di Roberto Piemonte
Are you thinking of participating in the next International Meeting of Garlenda, but you still have some doubts about the trip? Have you never taken part in the main event of the sixteenth-century world? The experience lived by two Sicilian members at the 2018 Meeting could be an inspiration to you!
I planned my first time in Garlenda together with my dear friend Filippo Ferraro, also his first experience. One fine day at the end of July 2017, while I was thinking about what to do to fix my dear 500 Saphira, I started scrolling with adoring eyes through the photos of the Meeting that had just ended, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the 500, with the melancholy of not having been able to participate.
Then the proverbial light bulb went on in my head, realizing that 2018 would be the year of the L's 50th anniversary; immediately after, I called Filippo to inform him and we immediately decided to absolutely participate in the 35th edition of the event.
From that moment on, the race to fix the mechanics a bit began Charlie (Filippo's 500) and to the restoration of my dear Saphira. In September I decided to take it to the body shop and have its engine restored from top to bottom, not even leaving out the crankcase locking bolts and buying original spare parts; the operation lasted 8 months and finally in May here it is ready and shining. Once I brought it home, I finished arranging the last details before the big event.
4th July. It's the day of departure; after a night without being able to sleep because of the excitement, I suddenly wake up very excited and after having lunch and waiting for the time to go to the port (it seems like time has stopped!), Filippo and I leave my house with our 500 L (photo 1). At the port of Palermo we find some guys from the Coordination and our trustee Roberto Accurso, also leaving. Very happy with their presence, we chat and take the usual photos with friends and family to wish each other a good trip (2-3-4).
The time to get on board arrives, amidst honking horns and greetings; people look at us fascinated and take pictures of our little ones, it's not every day that you see a caravan of 500 embarking on a ship (5). The emotion of leaving Sicily with the knowledge of disembarking in Liguria and arriving at the gathering on the wheels of our little ones is indescribable. Having parked the cars all neatly inside the ship, we say goodbye and finally prepare to begin this long crossing.
5th July. When we wake up we discover – through the monitors indicating the position of the ship – that we are almost there, but the coast is still far away and it will take us another 2 hours or so (6). We spend the rest of the crossing chatting and meeting two other guys headed to the Meeting and coming from Trapani (who join us to do the road together) and also the owners of two Citroën 2CVs, who left for a rally in northern Italy. Everything seems new and beautiful to my eyes and I think how vast the world of vintage cars is and how it gives you the opportunity to get to know so many realities and people, with their relative experiences; all things I would never have imagined.
The time to get off arrives and we disembark from the ship very quickly; we decide to stay in touch and take a nice souvenir photo with our cars (7); after saying goodbye to our new friends, it's the turn of our 500s to lead the way after a long rest on board. Kilometer after kilometer, the excitement grows; we pass villages and grind the road to finally arrive in Garlenda, but Filippo sends me signals and I decide to stop at the first rest area; after warning the rest of the group of the emergency stop, we discover that there is nothing serious: Charlie only needs to rest for a few minutes because of the heat (8). We set off again to reach the others, who we find at the service station a few kilometers before the exit toll booth (9). After having a restorative coffee, we set off again to reach our destination.
After settling into the farmhouse and having refreshed ourselves, we are ready for the pre-meeting appointment that we absolutely could not miss (10): the drive-in!
It's a dream made possible thanks to the Club: we park our little ones together with the many other 500s and open the hoods, we feel like we're reliving the 60s and 70s, moments that you only see in films of the time (11). Once the film is over we decide to go straight back to the farmhouse, to let our 500s rest, but above all us, after a long and exhausting journey.
