The 2008 edition of the My Special Car Show, the special, style, tuning and sports car exhibition, was held from 28 to 30 March as usual at the Rimini Exhibition Centre, and once again it represented an important appointment for car builders, many of which which were present with their own special lines. This confirmed the positive trend of past editions, which has seen the number of brands taking part in the show rising from one in 2004, to thirteen this year.

The manufacturers taking part last weekend were: the BMW Group (though its Mini brand), Citroen, Daihatsu, Kia, Mercedes Benz (with its Mercedes-AMG and Smart brands), Opel, Peugeot, Seat, Subaru and Volkswagen, along with My Special Car Show newcomers Abarth, Nissan and finally Brabus, the famous German extreme tuning company which was participating directly for the first time with its own exhibition area.

There were big thrills to be had in the outdoor areas of the My Special Car Show, thanks to initiatives by Abarth and Subaru. Abarth, making its first appearance at the special and sports car exhibition, arrived in Rimini with a expansive preview of its Grande Punto Abarth model featuring the extreme performance “esseesse” kit.

The outdoor area of Rimini Exhibition Centre provided visitors with the chance to admire and get inside the first of the vehicles now being tuned by the Scorpion brand as well as experiencing the adrenaline rush of a lap of the track in a Grande Punto Abarth S2000 alongside a member of the 2007 Italian Rally Championship factory team. During the Rimini exhibition, Abarth was also present in the vast halls, with a red-and-white colour themed stand structure in which enthusiasts had the chance to admire the Grande Punto as well as watching the Abarth factory fitters in action.

There was no shortage of music and amusements too on the vibrant stand, and a special area was dedicated to official 'Scorpion' brand merchandise. Complimenting the two white Grande Punto Abarths on display on the Abarth stand was a fabulous historic Fiat 131 Abarth, the rally-winning machine resplendent in evocative Alitalia colours.

This year’s edition was deemed hugely successful: the figures of this edition of the Exhibition: 281, award ceremonies, 26, conferences, meetings and press conferences, and 50, media and radio and TV groups present. The organisers estimated that in terms of the number of cars showcased this year, more than 2,500 cars turned up.

Some 1,800 featured in events directly organised by the show, namely My Special Club, My Special Sound and Special Pressure Level. My Special Club – the biggest indoor rally in Europe – still provides considerable satisfaction. This year, My Special Car show set aside 13,000 square metres of outdoor areas for activities, and Abarth was joined by Subaru in this arena. Also, for the fifth year running, the award presentation ceremony Auto Europa Tuner, which was inaugurated during the 2004 Exhibition by UIGA (the Italian Motoring Journalists’ Union) and the "Raffaella Govoni" Memorial Press Rally, a car rally made up of roughly 60 teams of journalists from all over Italy, were held.