More Than 100 Classic Cars Gathered for the VIII Premio Castello Acaja
PREMIO CASTELLO DEGLI ACAJA
More Than 100 Classic Cars Gathered for the VIII Premio Castello Acaja
Words: Carlo Brema
Photography: Giorgia Rossi and Alessandro Marrone
You can celebrate a car in so many ways, but we know that vintage cars require some special attentions. A classic car carries a strong meaning, the result of several kilometers traveled and years gone by, but more than anything else is an emotional vehicle. Emotional in the sense that it represents different times and feelings, especially in terms of driving and involvement, for the driver as for the passengers. That’s why historic cars are celebrated by driving them along roads that are their most natural habitat and where they can be used for what they have been designed and built for surviving decades and impressive changes in culture and people fashions. With that vintage look, with those faded fenders and those leather seats torn by the passing of years, they remind us every day of what it meant to move on those streets less busy than today’s ones, and that nowadays an apparent simple Sunday drive has become a real adventure, where everything can go wrong, but that’s what makes a day driving a classic car so special – the risk of coming back home with dirty hands, the almost total certainty of having to get in the shade to cool the engine, fatigued but not tired of cruising miles and satisfying our unceasing desire to live the car, celebrating it in the best way possible, sharing these moments with other enthusiasts like us.
Reaching its eighth edition, the Premio Castello degli Acaja held in Fossano has now been confirmed as one of the key points of the calendar aiming to experience historic cars, welcoming crews coming from all over Italy, but also from abroad, as the increasingly numerous French gentlemen, Germans, but also Swiss and even Swedes and Finns. For this year’s edition, the two days changed the route again, seeing participants gather in Turin, where on the morning of May 13th they could drive on the Lingotto circuit and then head towards the beautiful town of Racconigi. Stop in front of the imposing castle and while the drivers put something in the belly, we took advantage to carefully observe a good part of the vast car park – many others joined later in the afternoon, with the arrival at Piazza Castello in Fossano , where the classic presentation of the cars to the public preceded an evening of music and good food. The next day was equally rich for that incredible spectacle that a convoy of 105 classic cars can offer the people of the towns who have been crossed by that metal snake, taking photos and pointing at their favorites. Again this year we have been able to appreciate the variety and level of cars attending, ranging from small Italians who have motorized our Country in the 60s until pure-blood sports cars such as Jaguar and Ferrari. There were also several pre-war models, not to mention genuine monuments on wheels like the 1939 Astura, which was awarded last year.
We exchanged two words with Renato Pettiti – one of the organizers – who has been able to confirm how much the Premio Castello degli Acaja is a dynamic event and that it intends to continue to bring special cars that we can often see only in museums on road. This year 105 cars took part in the event for a total of 230 people and the lucky winner of the final prize was a splendid 1938 Lancia Aprilia Cabriolet, which picked up the torch from another Lancia, the ’39 Astura, as mentioned before.
Check the interview and the massive gallery on June’s issue of Auto Class!