A car parked for 47 years in the same spot on an Italian street becomes a monument
- A car parked on a street in Italy for nearly 50 years has become a tourist attraction.
- Angelo Fregolent, 94, parked his car outside the newsstand that he owned in 1974 and never moved it.
A car that has been parked in the same place on a street for 47 years has become a tourist attraction and local landmark in Italy, reports say.
In 1974, Angelo Fregolent, now 94, parked his car at the newsstand he ran with his wife in the town of Conegliano, according to The Mirror, and never came back.
Fregolent left his gray Lancia Fulva 1962 on the street when the couple retired.
The compact four-door saloon has since become an attraction for tourists and residents of the town, who come to snap selfies with it to post on social media. The vehicle has even earned a marker on Google Maps.
Last month, Piero Garbellotto, who was running for mayor of Conegliano, visited the Lancia Fulva to take a selfie with it.
"I ran the newsstand under the house for 40 years together with my wife Bertilla, ten years younger than me," Fregolent told Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino.
"When I opened the business, I was happy to have the Lancia Fulvia parked in front of it because I had the newspapers unloaded in the trunk and then I took them inside."
His wife, Bertilla Modolo, joked to the paper that Fregolent loves the car as if it were a second wife.
After nearly five decades, town officials have decided to move the vehicle because it was blocking the flow of traffic and pedestrians, Il Gazzettino said.
On October 20, the car was taken to the Auto e Moto d'Epoca Motorshow in Padua, to display it for a short period of time alongside other classic cars, Italian outlet Virgilio Motori reported.
Giovanni Berton, who works in the mechanical vehicle trade sector and is the president of the Serenissima historical car club in Conegliano, told Virgilio Motori, "The history of the Fulvia has been around the world and we could not remain indifferent."
"Thus was born the idea of taking it to the car showroom, where many will be able to admire it."
After that, the car will be restored and placed in the garden of the Cerletti Enological School, which is opposite Angelo Fregolent's home, where it will continue to be a local landmark. The couple will be able to see it from their window, said Virgilio Motori.
Local residents said that the car had become an iconic fixture of the town.
Luca Zaia, 42, told Il Gazzettino, "The car has been parked there since I was going to school."
The Lancia Fulvia become a renowned car after it won the 1972 International Rally Championship.