The Padova Show: Something for Every Enthusiast

Posted on November 21, 2018.

Report and pictures by Keith Bluemel

The 35th annual Auto e Moto d’Epoca show was held a Padova’s Fiera exhibition complex over the weekend of 25-28 October, offering classic vehicle enthusiasts a vast panorama of offerings to view, enjoy and purchase. It lays claim to being the largest and best attended classic car show in Italy and attracts a large international audience from all parts of the globe, together with international exhibitors, for one weekend in October. The show has a premium rate entry fee on the first day, the Thursday, which enables visitors to browse the multitude of aisles in comfort, without the massive crowds of the general admission days.

Because of the popularity of the show with vendors and exhibitors, last year the organisers expanded the display areas available by erecting marquees in the service roads between some of the halls in the complex, providing more covered display space, which was also a feature of this year’s event. However, there was still a wide variety of cars, motorcycles, parts and accessories on offer in the other outdoor areas. One of the great things about the show is being able to stumble across the most obscure vehicles, whether it be a “barn find” in need of serious TLC in the outdoor areas, to magnificently restored examples on the club, dealer or manufacturer displays in the main halls.

The show is always well supported by major manufacturers, normally featuring their latest offerings allied with examples from their heritage. This year the manufacturer displays included Porsche with an impressive mirrored stand which apart from featuring an array of 911 models, also included their Mobil liveried WSC LMP1 Spider. Volvo showed the latest V60 model along with classics like the PV 445 Station Wagon and a P1800 Hatchback, whilst the Mercedes-Benz display featured their lurid orange quad rotor Wankel engined C111-II concept from 1970, together with other classics and their current equivalents.

The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Heritage division stand included the 1908 Fiat S61 Grand Prix car, the Lancia Delta Integrale Group A Safari, with which Biasion/Sivieri won the gruelling African enduro, an Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione IMSA and the latest limited edition Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio N-Ring, with a menacing matt titanium finish. A short distance away was the expansive Maserati stand, which included the 1958 Eldorado Special, a Merak and the latest Levante SUV, the Gransport S Q4 in Bianco Alpi.

Within the halls there were also numerous one make car or specific model clubs, car vendors, booksellers, accessory companies, restoration facilities etc, all combining to provide an eclectic array of offerings for the visitor. Amongst them, the MG Car Club displayed a quartet of MGA Twin Cam models to celebrate its 60th anniversary, whilst opposite to their stand was the Zagato Car Club stand, which featured a 1958  Abarth 750 and a magnificently restored dark metallic grey Zagato bodied Porsche 356. McLaren Milano displayed a M1C CanAm car along with the latest 570S Spider, with alongside them Bentley Padova showing a 1925 Bentley 3 Litre together with the new Continental GT.

The FIVA/AAVS display included a 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS, together with a very original looking 1956 Fantuzzi bodied Maserati 250 S sports racing car, tested by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson at the Modena Aeroautodromo that year. The Automobile Club San Remo stand had a trio of Lancia Delta Integrales together with a Wurth-liveried 037, and the 1988 and 1989 World Rally Champion Miki Biasion was in attendance with some of his old weapons. On the rally front, this was the focus of the Automobile Club Italia Storico’s display this year, with a tunnel of iconic rally cars on display, ranging from a 1972 Opel Ascona 1900 SR, through icons like the Alpine A110, Lancia’s Stratos, Delta Integrale and S4, Ford Escort Cosworth and Peugeot 205 T16 to the 2017 Ford Fiesta WRC Plus.

There was a fair sprinkling of Ferraris around the show, mainly in the vendor areas, with a number of the specific to the Italian market 2 litre V8 models, in both normally aspirated and turbo form. Others included a bronze 330 GTC (s/n 11545) which had apparently been in single ownership for 42 years, plus another example in a rather bright metallic purple, claimed to be the original colour (s/n 11253). Of the less mainstream models there was also a 250 MM PF Berlinetta (s/n 0256 MM), a 250 GT Boano (s/n 0583 GT), an ivory 365 GTC4 on the Borrani stand (s/n 14179), a Dino 206 GT (s/n 00378), a 312 T F1 car, (s/n 018), and even a LaFerrari Aperta (s/n 226136).

The show also featured a Bonhams auction which was held on the Saturday afternoon with offerings ranging in age from a 1937 Fiat 1500 Cabriolet by Viotti to a 2014 BMW i8 Coupé. Variety was also evident, as it ranged from a circa 1949 Alfa Romeo powered speedboat, through a 1939 Horch 830 BL Convertible, Minis in Pickup and Countryman guises, a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT PF Coupé to a 2012 rendition of the Fiat Jolly on the modern 500 version. The sale had a reasonable sell-through rate, and the Ferrari 250 GT PF Coupé achieved €508,196 including buyer’s premium.

Once again there were a wide range of interesting and rare cars on display on the manufacturer, club and vendor stands, both in the halls and on the external aprons, so that there really was something for virtually every classic vehicle enthusiast, with a sprinkling of modernity as a nice link between today and the past.