The Italian Automotive industry is one of the strongest in the world but a major car show has failed on our annual calendars for a while. A small dedicated group from Turin is aiming to change that with Parco Valentino Salone & Gran Premio which took place this year for the very first time. Parco Valentino was the third stop on our GTspirit Tour 2015. It hosted a fantastic mixture of Italian and international supercars, as well as the biggest display of Pininfarina models ever gathered!
Parco Valentino used to be one of the biggest racing circuits in Italy. In the 1950’s it used to attract the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo who used to race the paved street circuit. Cars raced on the circuit between 1935 and 1955 with stars such as Tazio Nuvolari and Jean-Pierre Wimple all past winners of the Gran Premio del Valentino.
Parco Valentino Salone 2015
Parco del Valentino is now the second biggest park in the city. Located on the Po river, it covers some 840,000 meters squared and contains botanical gardens, a castle and some medieval architecture. The perfect place to hold a concours competition and display!
As with all Italian Motor Shows, it was the home crowd which drew the biggest crowds. The Pininfarina display, very exclusive and reserved for media, drivers and VIP’s drew one of the biggest crowds. More on that later though…
The show itself is aimed more generally at the public. It is free to enter the park and view the cars. The idea being that each manufacturer displays one or two of their biggest cars. The show is then supported by a variety of different businesses and trades with a huge selection of Italian design houses and race teams providing some variety.
The park continues to operate as it would any other day. We walked past joggers on the paths, dog walkers and other members of the general public. The stands were obviously attracting a huge amount of attention, none more-so than the home crowd, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Lamborghini.
The most interesting cars on display at Parco Valentino included the brand new Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 SV, the McLaren 570C, the Pagani Zonda R Revoluzione, the new Ferrari FXXK and the new Porsche Cayman GT4. Of course there were many others to see and, given the huge amounts of space, they were all pretty accessible.
We were fortunate that the weather held out for us. The reports had suggested solid rain for the two-day event so we were surprised to find that the rain held off for the day. We will take part in a historic parade which will include another selection of special cars travelling through the streets of Turin, more on that a little later on!
World Premieres at Parco Valentino 2015
Alongside all the supercars and concept cars displayed at Parco Valentino Salone 2015, the Torino Design studio designed ATS Wildtwelve Concept celebrated its world debut at the event.
Parco Valentino Gran Premio 2015
Following on from Parco Valentino display was Sunday’s Gran Premio Parco Valentino parade. Starting from Parco Valentino, the cars travelled a 16 kilometre route through the centre of the city, out to Reggio di Venaria. Approximately 350 cars took part with most manufacturers having some form of representation.
The cars were lined up in groups. Ferrari dominated the display with the largest proportion of display cars. The group included Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia’s, Ferrari 458 Speciale’s, Ferrari 355 Berlinetta’s, Ferrari 360 Modenas. The rarest was of course the James Glickenhaus Pininfarina Ferrari P4/5.
Lamborghini had a nice group too comprising of two rare Lamborghini Miura SV’s, two Lamborghini Aventador and two Lamborghini Huracan. Porsche were also represented by a wide range of modern and classic models. Some notable examples included the Porsche 959, the Porsche 997 GT2 RS and two Kremer Porsche race models.
Elsewhere, the blend was eclectic. Classic Maserati’s brushed shoulders with Peugeot 106 GTI’s. Subaru Impreza WRX sat in the same lot as the Glickenhaus SCG 003 C race car. This really was an event for the enthusiast!
The biggest highlight was of course the Pagani Vanishing Point event passing through. The cars were scheduled to follow our Mercedes-Benz models through as the last vehicles, however, an early arrival and our preparations meant that we actually missed the hypercars crossing the start line. We would later catch up with them at the Reggio di Venaria.
As we lined up the cars on the start line, the rain began to fall. I guess it couldn’t be perfect! The route travelled through typical Torino streets, battle scared, potholed and ultimately uneven. The cars handled the conditions perfectly.
Much like the Mille Miglia a few months earlier, the Gran Premio Parco Valentino received a rolling road block from the Italian police… which Italian road users promptly decided to ignore! Weaving through the traffic at the back of the parade, we had a chance to reflect.
Once we reached the Reggio di Venaria the cars were lined up along the beautiful gravel gardens. Here, the drivers were treated to a fantastic buffet dinner. The rain subsided after dinner and we were able to appreciate the cars in the environment.
And then the Pagani’s arrived. Kris Singh’s Pagani Huayra heralded the arrival. The Monza Lisa had been shipped over to Europe specifically for the Pagani Vanishing Point event. It was one of a number of Huayra’s on Vanishing Point this year. Unfortunately not all of them made the Parco Valentino event today.
The majority of the cars Pagani brought were Zonda’s. One of our favourites is Horacio Pagani’s own personal Zonda, it was joined several Pagani Zonda F’s and a few of the special edition Pagani Zonda 760 edition cars.
Despite the weather, the event was a huge success. The crowds gathered in the centre of Turin and there was plenty to keep us and the visitors interested. GTspirit will of course be back again for next year’s event. If you are in the area then we suggest that you take a look at this unique, enthusiast-led event!
Parco Valentino 2015 by Matteo Grazia
Our Italian photographer Matteo Grazia also attended Parco Valentino 2015 and took some stunning shots!
Some of the most eye-catching supercars on display at the event included a yellow and red Ferrari LaFerrari FXX K. A brand new Ferrari 488 GTB was even in attendance alongside a range of Paganis including an ultra-exclusive Pagani Zonda R Revolucion. As Pagani’s Vanishing Point passed through Parco Valentino, the likes of the Zonda 760LM Roadster and 760LM coupe brought the crowds into ecstasy even further.
Parco Valentino 2015: Coachbuilders and Concept Cars
Beyond the supercars and race cars on display at the 2015 Parco Valentino Salone & Gran Premio, an array of coachbuilders and niche automakers showed off their eye-catching and priceless concept cars.
Some of those include the UP Design Vittoria Concept, UP Design Luczeria Sedan and the IED Syrma. Elsewhere was the Pininfarina Sergio concept, UP Design e Mole Costruzione Artigianale Modello 001 and the brand new concept from Torino Design.
Of the cars featured, which is your favourite?
Parco Valentino 2015: Supercars and Racecars
The 2015 Parco Valentino Salone & Gran Premio kicked off and has presented some of the world’s finest performance cars.
The Parco Valentino Salon is the main car show held outdoor in the Parco Valentino in Turin while the Gran Premio is a parade of classic and modern cars held through the streets of Turin on the final day of the event. The car show itself saw an array of exotics displayed enough to make any other major motor show take notice.
Certainly the highlight in terms of race cars was a yellow and red Ferrari LaFerrari FXX K. Elsewhere on a racing car front was a Pagani Zonda R Evoluzione and a BMW M4 DTM racer. On a supercar front, cars included a brand new McLaren 570S, Ferrari 488 GTB, Lamborghini Aventador SV, Lamborghini Huracan, Mercedes-AMG GT, Ferrari California T and even the Pininfarina Sergio Concept!
Parco Valentino 2015 Highlights
We attended the Parco Valentino Salone & Gran Premio 2015 as part of the GTspirit Tour 2015. It has been a while since our last visit to Turin and it was great to see Parco Valentino created such a vibrant atmosphere. Every citizen in Turin seemed to be a car enthusiast and flocked to Parco Valentino during the four days of the event.
The unique Pininfarina Concorso d’Eleganza celebrated 50 years Pininfarina and saw a truly unique collection of Pininfarina creations in one place. It was probably the first and last time that these cars were on display altogether. Witnessing this was one of the highlights for us.
What set Parco Valentino apart from most other car shows we attend is the way the cars are displayed. Each car was placed on a standardized outdoor display that really put the car in the spotlight and also made it easy to compare cars from various marques. We hope Parco Valentino hangs on to this concept in future editions.
The parade on Sunday lead through the center of Turin to a palace even more spectacular than the castle in Parco Valentino. The intersections along the entire route were blocked off by police and the escort we got made us feel like we were back on the Mille Miglia!
At La Venaria Reale the group of Paganis, that attended Parco Valentino of their own annual tour: Vanishing Point, stole the show! From the one-off Pagani Huayra La Monza Lisa to the recent Zonda LM Editions it was hard to find any cars that attracted a bigger crowd.
Unique was also the presence of Jim Glickenhaus with the Ferrari P4/5 and his very own SCG-003 car that recently completed the Nurburgring 24 Hours race!
We like to thank the entire Parco Valentino team for the support and excellent organization and hope to be back next year!
