Vintage cars parade in annual festival

A procession of vintage cars dating from the 1920s to the 1970s graced some of the island's roads today in the VIntage Motors Festival organised by the Federazzjoni Maltija Vetturi Antiki.

The event started with a static show at Victory Square in Vittoriosa followed by a time consistency run with a half-way halt in front of the Nazzareno Church at the Sliema Ferries, where the vehicles were on show for an hour. From there, the machines continued with the race, finishing in Bay Square, Bugibba. In Bugibba, the vehicles were displayed for another two hours.

The FMVA was founded in 1998 and comprises the Historic Motorcycle Club, the Old Motors Club and the Military Vehicles Collectors Club.

It aims to promote the interests of classic vehicle owners in the Maltese islands.

Through negotiations with the authorities, the federation has managed to obtain favourable road license and registration concessions for genuine certified pre-1975 classics.

The oldest genuinely local (not recently imported) vehicles in Malta are a 1903 Minerva motorcycle and a 1904 Cadillac.