Visit to Turin , Farina and Auto museums ,Italian Job .

[maxdog]

Hi
Just back from Italy where I visited the Pinin Farina museum in the suburbs of Turin .
Farina has a design studio , prototype fabrication shop and a facility for producing small runs of up to 15 cars .
All of which were firmly off limits to visitors !
There is also a small museum containing a collection of their most memorable designs and lots of associated memorabilia .
Tucked between the Ferraris , Lancias etc was a a racing green Fiat 124S , identical to my car ! I showed pictures of my car , the Farina people were surprised there were 124 S enthusiasts still driving their cars in North America .
I also visited the new Automobile Museum in Turin ,a huge new not very pretty building at the end of the Metro line .
It has a major collection fantastic of cars and makes a determined attempt to put automobiles into some sort of historical perspective .
Unfortunately the signage at the beginning of the exhibition is confusing , you can easily go the wrong way . The staging of the cars relies on pools of " dramatic lighting " leaving the visitor to wander around in darkness between exhibits . It's difficult to see ,much less photograph , many of the cars .
For enthusiasts of the original "Italian Job " the strange building which the Minis drove onto the point the roof pursued by the cops lies abandoned at the side of a new freeway . It was an aircraft museum back then. The old FIAT plant has been converted into a " shopping destination " , but you can still visit the roof top test track with its steeply banked turns .It makes you appreciate the skill of the stunt drivers and the camera men .
Cheers
Maxdog

[Jon124]

Did you also visit the fiat historical museum in Turin? I went on a trip this spring and visited this and the Italian auto museum in Turin. I also stayed at the hotel in the old fiat factory. I enjoyed both museums but was disappointed neither had a 124 Spider.

[maxdog]

I missed the FIAT museum , which was not far from my hotel . It had strange opening days and times which didn't fit with my schedule .
maxdog

[bobplyler]

I went to the Alfa-Romeo museum in Milan last year. And 2 years earlier, went to the Ferrari museum in Maranello.

I actually liked the Alfa mesuem better, because it had a much greater selection of cars, from touring cars to small cars, to a Tipo 33 Stradale.