Auto Italia 2021

Saturday to Monday, 10-12 of April, our participation in the Auto Italia weekend was a HUGE SUCCESS!

Saturday morning 28x IMSMC vehicles assembled at the Pheasants Nest truck stop, bound for Mackay VC. At Pheasants Nest, Mick Stivala had a slight problem, which almost prevented him bringing his beautifully restored 1970 Alfa Romeo Gulia Super sedan! In comes Tony Albanese stating, "This car will get to Auto Italia even if I have to push it there!" 

Through sheer determination, both Michael & Tony achieved what they set out to do, the car made it all the way to Auto Italia and Michael received the greatest recognition. His car was voted "Best in class for Alfa sedan." as voted by the judges. It was also in the top 4 finalist cars out of close to 500 cars on display this year!

Charlie Losinno was awarded as a finalist with his 1948 Topolino, coming in the top 9 finalists of the 600 cars on display and recognised as "The best in marque for Fiat 500 class". 

Another significant award, was achieved by "Il Presidente" (Gianni Di Rocco) with the Italian ambassador selecting my 1963 850TC Abarth as the car of choice at this year's Auto Italia!

IMSMC is to be congratulated for the calibre of all our cars. The contribution we make to the annual event is greatly appreciated by the organising committee and is deemed as extremely significant to the overall event!

 After our traditional morning tea at Mackay VC (welcoming new members Shane Franklin, Sam Pizzonia and Anthony Oliveri) Just as we thought we had eaten enough food, member Frank Roccisano presented a beautiful cake commemorating this year's event. 

Thankyou to both Frank & Gianni Roccisano of Siderno pasticcieria, for their donation!  Thanks to Vince Calabro for transporting and picking up the food very early in the morning, from Campisi fine food deli. It's so hard to thank everyone.... so THANKYOU ALL!

A further thankyou to all who prepared the morning tea and contributed in the form of anchovies, pickled vegetables, tomatoes. eggplant and all kinds of other homemade, organic and traditional items! (We won't mention the chilli!)

As the weekend unfolded,  our initial assembly of 28 cars, on Saturday, soon became over 35.  By the start of the Sunday event, 60+ members & cars had made an appearance at this year's iconic event, making the trip to Canberra, from all areas of the Sydney metro and beyond. Well done IMSMC! A huge thank you to Cate Stivala, for organising a large group of interested members and friends that visited the National gallery, enjoying the Botticelli to Van Gough exhibition, on Sunday.

 59 members and guests attended our Saturday night dinner, 25 participants remained for the Sunday night dinner, all who attended were truly satisfied with the food, service and company.

On Monday morning, the remaining members, along with their Italian Machines, lead by member Brad Aitken, made their way from Canberra via Bungendore ( the south side of Lake George). We made our way through to Tarago, onto Bungonia then to Marulan ; 100km of climbing, descent and winding roads. Each car performed at peak levels. A truly memorable experience.

2021 Auto Italia, a huge success for IMSMC. Let's start planning for 2022!