Text and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Captions by Martini PR and staff
It was always the stripes that caused me problems.
As a child, like most children I would spend hours putting the car kits together, even more hours painting the bodywork, usually using an aerosol paint which made the house stink. Then it came to the Martini stripes. Even though they came as decals there was always one set of stripes that would not sit right on the bodywork no matter how many times you lifted them off and put them back on again. But the picture on the box looked so neat one had to get it right.
I had forgotten how cool they looked until I had made my way through the turnstile entrance of the Museo dell’ Automobile in Turin. Right in front of me was the Martini Racing-striped Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Turbo of 1981- oh those stripes. With the car parked next to a blue lit Christmas tree I wanted to dig out my model making box again and have another go at those stripes.
The reason the Monte Carlo was sitting in the middle of the Museum’s main atrium was because of an exhibition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Martini & Rossi Brand and 45 years of Martini Racing. (Exhibit closes January 26th). The cars on display covered the entire history of Martini Racing, starting with the Porsche 917, winner of the 1970 Le Mans 24 hour race,to the 1973 Targa Florio-winning 911 RS, right up to the current Porsche 918 Hybrid race car of 2014.
It was however the Italian cars that drew most of my attention. From the Lancia stable came the previously mentioned Beta Monte Carlo, a couple of 037s, the LC1 and LC2 Endurance racers, various Deltas including the S4, and the totally bonkers 600 bhp ECV 2 which had group B not been banned would have made for one almighty spectacle .
From F1 there was the Pederzani brothers Flat 12 Tecno, a couple of Brabhams, and a Lotus 80. From the Touring car class, there was an Alfa 155 GTA DTM and from the world of modern rallying, a Ford Focus WRC. All the cars were displayed individually on revolving turntables and all beautifully lit. It was not just cars that were on display. The walls were lined with photos and art work which told the story of the teams various endeavors and also of the development of their racing livery. At various points around the display one could watch period films of the cars at work.
All in all, a superb display and done with Italian flair. The Museo dell’ Automobile is a total redefinition of the original Biscaretti, and we’ll have much more on this in VeloceToday in the weeks to come. See the show below.
Len Lichter says
Super thank you Dave !