The 2013 Fiat Nationals were hosted by the Fiat Car Club of Queensland in south east Queensland at the Ipswich Motorsport Precinct, specificially Queensland Raceway for the circuit sprints and Willowbank Raceway for the autokhana and Show 'n' Shine. This weekend also marked the 50th running of the interstate autokhana for the Fiat of Italy Cup.

The first event was held in January 1964 between the Fiat Car Club of Victoria and the Fiat Club of New South Wales at Wagga Wagga, which is approximately half way between Melbourne and Sydney. There were 25 competitors.

Attendance steadily grew and in 1972 there were 84 competitors, including 5 from the Fiat Car Club of Queensland, who made the 1400 kilometre trek south for the first time. By 1975 Queensland was fielding a substantial
team of 23 competitors, and a decision was made to relocate the weekend to a more central location. It was also decided that New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria take turns at organising the event each year.
The township of Dubbo in central New South Wales was chosen as it was approximately half way between the Victorian and Queensland clubs. Over the years, other central New South Wales towns hosted the event.

The Fiat Club of the Australian Capital Territory fielded 3 competitors in 1979, and 2 competitors from the Fiat-Lancia Club of South Australia made the 1300 kilometre trek east the following year. What started as a two state event had evolved into a near National fixture.

In 2001, nine members from the Fiat Lancia Club of Western Australia made the mammoth trip from Perth, transporting vehicles one way for the competition and disposing of them before commencing the trip home. The event was now truly “National”.

A major review and expansion of the event was agreed to by the event’s organising committee, which is comprised of State and Territory representatives from all of the Fiat Clubs of Australia. The location for the 2005 Fiat Nationals was changed to Bathurst and the event expanded to include a hillclimb at what is the most famous motorsport location in Australia - Mount Panorama, Bathurst. The event became known as “Fiat al Monte”, meaning “Fiat at the mountain”.

For 2009 the event moved to Goulburn NSW, and officially adopted the name, the “Fiat Nationals”. The move offered competitors a new set of challenges in the form of a circuit sprint at the Wakefield Park race track as well as the traditional Autokhana and Show’n’Shine events.

In 2012 the Fiat Nationals was held for the first time outside of NSW at the Winton race track near Benalla, Victoria. This event marked the beginning of a new program of rotating locations based in the State of the organising club. 2014 will see the event returning to NSW, to the Eastern Creek circuit in Sydney.

At this year's event we had some very rare Fiats attend, including a 1911 Tipo 7 (the only know example left of the 50 built), a rolling chassis of a 519, a Dino Coupe, an 850 Racer and Spider, 124 Abarth Spider Rally (from Western Australia), and my Coupe. Although there were several other Coupe owners from our southern states present, they either flew to Queensland or brought other cars, including Wazza from Sydney who brought his X1/9 Prototipo replica.

The events were hotly contested with some very quick cars, in the various classes, on the track and autokhana which consisted of 6 tests.

For those car club members who do not have a vehicle suitable for "track use", Fiatorque in Sydney prepared a yellow 132 for "rent" which enabled about 20 drivers to do 3 quick laps. Certainly a great way to allow members to experience the thrill of driving on the track!

The "iron man" (best overall performance in all 3 events) was won by a 126 (with a 903 in the back) from NSW and the runner-up being a 500F from Qld.

We had senior representatives from Fiat Australia present all weekend and at the Presentation Dinner on Sunday night (a full house with 160 attending) were informed of their plans for 2013 and what new models are coming.They hope to sell 10,000 units this year now that distribution is with Chrysler Australia and a quite a few additional dealers have been appointed.

At the Show'n'Shine, the local Alfa and Ferrari Clubs also displayed vehicles, so it was a feast for lovers of Italian cars.

The only photos from the weekend that I have access to are on the Fiat Nationals Facebook site.

https://www.facebook.com/FiatAustralia/posts/10151449437959276#!/FiatNationals?group_id=0

Oh yes, and Queensland won the Fiat of Italy Cup!!!