The first edition of “Motori d’Eccellenza” comes to Rome on September 27: fifteen vintage cars parade past the city’s monuments with 22 of Rome’s historic businesses.
For the first time, Rome has its own edition of Italian Motor Week, and it happens this Sunday, September 27. Fifteen vintage cars, twenty-two of the city’s historic businesses, and a route through some of the most iconic corners of Rome: this is “Motori d’Eccellenza. Roma solidale in movimento”, the Roman edition of Italian Motor Week, organized by the Associazione Negozi Storici di Eccellenza di Roma, and it doubles as a charity event in support of elderly Romans in need.
The cars gather at Piazza della Bocca della Verità and set off on a route that reads like a highlight reel of the city, passing the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla, crossing the Tiber to climb the Janiculum for the view out over the rooftops, coming back down past the top of the Spanish Steps and through Piazza del Popolo, rolling along via Veneto and past the Quirinale, before ending on display at Piazza Santi Apostoli. If you are in Rome this weekend, you can watch the whole thing unfold in the open, for free, just by standing in the right piazza at the right time.
What is Italian Motor Week?
Italian Motor Week is a nationwide celebration of Italy’s automotive heritage, one of the things the country is most famous for and most proud of. In 2026 it runs from September 19 to 27, with events spread across the country: museum visits, private collections, factory tours, and gatherings of historic cars, from Piedmont to Emilia-Romagna’s Motor Valley to Lombardy. It is organized by Città dei Motori, an association that brings together around forty Italian towns tied to the country’s motoring excellence, the places behind names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Ducati. The whole week is really a celebration of Made in Italy: design, engineering, and craftsmanship, the things Italians have been quietly perfecting for generations.
Until now, most of that week has happened in the north, close to the factories and the museums. This year, thanks to Associazione Negozi Storici di Eccellenza di Roma, Rome joins in with an edition of its own, and it approaches the theme from a very Roman angle.
The Vintage Car Parade in Rome: Motori d’Eccellenza
What makes the Rome edition different is what the cars are carrying. Each of the fifteen vintage cars is paired with one of the city’s historic shops, and this is where the morning becomes more than a car parade. Twenty-two of Rome’s most prestigious historic businesses are taking part, and in the space of a few hours you get several of the things Italy is genuinely known for, layered in one place: the cars, the monuments they drive past, and the family businesses that have quietly kept Rome running for generations, some of them for centuries. You do not have to go looking for any of it, you walk out into the center and it is there.
This is the first edition, and it is meant to be the start of something recurring. The plan is for it to come back every September as an annual fixture, so this year is the beginning rather than a one-off.
The route: where to watch the cars
The parade is escorted by the local police and follows a long loop through the city, which means you have your pick of vantage points. The cars leave Piazza della Bocca della Verità at 10:30 and wind south past the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla, curve back up around the Celio near the Colosseum, then cross the river and climb the Janiculum, passing the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola and the panoramic terrace at Piazzale Garibaldi, one of the best views in Rome. From there they come back over the Tiber and up to Piazza Trinità dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps, down through Piazza del Popolo, along via Veneto, and past the Quirinale before arriving at Piazza Santi Apostoli around 11:30am.
If you want to catch them in motion, three of the best spots are the Circus Maximus early in the loop, the Janiculum terrace for the cars against the skyline, and the top of the Spanish Steps. If you would rather see them up close and still, head straight to Piazza Santi Apostoli, where they stay on display from 11:30am until 2pm.
Rome’s Historic Shops in the Parade
The event is organized by the Associazione Negozi Storici di Eccellenza di Roma, founded in 2008, which represents the city’s oldest family businesses. To belong, a business has to clear a demanding bar: at least seventy years in the same trade, and at least three generations in the same family. These are the places that have outlasted fashions, regimes, and more than a few economic crises while doing the same thing the whole time, and they are the reason I wanted to write about this at all. Here are the twenty-two taking part.
Antica Farmacia Reale, a working pharmacy trading since 1672, older than the United States. Leone Limentani, a tableware, silver and crystal emporium in the Ghetto since 1820. Tebro, the linen house going since 1867, whose owner, Stefano Pizzolato, is the association’s president. Stilo Fetti, selling fountain pens and fine writing instruments since 1893 near the Pantheon, now in its fifth generation. Bedetti, watches and jewellery on Piazza San Silvestro. Caleffi Roma 1911, a bespoke shirtmaker near Parliament since 1911, whose clients have ranged from politicians and diplomats to a president of the Republic. Davide Cenci, men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories on Via di Campo Marzio. Savelli, religious art and sacred pieces near the Vatican. Zampieri 1949, a specialist in professional clothing since 1949. Banchetti Sport, historic sportswear near Campo de’ Fiori. Ditta Francesco Paolucci, a historic carpentry workshop, the kind of artisan trade that has all but vanished from the center.
And the tables. Giolitti, the gelateria Romans have argued over since 1900. Caffè Ciampini on Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, a café, gelateria and restaurant since 1941, and its sister Ciampini di Marco Ciampini, the café-restaurant with the terrace near the top of the Spanish Steps. Babingtons, the English tea rooms at the foot of the Spanish Steps, opened in 1893. Il Vero Alfredo, the restaurant where fettuccine Alfredo was born, the dish half the world orders and few find in Italy. Macelleria Angelo Feroci, a marble-lined butcher from the early 1900s, now in its fourth generation. Giggetto al Portico d’Ottavia, Roman-Jewish cooking in the Ghetto beside the ancient portico. Trattoria Da Romolo alla Mole Adriana, traditional Roman cooking near Castel Sant’Angelo. Bistrot Collegio, near Piazza Capranica. Ristorante Ai Due Ponti on Via Flaminia. And Ristorante Massimo d’Azeglio, the restaurant of the Bettoja family’s historic hotel of the same name, running since 1875.
A parade with a purpose
The historic shops behind the event have come together to raise money for a cause, and the entire proceeds of Motori d’Eccellenza go to the Banca delle Visite, which funds specialist medical visits and urgent exams for elderly Romans living in hardship. It is a fitting choice for a group of businesses whose whole identity is built on generations and continuity.
Motori d’Eccellenza: Dates, Times and How to Attend
Date: Sunday, September 27
Cars gather: Piazza della Bocca della Verità, from the morning
Parade departs: 10:30am
On display: Piazza Santi Apostoli, 11:30am to 2pm
Cost: free to watch from the street
Part of: Italian Motor Week, September 19 to 27
