BOLOGNA SHOW

Following the Mille Miglia and Cesana events last year, October saw me return to the Auto e Moto d’Epoca show at the Bologna Fiere exhibition centre. On my first visit in 2023 to what is now regarded as the largest classic car and bike show in Europe, I said in my report for Jaguar Driver that it was spectacular and I meant it – I couldn’t wait to return.

After selecting a hotel in 2023 that was quite a walk from both the centre of town and the exhibition halls, I opted this time for a basic hotel just 15 minutes away from the show, saving the legwork for viewing the exhibits, not walking to them. Poor weather blighted the north of Italy last autumn, with devastating floods, landslides and the inevitable recriminations as to who was to blame, although thankfully, the event and major transportation links were not affected. The first leg of the journey was to Turin, a train ride shrouded in fog and mist. I then continued on to Bologna via Milan, with old derelict farmhouses appearing like ghostly apparitions in the fog. The highspeed trains in Italy are known as the Italo and the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) and both offer clean, secure, well-staffed services. While there are the occasional strikes, like everywhere else, the essential services that enable people to get to work are kept running. Having said that, one’s fellow passengers are another thing altogether!