Posted by kingaw2 on Friday, June 3, 2016 in Blog posts.

Before traveling to Sicily I assumed that Cefalu would be the holy grail of Italian sports cars. Although its public knowledge that the Italian economy has seen better days, my preliminary research described Cefalu as a relatively wealthy and upscale town with a plethora of Palermitani beach homes and European vacationers. My research apparently was incomplete or at the very least built up unrealistic expectations. As a car enthusiast, I was hoping to see Ferrari’s, Maserati’s, and Alpha Romeo 4C Spiders lining the streets. Over the course of the next four weeks I continued to pay keen attention to the automotive choices of the locals and decided to share some of my observations (as well as a picture of the one Ferrari I saw).

The first thing that I noticed about the cars in Cefalu was their size and shape. Perhaps it was just a perspective issue having grown up in New York but some of these cars looked too small to seat even two people. Furthermore, the cars were often not very aesthetically pleasing, well kept, or powerful. A large percentage of the cars reminded me of a banged up, underpowered, old VW Bug. Part of the reason for this is the extensive use of hatchbacks rather than sedans or SUV’s. Almost all of the cars are Fiat (the Italian equivalent to Ford), Peugeot (French), or BMW/Mercedes (mostly just vans and government utility vehicles), with a few Asian and American cars sprinkled in. Another oddity is the three-wheeled Piaggio light commercial truck (Piaggio Ape), which can be spotted on almost any street in one form or another. Lastly, practically every car or truck in Sicily is manual shift (much to the horror of most American tourists).

Cefalu also boasts a healthy number of motor scooters and motorcycles. There is a far greater proportion of BMW motorcycles than in the US (which makes every automotive junky jealous due to the high quality of manufacturing and the ultra-reliable drive shafts that BMW uses rather than the typical drive chains/belts) although it is about equal with Hondas and Kawasaki’s. Most of the motorcycles are either roadsters or sports bikes although from time to time you’ll see a touring bike parked next to a Café. I saw more Vespas on the road outside of Cefalu than other mopeds but for the most part the mopeds/Vespas seem to have a relatively low engine displacement (50 cc or fewer) and are used just for travel inside the town. It also seems like pretty much any one can drive them without question since I’ve seen children who are clearly not 18 zipping down the street on them.

The Italians’ reasons for the seemingly unusual choices of automotive vehicles are threefold: utility, price, and availability. Italians emphasize utility with their vehicles including small size for maneuverability and gas mileage. Many of the cobble stone streets in these towns are from centuries ago and thus don’t take into account the turning radius for a car. Furthermore by having smaller and less expensive cars there is less concern over damages while parking, driving on low quality roads, or using them for work purposes (ex: peddling your wares from the vehicle). Additionally, the need for a vehicle is limited since most people seem to walk most places within the city, they don’t have garages to store a vehicle in, and many Sicilians don’t have excessive incomes to throw around on new cars as status symbols. Secondly, the cars represented in Cefalu tend to be lower in price. This is because of lower shipping costs for European products, better gas mileage for the smaller engines, and the greater availability of mechanics/replacement parts for those brands. Lastly, the cars I saw around Cefalu were much more readily available. Availability is strongly correlated with price based on the location of the manufacturers but also in terms of the number of dealerships and mechanics. From our field trips around Sicily it seems that there are many fewer dealerships than in the US and almost none of those dealerships were for non-European cars.

The last thing I’ve noticed about automobiles in Sicily is the difference in automotive safety compared to the US. While most of the drivers seem more competent than the average US driver there are also some startling cultural differences regarding moped use, speeding, and drunk driving. When riding mopeds or motorcycles some people wear helmets but not everyone. While that is actually pretty similar to the US, I was surprised to see how often three people would squeeze on a moped with a child in front or on a parents lap. I even saw some one with a dog sitting between their legs on a moped and another dog running next to the moped.

Perhaps I just haven’t noticed the speed limit signs but there doesn’t seem to be many strictly observed speed limits around Cefalu. People pass each other all the time even on winding roads with poor visibility. That becomes even more reckless when you consider how many of the roads involve steep drop offs, narrow lanes, sharp turns, and how few Italians wear seatbelts. Even the buses zip around corners despite the rollover risk. Once again speeding and reckless driving happens in the US as well but I’ve never experienced it on roads like these.

The greatest difference I noticed was how widely accepted drunk driving is. While there are laws prohibiting it, drunk driving appears to be socially acceptable. In four weeks I never saw a cop pull some one over nor did I hear from any of the locals about a set BAC they aim to stay under. Often it just isn’t much of a concern for them as seen by the number of people who go to the clubs on Saturday night, get decently intoxicated, and then drive home after smoking a cigarette on the Lungo Mare.