What Detroit is to American car fans, Turin is to Italian and European connoisseurs, so the city really deserves a dedicated automotive museum. For years, the location only offered a random collection of vehicles, but following a painstaking four-year renovation process, the full collection of over 200 motorized works of art can be properly shown.
The Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile di Torino was originally established in 1932 by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, one of the founders of Fiat, and bears his name. Thus, it is located close to Lingotto, the former Fiat factory complex.
After a redesign process, Cino Zucchi managed to change the shape of the museum to feature more sweeping curves made of glass, in the shape of an abstract highway. After that, a thematic arrangement was chosen by Francois Confino, an exhibition and stage-set designer.
True Italian car fans will be able to enjoy the first Fiat ever made (built in 1899), or the strange version of a Lancia that was styled for the president of the Italian republic and completed in time for a visit by Queen Elizabeth in 1961.
Cars from across the world include a 1910 Renault taxis famously used to ferry troops to the Battle of the Marne, which saved Paris during World War I, or the Isotta Fraschini belonging to the silent-film actor Rudolf Valentino, which the museum said was later used in the film “Sunset Boulevard”.
If those cars aren’t to your taste, there is also a racing Ferrari that was used by Alberto Ascari in his winning 1952 and 1953 seasons. After the renovation of the museum, new cars were also added, including the Pininfarina 2uettottanta convertible concept, first shown at the 2010 Geneva auto show. But probably the coolest car out there is the 202 Cisitalia of 1947, which Mr. Confino jokingly said would be the one he would steal from the museum.
The Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile di Torino was originally established in 1932 by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, one of the founders of Fiat, and bears his name. Thus, it is located close to Lingotto, the former Fiat factory complex.
After a redesign process, Cino Zucchi managed to change the shape of the museum to feature more sweeping curves made of glass, in the shape of an abstract highway. After that, a thematic arrangement was chosen by Francois Confino, an exhibition and stage-set designer.
True Italian car fans will be able to enjoy the first Fiat ever made (built in 1899), or the strange version of a Lancia that was styled for the president of the Italian republic and completed in time for a visit by Queen Elizabeth in 1961.
Cars from across the world include a 1910 Renault taxis famously used to ferry troops to the Battle of the Marne, which saved Paris during World War I, or the Isotta Fraschini belonging to the silent-film actor Rudolf Valentino, which the museum said was later used in the film “Sunset Boulevard”.
If those cars aren’t to your taste, there is also a racing Ferrari that was used by Alberto Ascari in his winning 1952 and 1953 seasons. After the renovation of the museum, new cars were also added, including the Pininfarina 2uettottanta convertible concept, first shown at the 2010 Geneva auto show. But probably the coolest car out there is the 202 Cisitalia of 1947, which Mr. Confino jokingly said would be the one he would steal from the museum.