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Three rinky-dink original Fiat 500s will make the long trek from Ireland to Italy for the mass gathering of the classic model at the annual international Fiat 500 meeting in Garlenda, Liguria in Italy, where Ireland will be the 'guest of honour' country.
Now in its 36th year, the international gathering is a celebration of Italy's iconic small car. The event draws thousands of fans of this little micro car to the Liguria region of Italy each year. Hosted by the Fiat 500 Club Italia, the largest car club in the world dedicated to a single car, the event has become the biggest gathering of Fiat 500s worldwide. Towns from across the region welcome the Fiat 500 owners to this festival of events, slow drives, fireworks and village celebrations to welcome the drivers and showcase the car which culminates in the grand parade of a thousand Fiat 500s.
Jill Forde, of the Fiat 500 Club of Ireland said: "We were thrilled to receive the invite for Ireland to be country of honour. We are busy preparing the three cars for the journey down to Italy." She added "This is a huge undertaking for our small Irish club. Our car engines are about a quarter the size of a modern day car so we will be taking our time to get there! We are looking forward to leading the parade of over 1,000 cars and to meeting friends of the 500 from across the world."
The three cars include a 1967 model, called 'Honey' whose owners will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary at the event; a 1968 car called 'Bella' which previously attended the 1993 gathering - and which only broke down the four times on en route, apparently; and a 1971 5000 Gardinera estate.
To mark the occasion of the participation of the Fiat 500 Club of Ireland's attendance, Fiat 500 Club Italia Hon. President and Event Director, Sandro Scarpa, will join members in Dublin on 30 May. The club cars will be driving in convoy through Dublin to attend the Italian National Day event at the Italian Embassy.
Speaking in advance of the event, Sandro said said: "We are delighted to welcome the Irish Fiat 500s and their owners to Italy, and appreciate their effort to travel over 2,500 kilometres by land and sea to join us in Italy at the international meeting in Garlenda. They are assured a warm welcome to the homeland of Fiat."
Get a feel for the gathering in the video below.
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