Peter would probably have driven British cars, at least the weather on May 1, 2016 on the occasion of the Concorso d'Eleganza Italiauto made anything but a sunny Italian impression. There was no "o sole mio" or "un gelato al limun" atmosphere. No matter how much the Italian music trio sang against it, the temperatures remained cool and the weather damp.
Accordingly, the expected crowds failed to turn up. And it's fair to say that those who stayed away missed out on a lot.
The format remained unchanged for the 9th edition of Italiauto, with a beauty contest providing the framework and a short drive providing an opportunity to see the beautiful cars in action.
The Swiss Moretti Day
Giovanni Moretti's automobiles were guests at the St. Urban Monastery, which, as in 2015, provided the extremely stylish setting for the event. Seven of these extremely rare vehicles had been expected, but something went wrong with one of them during transportation, so that in the end six special Italian-made bodies painted in red, silver and white could be admired on the green lawn.
Silvio Cibien, who coordinates Moretti activities in Switzerland, also put together an exhibition of plans, brochures, books and pictures from his Moretti collection especially for Moretti Day.
The six Moretti vehicles also formed a separate beauty category, from which the Moretti Sportiva SS from 1968 emerged as the winner.
80 years of the Fiat Topolino
The Topolino is one of the most likeable cars ever. Now the Fiat 500, as it was actually called, was 80 years old and was honored accordingly with its own category and special show at the St. Urban monastery.
There were also many different versions in the park of the monastery, which were presented in carefully restored condition and shone brightly. The trophy for the most beautiful was won by a 500 B in the Giardiniera version from 1949.
The "Milchwägeli"
A very special version of the Fiat Topolino received a special prize. It had been converted by Carrosserie Langenthal into a milk float, in which the driver could ride almost standing up on a bicycle saddle. The high "trunk" had room for several 50-liter milk cans and this is probably how the milkman delivered the milk in the 1930s.
A group of enterprising people restored the rare vehicle, the investment was financed via share certificates, one could even speak of "crowd sourcing". The result is impressive and has attracted a lot of attention!
Special at second glance
Many of the cars present at the St. Urban monastery had something special about them, and you simply had to ask or look a little closer at one or two of them.
The Fiat 2300 S Coupé from 1962, for example, was a Ghia pre-series car and had Borrani wire wheels from the start, an extra that was so expensive at the time that it was only ordered three times. The elegant coupé went on to win one of the coveted Coppas.
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta of the 116 series has long since disappeared from our roads and the wedge-shaped saloon, which was built between 1977 and 1985, is hardly ever seen at classic car meetings. So it was all the more surprising that two of the few remaining transaxle four-doors were on display at the Italiauto meeting, a late two-liter version and a 1600 sedan as a police car.
The same applies to the Alfasud, whose population was killed off by rust and hot-tempered drivers. At the St. Urban monastery, however, a brown limousine from 1976 in pristine and almost brand-new original condition emerged as the winner of the "Berlina 1974-1984" category.
And as if an Alfasud wasn't rare enough, there was also a second "Sud" to admire, which was an original rally version (with side exhaust) from Italy.
The Lancia Appia Coupé by Pininfarina is already a rarity, but a very early example was shown at the Concorso, which was still built by Pininfarina (the later ones were produced by Viotti). The not un-elegant black coupé with a light-colored roof anticipated some design features that later reappeared in the larger Lancia-Pininfarina creations.
And of course the elegant sports cars of the sixties and the powerful examples of the seventies were not missing.
Samantha and Augusta
Women's names are often used as model designations, especially in Italy. The Fiat 125 S Coupé Samantha by Vignale from 1970 is no exception. Of the 100 or so examples built, not even two dozen are said to have survived, so the remaining examples are correspondingly rare and the green coupé was rightly awarded one of the Coppas.
The Lancia Augusta from 1935 has won two awards. The pretty saloon with its self-supporting structure and counter-rotating doors has been in the same ownership for over 50 years.
Of course, work had to be carried out time and again, but the Berlina shines like new. And in addition to the category prize (Vettura pre-1941), it also received the coveted "Best of Show" trophy.
The cuckoo's egg
It was billed as a Fiat Topolino Monoposto, the cute blue single-seater with a 570 cm3 four-cylinder engine from 1936. In reality, however, the technology was based on Simca parts, which manufactured Fiat products under license at the time.
Unfortunately, the history of this attractive racing car is largely unknown, and the owner would love to know where this car was used, who carried out the conversion and who drove it.
But all the more is known about the Fiat-Abarth Bialbero Mille from 1960, which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1960 and 1961 but never reached the finish line. Now it received at least one Italiauto trophy as compensation, so to speak.
Honored bread-and-butter cars
A special feature of Italiauto and therefore also an important sympathy factor is the fact that there are always many bread-and-butter cars from the past at the meeting, which are also open to several categories in the Concorso. This means that you can also discover cars on the event grounds that you may have driven yourself as an everyday car 30, 40 or 50 years ago. Examples include the Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina, the Fiat 127 or the Lancia A112 Abarth.
The Fiat 1800 B from 1963 also belongs in this group and it also won the prize in the "Berlina 1957-1972" category.
Those present and absent
The weather was certainly to blame for the unfortunate fact that, in addition to the spectators who were absent, some of the participants did not show up at the Concorso. A pity, because they missed out on a noble event and the visitors would certainly have liked to admire a Fiat 850 Familiare, a Maserati Bora or a Ferrari 275 GTB.
It was probably also due to the cool weather that many participants left before the end of the official part of the event (and before the award ceremony).
The prizes and trophies
- Coppa Herrenfahrt - category "Vettura pre-1941" - "Best of Show" - 46 Lancia Augusta, 1935
- Coppa OCC - Category "Fiat 500 Topolino 1947-1953" - 19 Fiat 500 B T. Giardiniera, 1949
- Coppa OCC - Category "Berlina 1957-1972" - 40 Fiat 1800 B, 1963
- Coppa Herrenfahrt - Category "Berlina 1974-1984" - 50 Alfa Romeo Alfasud 5m, 1976
- Coppa OCC - Category "Coupé di serie 1958-1971" - 89 Fiat 125 S Vignale Samantha, 1970
- Coppa OCC - "Coupé di serie 1972-1985" category - 37 Lancia Beta Coupé 2000, 1978
- Coppa Herrenfahrt - category "Coupé grande 1962-1978" - 1 Fiat 2300 S Ghia/Abarth, 1962 Coppa "zwischengas" - category "Coupé/Berlina lusso 1966-1980" - 72 - Alfa Romeo Montreal, 1975
- Coppa "zwischengas" - Category "Berlinetta 2 posti lusso 1970-1986" - 22 Maserati Merak, 1973
- Coppa SwissClassics - Category "Convertibile/Cabrio 1961-1972" - 48 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600, 1963
- Coppa SwissClassics - Category "Convertible/Cabrio 1974-1986" - 64 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Spider, 1982
- Coppa Atlantic Watch - "Vettura da competizione" category - 60 Fiat-Abarth Bialbero Mille, 1960
- Coppa OCC - Category "Categoria Speciale Automobile Moretti" - 16 Moretti Sportiva SS, 1968
- Coppa OCC - Category "Categoria Speciale" - 17 - Fiat 500 A, 1936 "Milchwägeli"
