Mostra Scambio Near Grossetto

Yesterday (Saturday, June 2) we drove about an hour and a half southwest of Lucca to a classic car/bike mostra scambio (swap meet) near Grossetto. June 2 is a holiday in Italy (Festa della Reppublica that commemorates the date Italy voted to reject the pre-WWII monarchy and become a republic). It is also the unofficial "first day of summer;" sort of like Memorial Day in the U.S. As a result the roads were pretty crowded on our way down but we never encountered any actual slow downs. 

We were not exactly sure where we were going but luckily there were good signs after we exited the autostrada. After paying our entry fee the first thing we encountered was this GIANT motorcycle. Compare its size to the man standing beside the sign on the left.

The show was mostly the usual array of parts and memorabilia for sale but this mostra scambio had some interesting vehicle displays including these historic tractors. Did you know Porsche made tractors at one time?

Dom said this pseudo-classic racer is a "kit car." The body was classic but there were a lot of modern additions.

It has a pretty nice cockpit.

There are always lots of classic scooters at these meets, especially Vespa and Lambretta brands.

In post WWII Italy, and even today in parts of the Far East, scooters--and their cousin, the three wheel Ape (AH-pay)-- have been converted to all sorts of vehicles. This is a modern rickshaw lovingly restored.

There was a great exhibit on classic cars associated with various films. This is the Porsche model Richard Gere drove in the film Breathless.

I laughed when I saw this and told Dom my formative years were spent watching Magnum P.I. in his Ferrari Testarossa.

Dom called this the ultimate woodie. The body was literally all wood. It has bench seats in the rear and a rack to carry water skis on top. It's called a Hustler Spiaggina.

There was also a variety of exhibits one doesn't usually see at a mostra scambio. They included this exhibit by a local slot car racing group.

There was a model airplane club with a variety of craft on display. These are radio controlled planes that really fly in the sky.

There was a HUGE model train set-up...

...and a number of model ships including these large models of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

Here is another classic Fiat Multipla, one of our favorite auto d'epoca.

Dom thought this was an interesting motorcycle.

A local Fiat 500 club had a large number of vehicles on display. They look like little bugs all lines up in rows.

Another one with a suitcase strapped to the rack.

This one looks like someone races it. The can strapped on the back is labeled "oil."

Here is a lovely Alfa Romeo.

And a gorgeous newer Maserati with a matte black paint job. It was getting a lot of attention.

The rear of the Maserati.

This gentleman owns this vehicle.

The man with the camo t-shirt was explaining all about his four classic U.S. Army jeeps. Only the one on the right (behind the crowd) is a real U.S. Army jeep. The other three (in graduated sizes) are replicas that he built. They were very authentic looking. His son or grandson was periodically driving the smallest around the exhibition grounds.

This is the next to the last smallest.

Dom always admires the Ferraris.

But he also liked this Renault 4.

There was a display of off-road vehicles from the local 4x4 club.

As is usually the case at these shows, there was food available. Dom and I had an early lunch. He had a sausage sandwich and I had a really tasty porchetta (roast pork) sandwich. While we ate, we watched the 11:30 freestyle bike exhibition. The riders were doing all sorts of tricks as they went off a jump.

Here is one of the bikers in the air. They kept hopping off and on the bikes in mid-air and often had only one hand on the bike. I was glad I was a distance away from the action!

All in all it was a good mostra scambio. On our way north on the highway we came up on these three cars. Even before we were close to them we could hear the engine of the Fiat 500. At first I thought I was hearing a helicopter. When we got alongside the vehicle it was obvious that it was the car's motor. We are not sure why the three vehicles were lined up like this but after we passed them, the Porsche passed the other two and us. Then the Fiat passed all of us and took off like a shot. The motor might have been noisy but it was also pretty powerful.

It was still only 12:00 when we left the mostra so we headed north and stopped at the town of Massa Marittima on our way home. I will do another post on it as I took a lot more photos. It is a perfect jewel box of a Renaissance hill town.