We started our journey to Shkodra’s annual ‘Retro’ parade at 06:00 a.m. from Tirana, with Rejna Cystri, the only girl in her big family, who has cherished her passion for cars since a very young age.
“We have decided to drive [to Shkoder] with a retro car from our family collection. One of our three other cars has already headed for the festival yesterday through an auto-train,” said Cystri.
She decided to make her journey to the central city of Northern Albania, with a 1957 “Renault”, which is only one of her extensive collection of cars.
After a two-hour-long trip, Rejna’s lovely vintage car becomes part of the long parade of historical vehicles, right before the most impressing activity for the weekend in Shkoder could officially begin.
“It’s a 1957 Renault 15 and we have also brought a 1962 Renault 4 with us, and had to leave another one in Tirana. I am a faithful fan of Renault. Our passion must have begun early on, since my father’s Vrashava, the Polish Fiat, Volvo, all the way to Mercedes, since he was part of the delegation park and the first Renault, I fell in love with was the 1983 model,” tells Rejna Kulla Cystri, a vintage car collector.
A wide variety of many different models, where anyone can find their favorite, have become part of this long parade that started at 10:00 a.m. on Friday.
The parade doesn’t only showcase colors, beauty, and aesthetics; it’s a parade of history and passion of dozens of collectors from Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro that have come together in the vintage but beautiful alleys of Shkodra.
“It’s a kind of love that can’t be bought or sold, it’s a passion since early childhood,” said Dasho Dragovic, a collector from Montenegro.
Ehat Orsheka together with some friends from Kosovo departed very early in order to arrive to “Gjuhadola” and become a part of this unique exhibition with their 12 retro cars.
“Cars and ladies require a lot of finances, plus both cars and women require a lot of dedication, attention and love,” stated Ehat Orsheka, a collector from Kosovo.
Apart from cars, part of this Retro parade were also citizens of Shkodra that came out in colorful vintage outfits, who together with the sounds of jazz and swings brought us back to the 20th century.
The oldest car in the parade dated from 1947, whereas some of the cars have also been used in Albanian movies and another part has been a part of the Delegation Park.
View from Retro Festival, Shkodra by Euronews Balkans
