Barcelona’s Auto Retro Classic Car, Boat and Aviation show

This year’s show was a spectacular event and a couple of members from Torrevieja Classics and Specialists Cars made the trip to see the event for themselves.

If you are one of those that can spend hours looking at classic cars, reading classic car magazines and have a handful of stories about the likes of Paddy Hopkirk and Sterling Moss, then there was but one place you should have been in December, in Barcelona for the annual Auto Retro show.

This year’s show was a spectacular event and a couple of members from Torrevieja Classics and Specialists Cars made the trip to see the event for themselves. 2009 was the 50th anniversary of the ubiquitous Mini, possibly the most famous mass-produced car ever to be produced in Great Britain and the car was celebrated in style. This 26th Auto Retro Barcelona had a magnificent exhibition by the Mini Cooper Club topped off by the presence of the winner of the Monte-Carlo Rally in 1964, Paddy Hopkirk.

Activities and presentations were of the highest level and included Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BT49 continuous entertainment provided by actors imitating Mister Bean and Marilyn Monroe, a collector’s marketplace,  2 stroke motorcycles of
the 80s; the popular Moritz gymkhana with the brand’s Seat 600, displays of aviation and nautical components; the Applus+ MOT station that offered classic vehicle users a specialty fault finding service plus the enormous collections of classic car clubs.

With over 13,000 daily visitors to the show, it’s a busy, busy place so make sure to wear your most comfortable walking show and, if you are planning on picking up a couple of the hundreds of magazines, flyers, brochures, take along a backpack on wheels or aircraft version, as you’ll be so glad you did, by the end of the day.

The 27th Auto Retro Barcelona will be held from 4th to 8th December 2010 and it’s well worth planning ahead if you’d like to attend as this is a major Spanish holiday weekend and hotel rooms are at a premium.  The show is open 10-hours each day, closing it’s doors at 2000 hrs each evening and certainly another date for diary for 2010. If you can’t wait that long, there a smaller show in Alicante, FirAuto in March and the Madrid Retro Mobile show which takes place from 19th to 22nd February and is well worth the visit.

More information about future Classic Car shows and activities can be found on Club Torrevieja Classic and Specialities Cars website on www.clubtorrevieja.com

Keith Nicol

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