Auto e Moto D’Epoca Padova 2018: A Jump In The Past and a Look To The Future

30 October 2018 Redazione Events, Lifestyle, News

AUTO E MOTO D’EPOCA PADOVA

A JUMP IN THE PAST AND A LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Words by Tommaso Mogge

Photos by Giorgia Rossi

That of Padua is an unmissable event for enthusiasts, whether they love two or four wheels, or for those who need to refresh their memory about those cars that have written the history of motorsport, in particular the world of rallies. The 2018 edition allowed the Auto e Moto D’Epoca fair to reach the 35^th birthday, a noteworthy accomplishment by itself, if it were not for the record entries that touched the 120,000 visitors in the 4 days of the event. Of course we could not miss it and we took advantage of the preview day to experience the true essence of the Padua fair, authentic reference point for those who want to buy, sell or simply take a trip in the past, always giving a look to a future more and more turned towards sustainability.

The well-set pavilions make it easy to enter, immersing ourselves straight in the spare parts area, but if you are not restoring anything you can still spend hours between metal plates, vintage signs and pieces that will surely remind you of the exciting days of your childhood. Die-cast models, finally more orderly and less labyrinthine than before, are another must and even if someone tries to ask you 20% more out of the latest kiosk’s releases, it is always worth bringing home a souvenir – a 1/43 car will not make your wife angry after all. You leave the first two pavilions and you are assaulted by the perfumes of the food stands: pork meat, sauces of all kinds and then the Sicilian confectioners, which are confirmed as one of the undisputed highlights of the whole show, diet apart. On the outside area there are several cars brought by retailers and private looking for the right customer or perhaps an exchange that can still make the Venetian trip useful. Wide space for bigger retailers in the other covered pavilions, where although we recognize some pieces that have already tread the ground in Padua last year and sometimes even the one before and the one before that, we find well-preserved models at prices not always optimistic as last year or so. Let’s be honest, someone really need to understand if they want to collect cars, or just sell it.

Not just classic cars, because alongside Italian classics, English, German and a handful of American muscles, we also have more recent models, the inevitable youngtimers (today’s fashion) and more recent supercars, including a LaFerrari Spider. Probably this will not have been the most photographed this year, mainly because of the bunch of Stratos which were nothing short of impressive, especially when placed next to a Lancia 037 Stradale or a Delta S4 Stradale. The #makelanciagreatagain fever helps revaluations a lot and in in case of sales makes two people happy instead of only one, but passing next to some Group B rally cars you really get goosebumps. Porsche could not be missing the appointment, no doubt those that have undergone a major revaluation (or just price-leap) in recent years, with models ranging from the first 356 up to the latest 911 GT3 RS. Catchy has been the E.C. OnlyOne sitting at the Mistral Motors stand, along with the classic lot of supercars and other interesting pieces, not to mention the 911 3.0 SC Rothmans Rally not far from there, still marked by one of the many battles faced before finding its well-deserved retirement.

Padua has always been a point of reference for car makers and their official dealers, which take advantage of the occasion to celebrate the most varied anniversaries and so we admired old glories from Citroen, Peugeot, Volvo and the FCA group – represented by its Heritage branch – right next to new models that aim to write the history of the brands in the following years. Alpine was there too with two A110s, the grandmother and the new one, not to mention Bentley and McLaren and the undisputed star of this edition: Mercedes-Benz, who took care not only to all the details with an impressive array of new models and classics – including the legendary C111 prototype – but allowed visitors to completely immerse themselves in a vintage world thanks to the total involvement of those who want to retrace the history of the three-pointed star, between info displays and the likes.

Finally, the prestigious confirmation of Bonhams auction house, with total sales exceeding 2 million Euros, including the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Coupe sold for € 508,197. Quantity therefore, but better quality than previous years I’d say, for a fair that has managed to carve out its position as a main event in the classics panorama and beyond. The feeling was that of a greater awareness on the part of many (not everyone though) exhibitors and unlike other occasions there seemed not to be a dominant trend by which aiming to increase the value of one or two models only. It was a fair to visit, fun to experience and that has certainly made more than a few people happy, regardless of whether they came back home with their dream car or have only been able to admire it closely.