Italian Cars are the Stars in Lake Garda

Bardolino in Lake Garda was once again the destination for our family holiday this year  and  such is my commitment to NIIMC that I bought an extra memory card for my camera and resolved to take  a selection of photos of interesting or unusual Italian cars, some of which I reckoned would be a rare sight on Northern Ireland roads.

Judging by the number of Italian cars I saw on my travels sales of vehicles from the Italian manufacturers must be pretty strong.  As reported last year the 500 is  still a clear sales success for Fiat with numerous examples of the small Fiat nipping about on the roads round the Lake. I only saw a handful of Abarth’s although I did see a 695 Tributo Ferrari version driving through Bardolino. Evidently more  popular in Italy than it is here is the Fiat 500L  as these too were a frequent sight on the roads along with the trusty Panda . Although I searched high and low there weren’t any Valencia Orange ones (like our club chairman’s) – perhaps his was a special order with the colour picked to match his bright and lively personality!!

On the Alfa Romeo  front Mito’s were not in abundance but Giulietta’s were plentiful (no  8C red ones) and it was always pleasing to see some older offerings from Alfa Romeo , from 166’s, Spiders and even the odd Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV and Guilia Spider.

I may be stating the obvious but without doubt Ferrari’s are definitely the most sought after and admired marque in Italy -a fact illustrated by the attention that a Ferrari drew in a carpark  near our hotel. In the carpark I spotted 8 Porsches (some very appealing ones too) and a lone  Ferrari but guess which car everyone was standing round taking photos of – yes, you’ve guessed it the Ferrari 458 Italia.  

During my fortnight I am glad to report that  I did see some interesting and some beautiful cars.  As you can see from the selection that I have attached they range from exotic Ferraris, classic Fiats and Alfas and even a Maserati 3200GT race car on a trailer outside Modena.

One of the highlights of our holiday was a trip to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello  where I was able to feast my eyes on more Ferraris than I have ever seen in one place – keep an eye out for a separate report on this.  

In the meantime I  hope you enjoy looking at the Italian selection.

Tim Logan

Club Secretary