Italy

The “Auto e Moto d’Epoca” (Autos and Motorbikes of the Period, referring to vintage and classic items) is an annual motor vehicle show held in Italy. The 2024 event was its 41^st edition, and substantial growth forced it to move from Padova to a larger venue in Bologna. I first became aware of this show in 2023 and had hoped to attend but was unable to. However, I made the journey in October 2024 and attended all four days. I’ve experienced all types of car shows over the decades, but this was easily one of the best shows of my life (it helps that I love not only Alfa Romeos, but all Italian motor vehicles).

The 2024 show dates were from Thursday Oct. 24 through Sunday Oct. 27. I arrived in Bologna on Tuesday the 22^nd so I could adjust to the 6-hour time difference. Once I got off the plane in Bologna, a 15-minute taxi ride got me to my Marriott hotel. The show was held at the BolognaFiere, a huge exhibition complex which was an easy 15-minute walk from the hotel. The Auto e Moto d’Epoca occupied 13 of its buildings, or halls, with the halls organized into 4 categories: vehicles for sale; vehicles displayed by car clubs, manufacturers, and other organizations; motorcycles; and spare parts & automobilia.

Thursday was billed as preview day, and I had pre-purchased a combo ticket for all 4 days. I arrived shortly after the doors opened at 9 a.m., and as I walked into the hall and got my first glance of the cars on the floor, I knew that my expectations were about to be greatly exceeded. As it happened, the first of the 13 buildings I entered featured cars for sale by private individuals. Italian cars included various Fiat models such has 124 Sport Coupes, 130 Coupes, Dino Coupes and Spiders, and 500 sedans. Lancias were plentiful and included various Fulvias and Flaminias. Of course, there were many Alfa Romeos, mostly GT Coupes and Spiders, but a fair number of sedans too. Non-Italian cars included various Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes, Volkswagens, and even some American cars. And this was just the first building!

On Thursday, I only visited the halls which contained cars for sale. Aside from cars offered by private individuals, many of the remaining vehicles for sale had been brought in by specialty auto dealers, of which there seem to be a great number in Italy. Asking prices were listed in Euros, and with the dollar almost at 1:1 parity (actually the Euro is worth a little more), there were no complicated calculations to make regarding pricing. I spent about 6 hours on Day 1 wandering through 5 of the 6 buildings with cars for sale.

I’ve decided that the most organized way to share my photos is to break up the blog posts into segments based on vehicle marques, starting with Fiat.

This 1962 Fiat 600D had an asking price of €8200

Fiat Dino Coupes and Spiders

Fiat, in collaboration with Ferrari, agreed to build a certain number of “Dino” Coupes and Spiders with the Ferrari V6 engine for homologation purposes. Never officially imported into the U.S., they were built in limited numbers during the late ‘60s-early ‘70s. They have always been a favorite of mine, and I’m lucky if I see one a year in the States. Here, I saw EIGHT.

1968 Dino Spider in red

1968 Dino Coupe in red, paint was bad, asking €23,000

Yellow Dino Coupe

Blue Dino Spider, asking €97,000

1967 Dino Spider in red, asking €115,000

Yellow Dino Coupe, asking €57,000

Silver Dino Coupe

Dark red Dino Spider with a brown interior

Fiat 124 Sport Coupes

Long a favorite, as I had one in college, which ignited this Italian love affair. They have all but disappeared from the roads here, but there were 3 at the show, and two were for sale at seemingly fair prices.

This 2^nd-generation 1971 Coupe had an asking price of €16,999. It looked sharp in yellow over black with its alloy wheels, but with the hood up, the yellow in the engine compartment didn’t match the exterior paint. The car was still for sale when I walked past it on Sunday.

This 1968 Coupe (1^st gen car, note the single headlamp per side compared to the yellow one) had what looked like a restored interior, with headrests on the front seats. The owner was asking €13,900, a bit less than the yellow car.

This 2^nd-gen silver car was displayed outside, and I presume that it was there as part of a Fiat club.

Fiat 130 Coupes

Looking somewhat like the 124 Coupe’s big brother, these V6-powered cruisers pop up once in a while on Bring a Trailer. There were two at the show.

This 1969 Fiat 2300 Coupe had an asking price of €34,000

I call this 1955 Fiat 1100 “Transformabile” the ‘Eleanor Roosevelt car’, because there is a photo of her in the driver’s seat of one. The vendor was asking €57,500 for this one.

Fiat 124 Spiders were thin on the ground at this show, and understandably so, since out of a total production of 197,913 vehicles (1966-1985), 170,720 were imported into the U.S.! Still, a few interesting examples were there.

This blue Spider looked impeccably restored, and featured the dual carbs under the so-called ‘turtleback’ air cleaner.

This presumably authentic Abarth 124 Rally car had an asking price of €105,000.

This ’69 Spider was claimed to be one of only 4 prepped by the factory for competition.

A ’68 Spider in yellow. Note the original style grille with horizontal bars.

I’ve read about Fiat 8Vs, but had never seen one in the metal before this show. Interestingly, Fiat gave it that name under the mistaken impression that “V8” had been trademarked by the Ford Motor Company.

This early 20^th century Fiat racer was on display in the Center Hall.

This Fiat 128 2-door sedan looked racy with its blacked-out panels. It sold in 2 days.

The Fiat Multipla is considered by some to be the first “minivan”.

This Fiat pickup looked like a conversion job, although I’m not sure.

And you thought that Fiat only made small vehicles? This bus was plenty big. It had a 6-cylinder diesel engine.

This Fiat 850 Spider was likely the nicest one I’ve ever seen. It was an early model as noted by its flush headlights.

A Fiat Ritmo Abarth. The Ritmo was Fiat’s answer to the successful VW Golf (Rabbit in the U.S.).

The hit of the show among the Fiats were the diminutive 500 models. They were out in great numbers, in stock and modified versions. In fact, there were plenty of vendors at the show selling all kinds of performance upgrades for these air-cooled 2-cylinder pocket rockets.

Next up will the Lancia (say “Lon-sha”, NOT “Lan-see-ya”)

Up until 1978, the extent of my travels by car had taken me to California and back. My sole trip via air was a family vacation to Florida in my late teens. The only time I had been out of the U.S. was a quick trip to Toronto while a college student.

When my mother and several other family members planned a visit to Italy, I signed on, thinking that the food and the cars would offset the less-desirable attribute of traveling with relatives.

We were there for two weeks in September of 1978. The only one in our foursome not fluent in Italian was me, and since we spent most of our time visiting family members, none of whom spoke English, things could get boring. To entertain myself, I would venture out on my own and purchase car magazines (in Italian, natch), and teach myself how to translate automotive technical terms.

My camera for the trip was a Kodak 110 Instamatic, with negatives the size of your pinky nail. It is amazing that the snapshots looked as good as they did. While most of my photos were of relatives, I did capture some interesting machinery on the street. It’s not surprising that the cars which fascinated me 38 years ago are the cars which fascinate me today. Some things, as the cliché goes, never change.

There was no driving by me during this journey. That would change for my next European visit.

BELOW: This Lancia Fulvia Coupe is from the late ’60s/early ’70s and is already an “old car” for the Italian streets. I always admired its tall greenhouse, reminiscent to me of the Fiat 124 Coupe I had owned. Note the lack of a rear bumper.

BELOW: This Volvo 66 (really a Dutch Daf with a Volvo grille) was the first non-U.S. Volvo I had ever seen.

BELOW: This late ’60s Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Coupe is done up to mimic a GTA (on the presumption that it is not a real race-bred GTA). There was no way to determine if the Turbo badging was only an honorary add-on. Like the Lancia, the rear bumper was removed in an effort to add a dash of sportiness.

BELOW: At the time of my visit, I owned a ’77 VW Rabbit. The GTi hot hatch version was something that Americans could only dream about, and here was one barrelling down the strada.

BELOW: While being driven to southern Italy by my mother’s cousin, we were forced to come to a temporary stop while a farmer herded his sheep (and other farm animals) across the road. Admittedly, the photo was actually an attempt to capture the herding, but the Opel Kadett happened to be there. (Based on that crowded back seat, it looks like its driver is doing his own herding.)

BELOW: This Fiat 124 sedan, owned by my mother’s cousin, was our transportation for 8 hours as we were driven to southern Italy. My mom and aunt patiently wait in the back seat for the herding to end.

BELOW: On the streets of Rome, I came across this Fiat Dino Coupe, a car that I had certainly read about, but had never seen until now. Look at the dirt which has been kicked up by the front tire onto the fender and rocker panel – this is someone’s daily driver.

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