Vintage Cars, Historic Bikes Kick Off New York's 2003 Columbus Day Parade

Ducati, Lancia and Cistilia to Roll up Fifth Avenue

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 -- When Italian fashion czar Roberto Cavalli -- the 62-year old man who has dressed Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez -- rolls up Fifth Avenue as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Columbus Day Parade, he will be riding in style, and he will most definitely not be alone.

Cavalli will be seated in a crystalline metallic blue 1948 Cisitalia 202 MM Nuvolari Spyder, courtesy of Lawrence Auriana, president of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, which organizes the parade.

The courtly Italian clothier will be followed by models riding on Ducati motorcycles and wearing his fanciful and exotic designs, which feature combinations of flowing materials.

The Parade's Special Guest from Italy, Minister of Defense Antonio Martino, will be transported in a 1956 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder convertible, designed by Pininfarina.

Leading the parade route will be four Ducati race bikes, including the legendary 1978 Ducati 900 that Mike Hailwood rode to victory in the 1978 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race. Hailwood came out of retirement to win that race in a surprising upset. Team owner Steve Wynn will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the victory by riding the Ducati 900.

Additionally, a squadron of 20 contemporary Ducati bikes will participate in the parade.

Despite the emphasis on vintage cars and on Ducati motorbikes, fashion and flight are the main themes of the 2003 Columbus Day Parade, which will take place on October 13 from 11:45 AM to 3:00 PM in New York City and will run up Fifth Avenue from 44th through 79th Streets. The Parade will be televised on WNBC-TV from Noon to 3:00 PM, and the Italian Television Network, RAI.

The first flight exhibit in the parade is a fabrication of Leonardo da Vinci's design for a Flying Machine, which is modeled on the wing structure of birds. Leonardo, the quintessential Renaissance man, created the earliest sketches of a vehicle of flight.

The Parade will also feature a replica of a 19th century hot air balloon. The first manned hot-air balloon flight in Italy took place on February 25th, 1784, in Brugherio near Milan, less than a year after the world's first successful manned hot-air balloon flight.

Also in the Parade will be one of two surviving examples of an Savoia-Marchetti S-56 airplane, the first plane used by the New York Police Department. The Italian-designed Savoia-Marchetti S-56 dates from 1929 and is an amphibious craft. During the last years of the Prohibition era, it was used to run down rum-runners.

The most recent aircraft in the Parade will be an Agusta A119 Koala helicopter, manufactured by AgustaWestland. The A119 is the most recent acquisition by the New York City Police Department's elite Aviation Unit.

The annual Columbus Day Parade commemorates Christopher Columbus's first landing in the Americas and the spirit of exploration, and it is a celebration of Italian-American cooperation and friendship.

The Columbus Citizens Foundation has been organizing the Columbus Day Parade since 1929, when the Parade was founded by the Columbus Citizens Committee. The Foundation's nearly 500 members are active in supporting cultural programs, scholarship funds and other initiatives developed by the Foundation's Board of Directors.

   Parade information:  The 2003 Columbus Day Parade
                        Fifth Avenue from 44th to 76th Streets
                        Start time: 11:45 AM
                        End time, approximate: 3:00 PM