Lancia Motor Club

From: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/car-italy-street-tourist-attraction-b1949223.html (ftp://https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/car-italy-street-tourist-attraction-b1949223.html)

Car parked on Italian street for 47 years becomes tourist attraction

Angelo Fregolent parked his Lancia Fulvia outside his shop in 1974

Aisha Rimi
Mon, 1 November 2021, 3:49 pm

The car was parked in the same spot in Conegliano, north-east Italy for almost 50 years

An abandoned car that has been parked for 47 years on an Italian street has become a local landmark, attracting tourists and visitors from far and wide.

Angelo Fregolent, 94, parked his Lancia Fulvia 1961 outside the newsagent he ran with his wife, Bertilla Modolo in Conegliano, north east Italy, in 1974.

Mr Fregolent told Il Gazzettino: "I ran the newsstand under the house for 40 years together with my wife Bertilla, ten years younger than me.

"When I opened the business, I was happy to have the Lancia Fulvia parked in front of it because I had the newspapers unloaded in the trunk and then I took them inside."

After the couple retired, they left the car in the same spot and it has since become part of the picturesque town.

Tourists and local residents started taking pictures and selfies with the old car, soon making it a tourist attraction as photos went viral on social media.

However, after almost five decades, the town’s officials decided to remove the car. It was transferred on October 20 to the Auto e Moto d’Epoca Motorshow in Padua, about 53 miles away. Here, the car was on display alongside classic cars.

It was then sent to a workshop to be restored and to fix any damages from its 47 years of sitting outside.

Once it’s been fully restored, the car will be placed outside a local school next to Mr Fregolent and Ms Modolo’s house so they can watch as tourists continue to visit the local attraction.

The Fulvia is notable for its role in the world of motorsport after it won the 1972 Internationl Rally Championship.

A very early Fulvia if it is from 1961!

This tweaked my Google super-powers... and a minute or two later... here's the car.

But it's clearly (from the rear lights) not an S1, so as usual we find that media coverage is inaccurate, sloppy, etc.

Series 2 Berlina so probably 1972 not 1962, which makes the decision to abandoned it even more puzzling,  as at the time it would only have been 2 years old and of considerable value.
Daily Mirror printed the same rubbish.
Brian
8773 8)

Ah ... it's those half truths and implications. Was this A) parked and abandoned 47 years ago or B) used over those 47 years and simply parked in the same place regularly because the owner was fond of that space (and only more recently 'abandoned'). I'll let you decide from my attached composite...  ;)

Thanks to ITSA for posting this as I otherwise might not have come across it. I actually took this as a heart warming story of a much loved and respected local icon being taken for a deserved restoration. Who doesn't love a happy ending. 😊