Auto e Moto d Epoca 2026 Brings Le Mans Legends to Bologna

7. September 2026 EventsBologna

From 22 to 25 October 2026, Bologna will once again become a meeting place for the international classic vehicle community with Auto e Moto d‘Epoca 2026.

Across 235,000 square metres, Auto e Moto d’Epoca will bring together the trade, restoration specialists, motorcycles and automobilia. This year’s centrepiece is Icons of Speed, featuring some of the most important endurance racing cars of their eras. A walk through the Bologna halls offers far more than a sales show. Dealers and restorers stand alongside museums, manufacturers, clubs and private collectors, while rare spare parts share the venue with major themed exhibitions. For 2026, the organisers are announcing more than 7,000 cars and motorcycles on display and for sale across 13 halls. Four themed routes help visitors navigate the vast selection.

Icons of Speed charts the history of endurance racing

The major new feature for 2026 is Icons of Speed. The exhibition traces the development of endurance racing across more than half a century, from Le Mans and the great events at the Nürburgring, Monza and Daytona to today’s FIA World Endurance Championship. Its focus is not limited to famous victories. It also explores the discipline’s technical importance: endurance racing has always been an exacting test of reliability, aerodynamics, materials, engines and, in later decades, electronic vehicle control.

More than 25 vehicles make up the display. Twelve will be brought together in the entrance hall on Via Costituzione, with further exhibits located throughout the venue. Confirmed highlights from the Nationales Automuseum The Loh Collection include the Bentley EXP Speed 8, the Sauber C9 and a Rothmans-liveried Porsche 956. The Sauber won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship in 1989, while the Porsche 956 remains one of the defining cars of the Group C era.

The line-up also includes the Lancia LC2, Maserati MC12 Corsa, the rare Bugatti EB110 Le Mans and a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917. Together, they show how differently engineers approached the same challenge: maintaining exceptional speed for hours without losing sight of durability.

Motorsport remains prominent beyond the endurance display. A separate exhibition created in partnership with Rallylegend is dedicated to the cars of Group B – the brief and spectacular era of rallying whose machines continue to exert a powerful fascination.

Gallery Aaldering JOINS BOLOGNA

Auto e Moto d’Epoca is also extending the international reach of its marketplace. Dutch specialist Gallery Aaldering will appear in Bologna for the first time, with a selection set to include a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, AC Ace Bristol, Lamborghini Miura P400 S and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. The four cars represent very different schools of classic motoring: an elegant grand tourer, a British roadster, an Italian supercar and a German sports car icon.

A new PARTNERSHIP between Bologna and Brussels

The 2026 edition also marks the beginning of a partnership with MECC, organiser of InterClassics in Brussels and Maastricht. InterClassics Brussels exhibitors will have a dedicated area in Bologna, while Auto e Moto d’Epoca will be represented by a joint pavilion in Brussels. The partnership is intended to make cross-border exchange easier and give both events access to a wider international audience.

Announced participants from this network include Cool Classic Club, Prins Classic and Alphonse Ruyl Fine Classic Cars. For visitors, the collaboration primarily broadens the variety of vehicles and specialists on offer. For dealers, it creates new opportunities to reach collectors beyond their domestic markets.

Corvettes and collectable watches

The European Corvette Day Italy will take place on the final day of the show, Sunday 25 October. The gathering is open to every generation of the American sports car, from the original 1953 C1 to the current C8. The National Corvette Museum in Kentucky will also make its Bologna debut with an official stand.

Time on Show explores another field of collecting. The concurrent event for rare, vintage and collectable watches will return in 2026. The connection is a natural one: provenance, originality, condition and the quality of restoration matter just as much to watch collectors as they do to owners of classic vehicles.

The marketplace remains the heart of the show

However prominent the special exhibitions may be, the marketplace remains central to Auto e Moto d’Epoca. International dealers, restoration workshops, manufacturers, museums, marque clubs and registers meet private buyers and collectors, supported by an extensive selection of spare parts, scale models and motoring memorabilia. It is this combination that makes Bologna so appealing: visitors can study a landmark racing car at close quarters, then walk a few halls further and perhaps find the component their own restoration has been missing for months.