by Alessandro Scarpa
On 5-6-7 September 2025, the international meeting to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Dutch association, “De Club van Fiat 500”, was held in Voorthuizen, in central Holland.
XNUMX people 280 Fiat 500 from all over the Netherlands and numerous European countries. Twenty Italian crews were present, from Abruzzo, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Sardinia, and Veneto. Also present was Paolo Parisi, a member from Savona who currently lives in the Czech Republic.
For the occasion, the Club has organized shipping with technical assistance, in which 9 cars participated; a group of 6 cars from Sardinia, led by our regional representative Domenico Giuseppe Sotgiu, and two other pairs of cars arrived at the Meeting via different routes and at different times.
Our itinerary, which crossed the Switzerland and Germany, it was a motorway trip: a few technical problems on the way there, an engine failure on the way back (the car was then transported on a trailer).
Despite the notorious price increases we're experiencing in Italy, here are just a few examples of Swiss prices: coffee €4,50, a small bottle of water €5,50, and urination €1: gasoline surcharges at motorway service stations reach fifty cents per liter! Not to mention restaurant prices...
The Meeting was well organised by the Dutch Club, with routes through the beautiful countryside: farms with many cows in the meadows, woods and picturesque villages, with many people to greet us; numerous inevitable windmillsA success aided by beautiful weather and pleasant temperatures.
The Meeting was also a pleasant opportunity to meet up with old acquaintances from the Garlenda Meeting: friends from the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Germany.
At the collective dinner on Saturday evening, which was attended by almost six hundred people, the Italian Club recalled the history of the own birth (inspired by the Dutch experience) and donated a commemorative plate specially made in Sicily (thanks in this regard to Ceramiche Cannarozzo of Caltagirone and the trustee Salvatore Marcinnò).
The memory of was not lacking Luciano Odorico, our longtime member from Friuli who died in a tragic accident on the German highway 10 years ago, returning from the 35th Dutch Reunion. A memorial gathering was recently held in Friuli.
Rounding out the long weekend, Sunday afternoon saw a group of members visit the nearby charming town of Amersfoort, while others travelled to Amsterdam, some sixty kilometres away.
For Sunday evening, we had planned a delightful "bring and share" Italian dinner. All participants contributed regional specialties and wines. President Emile de Boer, secretaries Sonja and Stephan Garthoff, and treasurer Wendy Stads and her husband Chris were invited to the dinner, where they enjoyed a full immersion in a field where Italians are truly unbeatable!
The expedition was led by myself, honorary president of the Fiat 500 Club Italia and a great expert on the Netherlands. In attendance were Fabio Grosso, regional representative for Lazio; Pino Sotgiu, the aforementioned regional representative for Sardinia; Flavio Austa, auditor; Silvio Bertolotto, deputy curator of the Dante Giacosa Museum; Renzo Grignolo, trustee of the Lower Vicentino area; Giovanni Cataldo, trustee of Civitavecchia; and Maurizio Pintus, trustee of Sulcis Iglesiente. All are thanked for their crucial contribution to the event's success.
The mechanical assistance was handled by Calogero Barbagallo, from the homonymous workshop in Albenga (SV).
The expedition included members Liberato Pace from Abruzzo; Cataldo Cacciopoli from Lombardy; Fulvio Barolo, Sergio Boggione, Fabio Magneti, Luca Masoero, Giorgio Medina, Filippo Mora, Maurizio Morando, and Paolo Poletti from Piedmont; and Tonio Concu, Chiara Manca, Angelo Piero Piredda, Angelo Sotgiu, and Andrea Tocco from Sardinia. Thanks to all of them, an atmosphere of friendship and collaboration has been created that makes us proud to be part of the Club.
The origin of the Italian-Dutch friendship
The first Garlenda Meeting, on July 15, 1984, was also attended by Dutch tourists Ronald and Annelies Hoeven. They informed the Garlendians of the existence, since 1980, of a very active association of 500 enthusiasts in their country, announcing the Geelen gathering scheduled for September of that same year. Domenico Romano, then mayor, organized an expedition to participate and, during the return trip, with his friend Giuseppe Nespolo, planned the establishment of what would become the "Friends of the 500," later the Fiat 500 Club Italia.
