Role Reversal
Pomona or Pisa? American cars drag racing in Italy.
Italian Roberto Motta has been contributing to VeloceToday for over four years, submitting work on the Alfa Tipo 33, the Alfa T33SC12, the Lancia Stratos, and many more. A full time journalist, Motta writes about Italian cars, motorcyles, racing, and most recently, American cars. As Motta is now the staff writer and photographer of the Italian car magazine, “American Drive”, we asked him to speak about American car enthusiasts in Italy.
Getting interested in American cars was easy. I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated all different types of vehicles, particularly those that are different and technically interesting. I’ve loved the sound and smell of engines since I was born, and when I grew up, I wrote about automobile history, technology, racing and culture. When, a few years ago, one of my publishers asked me if I could cover the American car scene in Italy, and I accepted with pleasure. In this new world, I discovered a peculiar and interesting scenario, composed of thousands of loyal fans and enthusiasts, but, as might be expected today, the presence of those who see only profit in this growing business.
Hot Rods are popular as well with Italian American car collectors.
For so many, American cars in Italy were only a fantastic dream. They were huge, luxurious, with kilometers of chrome powered by V8 engines five times the size of the average Italian car. They were everything Italian cars were not—in an age of the Fiat 500 and 600, truly marginal cars with no options, American cars offered power steering, automatic transmissions, power windows (something not available on most Italian cars until the 1980s!). As impractical as they were expensive, American car ownership remained an elusive but enduring dream of thousands of Italians for decades. Only industrialists, doctors, actors or filmmakers could afford the luxury and status of owning an American car.
Italian--not U.S.--magazine about American cars. Motta writes and does photography for American Drive magazine.
In recent years, the interest in historic American cars has increased considerably. As the dollar weakened, more enthusiasts were able fulfill the dream of owning an American classic. Many new clubs were formed to support the growing hobby, and two new magazines were devoted exclusively to American cars and their history; “Cruisin Life” and “American Drive” (formerly American Wheels). The success of these new magazines has forced other automobile magazines to recognize the importance of the growing hobby and to publish some articles on cars made in U.S.A.
It is difficult to accurately determine the size of the hobby today, but if we consider the number of members enrolled in various American classic car clubs, we can estimate the presence of 6-8000 cars. But that is probably on the low side, as, for example, I recently met a collector who had in his garage more than thirty Jeeps alone. And if we consider the number of American modern cars (mostly SUVS) the number would be closer to 20-25000 units, and growing daily.
With regard to historic cars, in general, most enthusiasts prefer the cars from the fifties and sixties, that have a lot of chrome, comfort and provide a sense of wealth. But the muscle cars from the sixties and seventies are also very popular, and many young people choose those similar to the stars of movies and TV series, such as “Bullit”, “Dukes of Hazard”, etc. Then, the less expensive sport coupes and muscle cars of such as the Camaros, Dodges and Mustangs.
At a little airport near Rivanazzano, about 80 km from Milan, about 200 American cars attended this meet last September.
The following are website of American car clubs in Italy:
Corvette Club Italia www.corvetteitalia.com
Eagle Club Italia www.eagleclubitalia.com
Oldamericars www.oldamericars.com
The Bad Brothers www.thebadbrtothers.com
American Motors Pavia www.amp-pavia.it
Double Maphia www.doublemaphia.it
Mustang Club of Italy www.mustangclubofitalia.it
Classic Mustang Italy www.classicmustangitaly.com
Scuderia Corvette Italia www.corvetteitalia.it
Crazy Van Club www.crazyvanclubitalia.it
Kustom Guys Usa Car Club www.kustomguys.com
Route 66 American Cars Club www.route66-acc.com
CrazyPistons www.crazypistons.org
Gotham American cars club www.americanscarsclub.it
Rock’n Road Kustom Klub www.rocknroad.it
V8 American Car Club www.v8americancarclub.com
Club USA Motors www.clubusamotors.com
I’ve been to Ponoma…it’s in Cafilornia
Yes, and a bit of confusion about Ponoma and Pomona. NRHA says the famous California dragstrip is at Pomona, so in that case the caption is incorrect. Should have been Pomona, our mistake. [Ed.]
Wow! Maybe it’s time for some of the auction houses to start looking at not just doing auctions in Italy or Maranello, but doing “muscle car” auctions. Times are changing and I’m enjoying watching the evolution from the late 80’s through 2010. One thing remains, there are still millions of car lovers the world over. It doesn’t matter what kind of cars you’re into, so long as you are into cars. It’s a beautiful thing.