Chocolate & Classic Cars

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In the 20s Coppa della Perugina was an international car race invented by Giovanni Buitoni, the owner of the confectionery company “La Perugina“.

At the beginning of the last century when the phenomenon of car racing was affecting more and more people, from 1924 until 1927 a handful of sportsmen stimulated by Giovanni Buitoni organized on the flat land below the city of Perugia a circuit race called Coppa della Perugina.



The success was so important that when the race ceased (for reasons not related to the will of the organizers) a very strong memory, never faded over the years.

So much so that, just after the World War II, Alberto Andreani, Chairman of the Automobile Club, and Bruno Buitoni, Chairman of Perugina, made the Coppa della Perugina come back.

Unfortunately, as in the past, after only three editions, from 1952 to 1954, once again not by will, the success was interrupted, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of sportsmen and people.

From that moment on the Coppa della Perugina was once again a memory that was harboring under the ashes of the passion, waiting to return.

That happened in 1984 thanks to the will of the men of CAMEP (Club Auto Moto d’Epoca Perugino) who from year to year, with courage and professionalism, have managed until now to pass on the feelings experienced in those past periods, proposing to the people, through the re-enactments, the view of the cars that participated in those historic events. (Taken from the book Coppa della Perugina by Giuseppe Prisco).

Between 18th-29th June 70 vintage cars from all over Italy took part in the 32nd edition of the historical re-enactment that will touch the Magione, Perugia, Assisi and Foligno racetrack.

Several of the cars had arrived early but we did manage to see quite a few drive through the main square. Later we were able to view close up several iconic models.



In the early 1900s female entrepreneurs were as rare as a golden egg. But Luisa Spagnoli was no ordinary woman, she was driven. Her creativity and ambition led her to create the now famous Baci Perugina.

Born in 1877, Luisa came from a local family in Perugia. In the early 1900s she founded two of the most important companies in the town - the chocolate factory Perugina and the women’s clothing company that bears her name.

During the First World War when all the men had left for the front, Luisa - like many other women- found herself alone to take care of her home and her three children.

She knew all too well the challenges of looking after the family, let alone running the factory.

So being one of the most forward looking business owners she opened a nursery in the Perugina factory, allowing her female employees to continue to work.

In 1922, with both the chocolate factory and the clothing business to run, Luisa developed a unique way to use up extra local hazelnuts, while also creating one of the most iconic of Italian chocolates, naming it Baci - the Italian word for kisses.

The little slip of paper nestled beneath each chocolate with its message, meditation or musing on love has been inside the shiny foil wrapper since the early 1930s.
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Interesting history...
thanks for posting.