De Gallo at the Museo Nazionale Dell’Automobile

Story and photos by Daniel De Gallo

During my vacation in Piemonte this past month, it was worth revisiting the Museo Nazionale Dell’Automobile, located in the south end of beautiful Torino (Turin) Metropolitan city. Torino is home of F.I.A.T. and many other famous Italian car design firms. Torino was nominated sister city with Detroit, MI in 1998; that makes sense… and yes, Ford Gran Torino series were named after that city.

Anyway, the museum sits in a modern dedicated facility built between 1958 and 1960, with a retro futuristic style, still very elegant to this day. It is located minutes from the old F.I.A.T. Lingotto factory and roof-top proving track, now turned shopping mall and mixed-use office-residential space.

The collection inside the museum is world-class. It is very well curated, displayed, documented, and lit. It is very eclectic also, with various themes and eras represented with descriptions in both Italian and English.

My first visit to this museum was in 2011. Since then, major improvements and upgrades have been made. One major feature in the museum is a giant map of Torino lit from under the floor, with a Fiat 500 in the middle, coiffed with a Molle Antonelliana (the famous monument in Torino city center). Visitors can literally walk on the lit map showing where all automotive shops, factories, design studios etc. are (or were) located in town since the beginning of the auto industry in Italy. This time around, this feature was under renovation, so I am adding a picture I took of it back in 2011.

Another major feature is a simulated racetrack with giant media screens on the background, featuring a medley of race cars, from early speedsters to F1, with legendary names of Italian marques and pilots.

And here are a few of my favorites…