Padova, 20 – 23 October 2016

The annual Auto e Moto d’Epoca show was held a Padova’s Fiera exhibition complex over the weekend of 20 – 23 October, with the first day entry charged at a premium rate for those visitors wishing to avoid the crowds. Without doubt the show is the largest and best attended classic car show in Italy, with a multitude of foreign visitors, no doubt encouraged not only by the diversity of offerings, but also the ease of access due to its close proximity to Venice airport, which is only a short drive away, whilst Bologna and Verona airports are only around a 60 minutes drive to and from the show. There is also the bonus of the historic city centre being a short distance away, for those wishing to add some historical culture to their classic vehicle culture visit.

The 2016 edition was the 33rd running, and each year its reputation has grown outside its native Italy, attracting a strong international following, with visitors coming from most European countries and even from across the Atlantic and Japan. This year it broke all previous attendance figures with over 100,000 visitors quoted by the organisers after the show. Certainly, from the at least four deep by 150 metres long queue still waiting an hour after the show had opened on the Friday morning, they are to be believed.

The format of the show is similar to those at most classic shows, but on a larger scale, not only occupying all eleven halls of the complex, but also encompassing car, motorcycle and accessory vendors in the external aprons and along the service roads between the halls, with an extra temporary pavilion being established for private vendors who wanted to display their cars under cover, but for whom there was no space in the main halls. Within the halls there were numerous one make car or specific model clubs, manufacturer displays, car vendor stands, booksellers, accessory companies, together with the largest hall, number 7, dedicated to automobilia, spare parts and peripheral accessories. Another area was mainly the domain of scale model vendors, whilst another was primarily for motorcycles and the associate spare parts and accessories.

This year there were no less than sixteen manufacturers with displays at the show, including Abarth, showing the 124 Spider and Rally along with an original Fiat 124 Spider Abarth rally car, Alfa Romeo with the new Giulia and a selection of models from their recently renovated museum, whilst Pagani had an outside pavilion with a spectacular display of four Zonda variants, to promote their newly opened showroom in San Cesario sul Panero (Modena). Maserati showed the Levante SUV, first shown at the Geneva Salon in March, together with a trio of historic models, including a 1968 Sisun prototype model. Of the foreign manufacturers, there were impressive displays from Audi featuring the R8 V10 Spyder, TT RS and a battery of their heritage, including the Auto Union Tipo D from 1938, whilst the Mercedes-Benz stand was a panorama of the company’s history, including a modern F1 car together with a W196 from the fifties, a 300 SL “Gull Wing” Coupe and the similarly “Gull Wing” C111 concept car with a Wankel engine. Jaguar were also rich on the heritage, displaying C, D and E-Types alongside the new F-Type SVR, whilst across the aisle Land Rover had the new Discovery together with previous incarnations of the model.

The one make car club displays always provide an interesting selection of models, frequently some unique examples, and usually go to great lengths in the decoration of their stands to create a period ambience. Being Italy, there were Fiats in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including a really cute pair of Jollys, a salmon pink 500 and a yellow 600 that really stood out from the crowd. There was a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the formation of Carrozzeria Touring with a four car display “Buon Compleanno Touring”, featuring a pair of Alfa Romeos, a 1933 6C 1750 GS and a 1951 6C 2500 SS “Villa d’Este”, an Aston Martin DB5 and a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta, chassis # 0034M. Amongst the club displays, the Registro Internazionale Touring Superleggera had a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta, chassis # 0068M, whilst Touring Superleggera themselves had Ferruccio Lamborghini’s personal Lamborghini 350 GT on display, which was a car that he had used for development purposes to produce the 400 GT. Mention of Lamborghini shouldn’t go without noting their impressive display promoting their Polo Storico restoration division, with a pair of Miura P400 SVs, a Huracan Super Trofeo and a Concept S.

There were also a wide variety of rare and interesting vehicles of all ages spread around the halls, not only Italian marques, but also a good selection of British cars, whilst there seemed to Porsches of all ages at almost every turn, plus some very nice Mercedes variants and even the occasional American leviathan. The show certainly maintained the reputation that it has established over the years for size, diversity, and interest.

Keith Bluemel
10/2016