Autobella 2023 gallery

By: Mary Lee

Date: 21.03.2023

Italian classics on display in support of a good cause

The annual Autobella Italian Automotive Festival display was held on Sunday 19 March, bringing a splash of colour and Italian charm to the outskirts of Melbourne's CBD. Hosted by the Fiat Car Club of Victoria, the event was once again held on the grounds of Deaf Children Australia on St Kilda Road.

The large display of cars predominantly featured Fiat and Lancia marques, but also included its motoring cousins Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari - as well as some Italian motorcycles within the mix. Being blessed with good weather always guarantees a good show of cars and this year's event was no exception.

As well as the main Show 'n' Shine display, there was also a line-up of cars which will be competing in this year's Targa Classica challenge (formerly Targa Florio Australia), to be held later this month around Victoria, starting in the Yarra Valley.

Always a crowd favourite, the Costume d'epoca vintage fashion parade and competition gives owners the chance to dress up in period costume representing their car's era.

Proceeds from the day were donated in support of Deaf Children Australia.

Here are some words from a few of the participants:

Zagame Automotive Group - Fiat 500e EV

Zagame Automotive Group was the major sponsor of the day and featured the Australian debut of the electric Fiat 500e in its display. Damon Earwaker, General Sales Manager of Zagame Alfa Romeo and Fiat had this to say about the car:

"The 500e we had here today is the first Australian-spec car and this is the first public showing of it in Australia. And the car that we've got here is exactly the same as what we're going to have in July.

"July is when we're launching and then we've got the electric Abarth towards the end of the year, we'll probably see those towards quarter four as well. So there will be good numbers being produced.

"They are produced in Italy, so this will be a return back to its home in Turin. We'll still have the internal combustion engine in to 2024 and the Abarth, but we'll go full electric by the end of next year with Fiat and we'll have a new range of models "

The 500e will stay at Zagame's Richmond dealership for the next week before being sent around the country. Judging by the response of the punters on the day, it's going to bring a lot of interest. 

David Wright - 1911 Fiat Spider Tipo 1

David Wright is one of the country's foremost experts on Alfa Romeo and Fiat in Australia from pre-war to current. He is a published author in the field of Alfa Romeos and also a life member and patron of the Alfa Romeo Owners' Club of Australia, Victorian Division. David was part of the vintage display of Fiats at Autobella, driving his immaculately-restored 1911 Fiat Spider Tipo 1.

"The three cars parked together are Fiat 501s, from 1921 to 1925. The one at the very end is a taxi (shown below), but it was never was a taxi. In the 1940s in America, it was changed into that for a film. It was bought in America and brought here, but strangely enough it's right-hand drive.

"The one in the middle is a local body, Australian-built body, as is the one to its right. They brought in chassis - driving cars, but no bodies. The bodies were built locally.

"The one at the end is a 1911 Fiat Spider Tipo 1 (David's car, shown below). That's the rarest of them because they mostly had open tourers. But like the taxi body, the Spider was just a very basic rudimentary sports car and it had a lower steering column, so it's quite a different car in the seating configuration. I restored that over four years, 2500 thousand hours of work. A labour of love! It's been a really beaut car too.

"So it's an interesting selection of Fiats, except the three together are all 501 models. They were very popular in Australia, a very successful model. They were the most popular Italian car. Mid-priced, they weren't Alfa Romeo or Lancia price, they were in the middle price range."

Angelo Monteleone - 1969 Lancia Zagato Fulvia Sport 1.3 S

Angelo is the President of the Australian Lancia Register, Victoria, and had three of his cars - that he had restored, featured at Autobella.  His son Marcus was driving this beautiful 1969 Lancia Fulvia Sport.

"I've had the car for eight years. It's a very oiginal car, Australian-delivered. It was actually originally owned by Bob Jane T-Marts, from 1969 to 1972. I've got a really good history of the car. 

"I found the car in a barn in Ballarat and it was in pieces. And it had been like that for 38 years. The poor gentleman who had it had been dragging it around with him because he had taken it all apart and he didn't know how to put it back together. And so when I found it, it was really one of those 'barn find' moments. At the time he asked me if I could restore the car and I said no, I want to buy it. We had this 'tit-for-tat' for a few months and then I finally convinced him that I needed to have this car to restore it my way and he allowed me to have it, which was really nice. And it was a labour of love, I made sure that I kept as much of the original patina as possible restoring the body.

"The body was in absolutely excellent condition, it has been stored all that time. And it allowed me to explore a lot of history about the vehicle, the colour palette, the interior - in fact, the seats are actually still original from 1969. I didn't even need to redo them, which is quite an astonishment. But I did do some embellishments such as restoring the dash, putting a bit of a gloss finish on it and I made sure that all the original features were still retained with the car. And then I added a little bit of a touch with the headlights.

"They were the wrong headlights, I sourced the right headlights from Italy and restored them. And a little bit of the chrome had some damage, so I found replacement chrome and got that done. And one of the unique things is, I've put my signature, which is my clamshell exhaust tip on the end. The original exhausts were always a bit skinny and a small pipe and I thought I would embellish it with a bit of class and put the exhaust clam tip on the end! I've got three other cars here that I've restored, these are a passion of mine.

"I have a number of cars in my collection, but I try to drive them to all the events. I have my son driving this one today, which is really nice. He's really enjoying the classic car scene as well. And it's really a bit of a family affair." 

Greg Johnstone - 1969 Fiat 124 Sports coupe

We first met Greg back in 2014 when we featured his family heirloom 124 Sports coupe as a Reader Resto. So, what has he been up to with the car since then?

"I thought about selling it, but I'm still too attached. It doesn't get driven, it comes out for a few things a year and then it goes back in the garage.

"I love the looks of it. If I just had to look at it and not drive it, I'd be happier! The looks get nicer and nicer over time. I take it to cars & coffee events and stuff like that. I don't drive it very far.

"I've had it for 15 years now and I still enjoy it. My friend drives it more than I do. He keeps turning up when I'm at work and taking it!

"I just love the look of it more and more now. And it gets a lot of attention. I was filling up with petrol the other day and two people asked me about the car!"

 - Read the full story on Greg's resto of his Fiat 124 here

Unique Cars magazine Value Guides

Sell your car for free right here