Car Show

In the morning we drove over to Sirmione for a coffee. We arrived fairly early so parking was not a problem, and we were able to park very close to the walled village.

Sirmione is a spectacularly attractive village, with a castle guarding the entrance to the village with a small drawbridge providing access to the village itself. Rather than raising the drawbridge, control is now exercised by means of a traffic light. Only vehicles with permits are allowed into the village, but there are quite a few of these, including the residents of the hotels contained within the village walls.

By the time we left Sirmione it was becoming quite crowded. Not with cars but with people. By this time the car park was also full, and a lucky person was able to enter my space as I left.

We had heard there was a show of classic cars in Desenzano in the afternoon. We noticed immediately the cars had German registration. It turned out this was visit by a German Classic car club. They were stopping in Desenzano for lunch. The road next to the harbour had been closed so they could park, and visitors could admire the cars.

The majority of the cars were of British manufacture, including all those in this montage of a few of the cars. There were a few Mercedes a couple of Porsches and a few Italian cars, but the vast majority were British. A sad comment on the state of the demise of the British motor industry that even those few makes that still exist are foreign owned.

My personal favourite was a white 1960s Porsche. I discover the only photographs I have of it include me standing next to it. I expect it was quite difficult to drive, especially around bends.

After lunch at the restaurants and bars around the old port the owners returned, and by 3 pm the cars had all gone and the road had been reopened. The plaque on the cars said they were on a rally around Lake Garda, so they probably did not have far to travel before their next stop.