundation for Vintage Cars also speaks positively about the experience. “Taking part in such an important event on the Italian landscape is an excellent opportunity to spread the culture of vintage cars, which is our mission. We are particularly happy that one of the first events we have chosen to take part in as the Gino Macaluso Foundation for Vintage cars is Auto e Moto d’Epoca, a successful event and a labour of love on behalf of the organisers, which reminds us of Gino Macaluso’s passion for vehicles, sports and design. Taking part alongside the Ferrero Comotto Foundation undoubtedly enriches the great portfolio of the event.”

“We are proud to represent an example of passion in this industry – says the President of ASI, Alberto Scuro – and we are proud to continue being loyal to our philosophy which binds us to principles of originality, culture and emotion. These are the most important values which keep vintage car motoring alive. Passion has no price. It cannot be measured by the sole economic value of the vintage car that one desires or has preserved, maybe one which has been passed down from one generation to the next. Similarly, the originality we have wanted to highlight in Padua is to be interpreted as the historical, cultural, social and industrial heritage that each vintage car needs to preserve in order to be a faithful witness for the future. This is why ASI has begun a virtuous, evolutionary journey in terms of certifications, with the sole objective of safeguarding this industry as much as possible.”

See you at the 37th edition of AME, from 22nd to 25th October 2020.