What a final act: more than 80,000 people are said to have visited the four days before and last weekend (October 20 to 23, 2022) what is certainly the largest and most attractive classic and youngtimer trade fair south of the Alps with around 5,000 vehicles on display. From next year, it plans to grow further, but then in Bologna, around 130 kilometers away.
Well attended despite strikes
Italy's labor leaders called a general strike on Friday of all days, the first day of the fair for the general public: air traffic controllers, airport service companies, the railroads and even the freeway toll are on strike. In Padua, there should almost have been fewer visitors, but apparently many of them had already arrived the day before or by car - and the strike leaders were therefore less effective.
Even in the morning, there was no sign of a lack of visitors in front of the eight exhibition halls plus various outdoor tents - buses and private cars of visitors from half of Europe were jammed here. On the grounds, hundreds of exhibitors from 46 countries - a third of them parts and memorabilia dealers - vied for the attention of visitors; mostly male, often in groups or as a father-son team.
75 years of Ferrari
The special exhibition on Ferrari, which was unfortunately housed in a tent, was beautifully staged and of course knowledgeably curated. It also included a Ferrari 125 S from 1947, the first car ever built by the brand. Many people would probably have made the pilgrimage to Padua for this special exhibition alone.
Rally cars from the golden age
The "MAUTO" automobile museum in Turin put on an impressive special exhibition. It dealt with "The Golden Age Of Rally. The great challenges". The exhibits included a Lancia Stratos in Alitalia livery and a BMC Mini Cooper S, as well as a Fiat 124 Sport Spider and an Alpine A 110 as part of the huge presence of the ACI-Storico - the Italian FIA offshoot. The superstar, however, was the Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 with starting number 14, driven to victory by Sandro Munari in Monte Carlo in 1972 (co-driver and navigator at the time was Mario Mannucci); a vehicle that you don't get to see live every day.
Furthermore, the main halls (those with low hall numbers) were mostly home to elaborately staged trade fair presentations by renowned brand specialists and restoration companies as well as the stands of numerous particularly committed brand clubs from all over Europe, with a focus on Italy.
Huge "shopping center" for car enthusiasts
In addition, several entire halls were a shopping paradise for classic car collectors; filled with vehicles in mostly good condition and in all price categories. A slightly rusty Lancia Beta stood next to a Ferrari that was 40 times more expensive.
One dealer offered several Porsche 356s in every conceivable color, so well restored and at the same time so well lit that it could have been a New York showroom in the 1960s with new cars. The only thing missing were the matching handbags. In contrast, a dealer in the outdoor area with a number of objects marked by extreme patina, which can hardly be used for restoration but rather as decoration, had a soothing effect. The old advertising signs were probably the main items for sale here.
Where there was not enough space or private sellers wanted to offer individual objects, they could do so in the central outdoor area for 600 euros - certainly with very good sales opportunities here too.
A public hungry to buy
Most visitors also felt that they were open to making a new purchase - there was no sign of a crisis or energy price shocks, but rather the threat of currency devaluation and a (still) small flight into tangible assets before the prices of the personally favored model rise even further. However, insiders reported that the most interesting or really good deals were usually sold on Thursday, on the "preview" day for the press and invited guests.
To counter the shopping frustration, there were plenty of books, signs, bags or memorabilia - unless you were looking for and perhaps even found original vehicle parts.
Rare items - not always for cash
Among the 5,000 or so vehicles on display at the trade fair, there were some exotic and entertaining things to discover and certainly some unsellable items - even for the experienced visitor who thought they knew everything and had already seen it all. This applied, for example, to the Fiat factory visitor bus from Bertone springs or the Abarth 1000 SP prototype on the FCA Heritage stand.
The Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Spider Aprile made its driver look like an emissary of the Holy Father on a divine mission on Italy's roads in 1931.
Ciao! See you in Bologna.
Could it be any bigger? Yes, because after 39 editions, the fair is saying goodbye to Padua, near Venice, and will open for the first time in October 2023 in Bologna, just 130 kilometers to the southwest. As the city of Padua wants to rededicate part of its exhibition grounds to new forms of housing and cultural facilities, the organizers were forced to look for an alternative. The even larger exhibition grounds in Bologna offer the organizers room for growth, according to exhibition manager Mario Carlo Baccaglini, especially for motorcycles and historic motorsports. Visitors to Bologna will be able to enjoy this beautiful and historic, but above all young and very lively university city with plenty of art and music and open-air bars on the streets in the evenings - all of which can make a visit to the trade fair even more worthwhile. So, just wait another twelve months and we'll be back!
