Exhibition of vintage cars and motorcycles in Virovitica

15.08.2022
Slavonia

Exhibition of vintage cars and motorcycles attracted all lovers of old vehicles to the small Croatian town of Virovitica this summer. The exhibition was first announced and held in Suhopolje in the parking lot in front of the Janković Castle on Wednesday, August 10, but for the sake of accommodation, we decided to wait for the exhibition in Virovitica. Yesterday was all about beautiful old vehicles and we have to admit that the exhibition delighted us because we did not expect such a large number of exhibition cars. Cars and motorbikes were lined up side by side all the way from the Pejačević Castle in the city center to the former department store.

Exhibition of vintage cars and motorcycles was organized by Oldtimer club Virovtica

The exhibition itself was organized by the Oldtimer Club from Virovitica in cooperation with the city as part of the program for “Days of the City of Virovitica – Rokovo”. Days of the city of Virovitica last from August 12 to August 16, when the patron saint of the city, St. Rok is celebrated. Although this exhibition is actually held every year, we had the opportunity to attend it for the first time, which made us especially happy because for several years we have been trying to see what kind of cars Virovitica exhibits.

However, what we certainly noticed as soon as we appeared at the exhibition of vintage cars and motorcycles was that the car’s license plates were not only those of Virovitica. Fans of vintage cars and motorcycles from all over Croatia and abroad – specifically Serbia, Austria and Germany – also participate in the exhibition. The cars we had the opportunity to see differed in colors, shapes, brands and interior decor. We were able to take a good look at each car from all sides and peek into its interior, so we saw seats covered in red and cream-colored leather, as well as cars whose interiors were decorated in colorful colors by the owners. In some cars, objects are placed that correspond to the time period in which the car was created, purchased and used for daily driving.

Our attention was drawn to the interior design and stickers on the outside of one of the cars produced by the Zastava company. Today, Zastava no longer manufactures cars, but it is an extremely important and interesting part of history for this area. Namely, the cars produced by Zastava were the only cars that were produced in the former Yugoslavia, which the Croatian state was a part of. The car we are talking about is one of the most popular vehicles ever in this area – Yugo or Jugić, as our grandparents and parents call it even today. Although rare, this car can still sometimes be seen on our roads. Today, it has become a cult symbol of the past and stands alongside other old-timer cars.

On the back inside of the Yugo we looked at, the owner of the car placed brochures from the Zastava factory and a booklet that looked to us like a kind of manual about the car. In addition, there was an album with photos of the car from all sides. However, what caught our attention the most and made us laugh more than once were the stickers on the windows of the vehicles with the inscriptions:

No airbags – We die like a real men

Rust is not a crime

Financial mistake

Built, not bought

Another Zastava car, in fact there were several of these cars on display in different colors, the one we fell in love with is definitely the iconic fićo or fića whose official name is Zastava 750. These small cars used to be the most popular vehicles and if you ask any older Croatian they will surely tell you that in some period of their life they owned a fiček. The so-called Peglica with the official name Fiat 126 certainly stands next to the Fićek, in terms of size and ctueness.

So that you don’t think that the exhibition examples were only these extremely small cars, we will also show you much more imposing examples that, we believe, would catch everyone’s eye. We were lucky enough to take a look at different models of Mercedes, BMW, Porche, but perhaps the most interesting specimen would be the blue Mustang. We think that we have tired you enough with our experiences of this exhibition, so we will show you the photos that we managed to take at this year’s exhibition of vintage cars and motorcycles so that you can walk through the exhibition yourself, even if only virtually.

Enjoy!