Name: Auto Italia 2019
Start: 2019-04-06T10:00:00+11:00
End: 2019-04-07T17:00:00+10:00
Location: EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra)

Auto Italia 2019

4 People Attending This Event

April 6, 2019 - April 7, 2019
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

The Auto Italia weekend was a lot of fun - made more enjoyable with club members and Maserati afficionados!

Four cars (one MC Stradale followed by a GranTurismo and two Quattroportes) left Andrea Motori in Artamon, mid morning of the Saturday and had a simple run around the M2, M7, M5 to the Hume Highway. Just after Berrima we took the Golden Vale road down to Sutton Forest and onto Oldbury Road for a light lunch at the Southern Highlands Winery where we met up with two other members.

From Sutton Forest it was a straight run down to Canberra where we split to various hotels. Maserati Canberra held several events during the afternoon including a Concours Judge meeting with special guests Dr. Adolpho Orsi and the legendary Valentino Balboni from Lamborghini. Dr. Orsi is the grandson of the owners of the Maserati marque from the late 1930s to the late 1960s. After that meeting, the Italian Consul held a cocktail party and the club members were invited to the end of that event.

We had organised a dinner with the Lamborghini Club at Belluci’s after the events at the dealership. The plan was to have 60 attendees which stretched to 70 and ultimately we had 87 crammed into the restaurant and with the two special guests, it was a memorable night!

In the morning we headed to the EPIC Exhibition centre and set up with around the dealer - we had more members arrive from Sydney so along with the eight cars from Melbourne and more from other areas, we ended up with around forty Maserati and a Citroen SM! We had a good mix of cars from two Mistrals, a Bora and a series 1 Ghibli through several series 2 and 3 Ghiblis plus a Shamal and many Quattroportes, GranTurismo, MC Stradales and 4200/GranSport coupes and Spyders. It was a great representation with the dealer also bringing a Levante amongst a few vehicles.

There were maybe 400-500 cars and motorcycles from all the Italian manufacturers and this year they allowed other cars that were built in other countries but designed by an Italian coach-builder, so we had five or six Rolls-Royce Camargues thanks to their design from Pininfarina. Next year they hope to get more Zagato, Touring, Vignale and Michelotti designs to attend.

We managed to get the series 1 Ghibli into the top three for the best of show but were pipped to the top award by a very clean Alfa Romeo Spyder. The other car was a Lancia Spyder. The Exhibition Centre was a good venue and I think that the organising team will improve the event next year to be bigger and better!