Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
We spent the morning at the Centro Storico Museum, as we related in last week’s Part 1 and below in Part 2. But it now was time to eat in Italy.
So where does an Italian working for Fiat go to take lunch? A nice little trattoria hidden down a small side street in Turin? No. Signor Hardouin has graciously arranged for us to eat at the Mirafiori factory where most of the workers eat.
The factory is still very large with a menacing gate. This looks interesting – security looks tight, but since we are with a senior member of staff, the barrier should just lift on sight of his staff pass. But no such luck, and we have to make our way into the security hut. ‘Can we see your passports please?’ they ask. Passports! They are in the hotel safe, as I did not think we would need them. Ok, but they still want to see our passports or some other form of identification. I try my credit cards and then my office staff pass, my wife tries her bus pass but they don’t cut it.
Fortunately for us, Signor Hardouin knows how to play the bureaucratic games. An Italian standoff ensues, lots of arm waving and the Italian equivalent of ‘Hey, I am only doing my job’ but Signor Hardouin’s arguments prevail and after signing a few forms about, confidentiality we are in. Thank you, Signor Hardouin.
We park up about 50 yards further on from security hut next to the staff car park, and my wife notices that all the cars in the staff car park are models from the FCA group of brands. Signor Hardouin explains that only FCA built cars can park out the front. If you turn up in a ‘foreign’ car you have to park it out of sight round the back which is exactly what a German TV crew had to do recently with their Audis.
Signor Hardouin then leads us into the New Holland (an FCA Brand) Tractor Administration Headquarters, past the 702 model tractor displayed to the left, and an enormous New Holland tractor on display to the right, then it is up the stairs and into the buzzing staff canteen.
Now I am not sure about your staff canteen but mine does a good line in chips and burgers, but this being Italy, it is all salads and good healthy food. My wife goes for the roasted aubergine salad and I go with the Bresaola salad. Once we have eaten it is time to recycle the plates and cutlery which would seem to be voluntary but everybody does it.
Coffee? Of course, this is Italy, none of your vending machine rubbish! It is over to the coffee bar which has at least four giant espresso machines, and probably a dozen staff making and serving the dark and delicious brew. The factory eatery was indeed worth the effort of getting past security!
Suitably fed and watered, we make our way outside ready for our afternoon appointment, of which more next week. In the mean time I hope you will enjoy part two of our visit to Centro Storico.
Address: Via Gabriele Chiabrera, 20, 10126 Torino TO, Italy
Opened: 1963 Admission is FREE
Hours:
Closed ? Opens 10AM Sun
Phone: +39 011 006 6240
Province: Metropolitan City of Turin
WEBSITE
A masterpiece from Dante Giacosa the first 500 (better known as the Topolino) rolled off the production line at Lingotto in 1936, the world’s smallest mass-produced car that had a great deal of charm. The first examples were powered by 569cc engine and could carry two people at speeds of up to 100 kph for less than 10000 Lire. It remained in production until 1948 after approximately 122,000 were built.
More beautiful posters.
Designed by Dante Giacosa at the end of WW2, the aerodynamic and mechanically sophisticated 1100 S proved to be very successful in competition. At the 1947 Millie Miglia four 1100S finished in the top ten: Capelli – Gerli fifth, Della Chiese – Brandoli sixth, Pasqualino Ermini seventh, and Balestrero – Bracco ninth. With an output of 51 bhp from the 1098cc four-cylinder engine and weighing only 835 kg the 1100S had a top speed of 150 kph. 401 examples were built between 1947 and 1950. Alas very few remain.
Launched at the 1950 Geneva show and nicknamed the 50th Anniversary Fiat, the 1400 was the first initially new model built after WW2, not just in style but also mechanically. It was refined and finished to a high standard, and lavishly equipped for the time with full heating and ventilation and even a radio and a cigar lighter.
Of only 114 examples built, this 1954 8V was specially designed by the Fiat engineering department for display the 1954 Turin Motor show. The steel plate frame was clothed with a resin impregnated plastic body with a thickness of only 3mm and weighed less than 50 kgs.
A rare shot of a close to original Fiat 8V interior.
Launched at the 1953 Paris Motor show, the 1100 TV (Turismo Veloce) and convertible version followed, and was first displayed at the 1955 Geneva Motor show. The 1089cc four-cylinder engine produced 14 bhp more than normal, giving the TV a top speed advantage of 20 kph over the standard model. In total, 571 convertible versions were built.
Improved versions of the Cabriolet were introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor show. The 1200cc model was dropped and replaced by the 1500 model shown here, which used the same engine as the 1500 saloon. If, however, you wanted more power the you could order the 90 bhp twin-cam OSCA powered example.
You might have some of the small versions, the Museum has the real thing.
The 600 was Giacosa’s older and bigger brother to the 500. Launched at the Geneva motor show in 1955, the 633cc four cylinder 600 was, by 1961, being produced at the Mirafiori plant to the tune of 1000 cars a day.
The 600 wooden buck.
Probably Giacosa’s most famous design, this Nuovo 500, chassis number 1500 with a retractable roof, dates from 1957 and is one of the first examples built. When first launched, the Nuovo 500 met with a lukewarm reception, but later on went on to be hugely successful with over 3.6 million being produced.
500 wooden buck and Giacosa in the background.
The 2300S was designed by Sergio Sartorelli with a small amount of input by Tom Tjaarda and first displayed by Ghia at the 1960 Turin Motor Show. Ghia told Fiat that they were going to start producing them, to which Fiat said ‘no you are not, we are!’ In the end Fiat supplied Ghia with the floor pan and some other pressings where upon Ghia fitted the bodies at the OSI plant.
At about the time that Fiat launched the 124 saloon (March 1966) Fiat also signed an agreement with the Russian government for the construction of the new automobile plant in Togliattigrad. The Ziguli, based on the 124, was produced at the plant and went on to become one of the most popular autos available in the USSR.
Production line for the 1100.
Fiat Dino. From the days when you could walk into your local Fiat dealer to buy a 500 but come out owning a Dino Coupe. Those were the days! I am told the photo of Gianni Agnelli in the background is very unusual as it is one of very few photos of him actually driving.
Built by Pininfarina as a gift to Giovanni Agnelli, the Eden Roc 2 beach car was constructed around a 2004 Fiat Multipla.
Fiat entered the railway business in 1917 when it acquired Diatto. The locomotive on display is known as a Littorina. Italian state railways entrusted Fiat to design, test and produce, a light gas/diesel locomotive. It was built around a skeletal steel frame clad in a light alloy skin, a technology derived from the aviation industry. Aerodynamic in design, measuring 14.8 metres in length, it was able to carry 48 passengers at speeds of up to 110 kph with a range of approximately 600 kms. One example travelled from Turin to Moscow, Leningrad, the Caucuses, the Black Sea, Moscow and back to Turin a distance of 2625 km in 35 hours, a journey that would have previously taken over 60 hours. Examples were also exported to Bulgaria, Spain and Brazil.
Hi Pete,
Great article!
There is a common geographical misspelling to correct in the last paragraph,
The Caucasus (not Caucuses) are the mountains situated left of the Black Sea. In America we have the Iowa Caucuses, the early electoral system…so a lot of people fall for it.
Another geographical name common mistake we see sometimes is Cyprus, the island in the eastern mediterranean wrongly spelled Cypress, like a cypress tree.
Best Regards,
Marc
The Caucasus is left of the Caspian Sea,
Right of the Black Sea…
Marc,
I just learned more about proper English spelling from your reply, then all the time I spent in Sister Cabrini’s class…Thanks
Belissimo reortage dal museo di Torino.
Come sempre ci scappa la foto inedita (almeno per me).
Mi riferisco alle maquette in legno della 500 e 600 e alla
Multipla spiaggina dell’avvocato.
Gianni Petta
Hi pete.
Reading your e-mail dated January 24, I understood that the translation changed the meaning of the words.
Apologizing for the inconvenience, I propose it already translated.
Beautiful report from the Turin Auto Museum.
interesting photos, unknown to me, of the wooden maquettes of Fiat 500 and 600 and of the Fiat Multipla from the beach.
Gianni Petta
The Fiat 8V did not have a fiberglass body when they were in ‘production’. My friend owned one when we were in school together and I rode in it a lot and drove it once. The body was very thin steel.
I believe Fred Puhn is correct. According to anything I can find including the huge two volume”Otto Vu” books, none of the 8V cars, including the Siata variants, were fiberglass.
The caption specifically stated that the fiberglas body was the only one made…
“Of only 114 examples built, this 1954 8V was specially designed by the Fiat engineering department for display the 1954 Turin Motor show. The steel plate frame was clothed with a resin impregnated plastic body with a thickness of only 3mm and weighed less than 50 kgs.”
Editor
“One example travelled from Turin to Moscow, Leningrad, the Caucuses, the Black Sea, Moscow and back to Turin a distance of 12000 kms in 35 hours, a journey that would have previously taken over 60 hours.”
I believe the 12000 kms but hardly the 35 hours. Recalculate!
We’ll double check the figures as written on the museum plaque….we have already found a few to be in error.
Editor
We found the error and corrected it…2625 km. Thanks!
Editor
It looks as if the Lancia C. collection of cars has found a home at last – is this true?
Yes!