Vintage Ferrari Illegally Parked Outside New Farm Deli Confirms The Italians Still Run This Place

MONTY BENFICA | Amusements | CONTACT

A once-iconic Italo-Australian neighborhood — long abandoned by its second-generation Italian residents the moment they could afford to leave — has been reminded who really runs the place, after a vintage Ferrari was spotted illegally parked outside a local deli.

The car’s owner, Frankie Di Bella (58), was born in New Farm in the 1960s to Calabrian migrants. While the suburb has long shed most of its Italian character — other than the odd inner-city mum driving a Fiat — Frankie, like many Italo-Australians his age, knows the culture still thrives just beneath the surface.

“See that servo over there, I own that” Frankie said confidently while sipping an espresso.

“That cafe? me and my brother in law also co-own that” he continued.

“Don’t think just because we got rid of football jersey stores and Bocce Clubs that we aren’t involved in this suburb anymore”

Frankie’s admission has surprised many who romanticise the tight-knit early Southern European enclaves of Australia’s inner cities — overlooking the fact that, more often than not, those communities were simply biding their time until they could afford a big house in the suburbs.

“Mate, do you know how much these students are willing to pay for my Nonna’s old property in New Farm I inherited?” Frankie lamented.

“They’re crazy! Do they not have parents who they can live with until they marry at 37??”

While the espresso machines may be newer and the delis now do oat milk, one thing is clear — the Italians never really left, they just diversified their portfolios.