About

A passion passed down.

My name is Jacopo, and the first person I have to thank for Vintage Paddock is my father, Marco. My love of cars comes from him. His first car, a Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9, is part of where my own story begins. Looking at this photograph reminds me how much of what we love comes from the people closest to us. For me, cars have always been connected to people. My father comes first.

As a child, I bought every issue of Quattroruote. I learnt the models by heart, pored over the details and dreamed about the cars on its pages. Ayrton Senna was my idol. That fascination has never left me: a line, a small detail or a model name can still make me stop and look. Some cars feel as though I have known them all my life, even if I have never driven them.

The car I dreamed of.

Then one car stood out from all the others: the Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior Scalino. I pictured it in Rosso Alfa 501. When you dream about a car for long enough, you come to know every line before you ever hold its keys. But there is a world of difference between recognising it in a photograph and finding the one to bring home.

I searched for more than two years. Two years of listings, photographs, phone calls and questions. Of working through the details and being patient, even when I wished it were already in my garage. I wanted to be sure of my choice: behind the lines I loved, there had to be a history I could trust. In the end, even the wait became part of my attachment to this car.

Then I found an advert in La Manovella: a 1969 GT Junior in Rosso Alfa 501, with Targa Oro certification. I went to see it and bought it. When I look at this photograph of my Alfa, I also see those two years, the magazines I read as a child and the passion my father passed on to me. That is what makes my Alfa so special.

How the idea began.

During my search, I often wanted to know more than a few lines in a listing could tell me. Who had cared for the car? What work had been done? What explained its price? When you are already falling for a car, clear information matters all the more. It helps you appreciate what you are looking at before you see it in person.

That is where Vintage Paddock began. I wanted to build the place I wished I had found while looking for my Junior. Somewhere to spend time with a car, get to know it and ask questions. Somewhere the enthusiasm of someone searching can meet the care of someone who has looked after a car for years.

A story to carry forward.

Listings, valuations, the garage and the specialist directory are how I am putting that idea into practice. I want them to help at every stage: searching, choosing and caring for a car. The passion carries on long after the purchase, as the car becomes part of your life.

That thought guides me as I build Vintage Paddock. I am an enthusiast, with plenty still to learn and the same curiosity I had turning the pages of Quattroruote. If you have had a particular car in mind for years, you will know what I mean. I hope you feel at home here, and find the beginning of your next story.