Desfile de Autos Clasicos (Classic Car Parade) Photos – 2016

On Saturday, August 6 of this year’s La Feria de las Flores (Festival of Flowers) was Desfile de Autos Clasicos (Classic Car Parade).  This year was the 21st year for this car parade.

The theme for the car parade this year was “Cars that drove the industry in Antioquia”. The parade in one sense is like a traveling museum of old vehicles.

The parade route this year ran through Envigado, El Pobaldo and Sabaneta. The route was longer this year than last year.

Since the parade route was lengthy at about 28 kilometers this year you could walk along the route to find a less busy spot to get good views and enable taking better photos.

The car parade is a very popular event every year. It is also very family friendly so you will see many families with little kids.

The Desfile de Autos Clasicos parade is normally the busiest near the metro stations like the Poblado or Industriales stations.

I normally go to the Industriales station, which I did again this year. I walked from the metro station and found a spot in front of the Bancolombia headquarters building under some trees that wasn’t very busy.

Plenty of vendors were walking around selling cold beers, water, sodas, ice cream, chips and other snacks, plus hats and sunglasses. This wasn’t a bad idea given the strength of the sun.

The vehicles in the Medellín car parade come from several cities in Colombia. Besides Medellín.  This year I saw several vehicles from Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena and Pereira.

The parade this year had a total of 300 vehicles participating. This included 25 themed cars (such as firefighters, Mad Max and Ghostbusters), 25 funeral vehicles, 20 military and 20 “hot” and “street rods”.

Over 40 percent of the cars in this year’s parade were in the parade for the first time.  They had not been in a previous parade.

Many of the drivers and passengers in the vehicles in the parade were also dressed in period costumes.

Estimates are that over 1 million people viewed the Classic Car Parade in Medellín this year.

Vehicle Categories

The vehicles in Desfile de Autos Clasicos fall in several categories, including

1. Old vehicles – cars which are at least 35 years old.  They must retain original specifications with the factory layout and operation.
2. Classic vehicles – cars which are at least 50 years old.  They also must retain their original features and specifications with factory layout and operation.
3. Street rod vehicles – cars which are at least 35 years old and retain the completely original exterior and retain all its accessories, emblems, mirrors and bevels. Inside parts and mechanicals can change but these should not be noticeable from the outside.
4. Hot rod vehicles – cars that were completely changed in the mechanics, suspension and body, especially finishes such as paint and upholstery are very different from the original. There is a limit of 25 cars in this category that are selected by a committee.
5. Vehicles produced, assembled or distributed in Colombia – cars included in this category must be at least 35 years old and at least 95 percent original in its mechanical and aesthetic parts (including painting).

There is also a special category for military Jeeps and Volkswagons.

To participate in the Classic Car Parade a fee must be paid to the Museo del Transporte Fundación.

From April 1 to June 1 this year, the fee was 150,000 pesos ($50), which was the same as last year. This fee increased up to a maximum of 500,000 pesos ($170) if paid between July 2 to July 15.

The vehicle must also be accepted by a technical committee.   a copy of the vehicle registration must be provided.

Some of the money collected for the parade was donated to the Santiago Children’s Heart Foundation.

Desfile de Autos Clasicos 2016 Parade Photos