ROME - Auto Moto D’Epoca, the vintage car festival that boasts the most cars in Europe, is looking to the future through the lens of the past. The festival, which run from 26 to 29 October at the Fiera di Padova, aims to surpass their record of 100,000 visitors at this years event. 1,600 events with 4,500 cars will take place at the 90,000 square feet exhibition area of the Formula1 Grand Prix at Fiera di Padova.

 The most important driving force behind this event, which has been running for 34 years, is passion, a word continually stressed at the press release by Angelo Sticchi, president of Automobile Club of Italy, and Mario Carlo Buccaglini, Organiser of the event. “Our passion is mechanical, cultural, historical. These are objects of beauty and valid commercial investment” A spokeswoman for the event told me. “Purists say the vintage era of cars ended in the 90s. In the age of mass production and standardisation of designs, machines these new cars all use the same parts, these companies don’t generally produce unique products, and they lack identity.”

 Buccaglini said, when I asked which companies are still making interesting cars, “Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Porsche … companies with historic production of cars that are now considered classic attempt to carry on this legacy, a through line between then and now, Alfa Romeo’s Giulia is a perfect example.”

 Legacy was stressed frequently in this exchange. “We want to show car manufacturers that there are qualities in these classics that can be incorporated in modern cars, there is no reason not to make them beautiful. We have a tent dedicated to the future of cars, electric or self-driving, that aims to show the legacy of the cars of the present and the cars of the past.”

 Establishing this legacy, reaffirming passion, bringing a love of engineering that is so commonly felt for the classics but so commonly lost on the contemporary, is a refreshing and forward thinking project. Securing the legacy, making sure that passion can remain in an area of automotive engineering, the experience of driving, in the coming age of sustainability and innovation is a noble one for a festival that could so easily live in the past.   

For more information on the event, visit www.automotodepoca.com

KvH