Gualtieri closes Rome to historic cars
Piddino mayor Gualtieri prohibits the circulation of historic cars to curb the pollution of Rome. It would be laughable if the news weren’t true. And instead the ordinance number 27 speaks for itself: the absolute prohibition of circulation is triggered practically in the whole municipality of Romano exceptions for the evening, weekdays or holidays.
Among other things, the new green belt of the capital extends almost to ring road and is the largest in Europe. An immense territory that now makes no distinction between rare historic cars, certified according to the law, and normal old cars.
“absurd” decision
A decision that is judged “absurd” with the numbers in hand. There are just 9,945 historic cars in Rome (out of a total of over 4 million vehicles, therefore a share equal to 0.25% of the total). The question is even more paradoxical bearing in mind that the vintage cars cover a total of 0.014% of the kilometers in the capital covered by vehicles of daily use.
And in these days, when the provision was in the air, the appeals of ASI, the National Registers of Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia, and all the certifying bodies of historic vehicles envisaged by Article 60 of the Highway Code were not valid who asked at least to take an example from the Lombardy Region, Piedmont, from the Municipality of Milan, Genoa, Turin and many others, where there are exceptions to protect historic cars, have remained unheard of. No consideration therefore on what happens in the rest of Italy in which there are no absolute exceptions to circulationbut green disco at least for the evening, for weekdays, holidays and days before holidays.
Appeal to Mattarella
At this point, faced with the fait accompli, the associations decided to present a extraordinary appeal to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in order to obtain the annulment of the decrees and resolutions decided by Gualtieri.
For everyone speaks Alberto Scuro, president of the historic Italian Automotoclub which refers to common sense: “In Italy there are over 57 million vehicles and of these, those over twenty years old are around 16 million. The percentage of the latter for which we ask for protection is completely irrelevant, but in order to continue to represent the cultural and economic resource that they are today for our country, they must be able to be kept alive by activating specific exemptions relating to circulation”.
Turnover of 2.2 billion
And when Scuto speaks of a cultural and economic resource, he refers to a sector that in Italy generates historic cars between purchase, maintenance and tourism a business of over 2.2 billion euros a year. What’s more: historic cars are ambassadors of Made in Italy in the world. “Our cars and vintage motorbikes – they explain to ASI – are not simply means of transport. They evoke epochs and historical moments, and have in them an artistic and aesthetic component that the whole world envies us. Just think of the international success enjoyed by our great designers and their cars, valued abroad as real works of art on a par with a Picasso or a De Chirico, defined as “moving sculptures” and worthy of being exhibited at the Moma in New York, as in the case of the Cisitalia 202, but also of the 500 F, another icon of the Italian product”.
A turnover, therefore, of over two billion euros a year, generated by historic cars along a chain that starts from the purchase, passes through maintenance and is also divided into direct and indirect tourism generated by events, competitions and gatherings involving, with a non-negligible social and cultural impact, a slice of the public that goes beyond owners and collectors. It is clear that facilitating the movement of collectors can only give benefits to the connected related industries: specialized workshops, hotels, restaurants and commercial activities in general, fairs, museums. In the ranking on the distribution of revenues linked to historic cars, five regions, namely Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lazio, Puglia, they obtain 50% of the entire turnover, producing over one billion euros alone.
But to understand how much the sector is worth as an image, it is enough to take the main showcase of vintage cars or rather the Millemiglia. If from 1927 to 1957 the most beautiful race in the world, as Enzo Ferrari liked to call it, was a competition to be tackled at full speed along the Brescia-Rome-Brescia route, today it has become a unique event in the world. The reason? The over 400 cars registered every year bring a value of over 250 million euros onto the road thanks to unique models and true icons of motoring on four wheels.
What the law says
Article 60 of the Highway Code distinguishes between “vintage vehicles” and those “of historical and collector’s interest”.
I vintage vehicles they are motorcycles and motor vehicles canceled by the Pra and destined for conservation in museums or public and private premises, for the purpose of safeguarding their original technical characteristics. They can only circulate on the occasion of special authorized events or gatherings, with a provisional number plate and special authorization issued by the Motorisation.
I vehicles of historical and collectible interestinstead, they are vehicles built for over 20 years, which are registered in one of the following registers: Asi, Historic Lancia, Italian Fiat, Italian Alfa Romeo, Historic Fmi. They can circulate as long as they meet the requirements for this type of vehicle, determined by the regulation of the Road Traffic Code.
How to be registered in the Historical Registers
To request registration of the vehicle in the Historic Registers, the car must be built by at least thirty years (the year of construction is considered to coincide with the year of first registration in Italy or in another State, unless there is evidence to the contrary) and have the original parts. The car it must not be used for professional purposes or in the exercise of business, arts or professions. However, it is not enough that thirty years have passed for the car to be defined as vintage: there is one official list with 340 models that fall into the category. Not only that: you must be in possession of all the data of the vehicle in question with all the technical and historical specifications, validated by a declaration from one of the workshops selected from registers for issuing the certificate itself.
This makes us understand why the car fleet is made up of such small numbers. And how obsessively collectors care about their jewels. From now on, however, historic cars in Rome are classified like scrap, such as petrol vehicles up to Euro 2 or diesel up to Euro 3. In short, no consideration for the cars that have made the sweet life in Via Veneto, have been the protagonists of films or simply remained in the heart of the country like the small and much loved 500.