Friday May 19, 2023
We get to sleep in a bit as our first stop today does not open until 1000. Carol makes us a nice breakfast with a cup of the Lavazza coffee she bought at their museum and factory. Knowing we only had one sight planned today, we seem to move a bit slower this morning. We get to try the metro today instead of the trams and buses we have been using. We find our way to the right train and get off at the right stop where my hand drawn map takes over for the .6 mile walk to the museum.
We are visiting the Museo Nazionale dell Automobile. The T in Fiat was for Turin as this is where they were made and I will have more on that later. We get to the museum and get in line for our tickets. The admission price is 15 Euros but we get in by using our Torino Cards. The museum has over 200 cars from 80 different manufacturers. We are not the biggest auto enthusiasts but do like looking at older models and the history of things. The first cars we see in the lobby are a small pink Fiat for Carol and a shiny red one for me. We put a deposit down and they should be waiting for us when we return to St George. That would be cool but no.
In the museum proper, they start out with a carriage car from 1865 and a bullet looking electric motor racing vehicle from 1899 called a Contente. It had a top speed of about 61 miles per hour. Like sitting on top of a rocket ship with no windshield, they probably had lots of bug protein in their journey. We are early in our visit and already impressed. The cars are displayed in a historical date manner and signs are in Italian and English with a short concise history and vehicle facts. Very well done.
The first Fiat was produced in 1899 and of course it is on display. In 1907, the Pope Waverly showed up in America betting on electric motor. We all know where that went. We move on into the early 1900s to 1930s where the luxury automobile hits the scene. They have a SIlver Ghost Rolls Royce that could spoil the aristocrats of the world. There is a Lancia Lambda from 1930 which says it is the final series of the car that changed the automotive world. I do not know this car or the history behind it so it might be homework at a later date. Mercedes Benz hits the road in 1936.
A Fiat Multipla from 1956 could be where the idea for the Volkswagen Bus came from or maybe vice versa. Moving on some American cars are displayed along with some flashy grill fronts that were popular. The Cadillac is on the scene, slightly bigger than your average Fiat. They have a Jaguar with a cute blonde model. There is a display on advertising on record albums and ads. One German one has bare breasted women in a car and a warning label which says not for prudes. Sex sells. There is a Rolls Royce on a cover for a British Band called Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends. The lineup is very interesting with Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and Jeff Beck among the band members. Quite a power trio there.
Carol takes a picture of me in my part time job here driving the kids to school on the bus. There are some Ferraris (we are in Italy) and a 2 cylinder East German Trabant. Alfa Romeos, Model T’s, my favorite 1957 Chevy Corvette with the wingtip doors and many more. Near the end, they have a display on racing history with early to modern race cars and displays on some of the most famous drivers. Once again, we are in Italy so of course Mario Andretti get some press here. We can both honestly say that if you like cars, this would be a must see museum. And if you don’t like cars but like the history of things, it would be a must see museum. If you don’t like either, it is probably still worth seeing, you may get surprised. Here is your car trivia question. What does the name Volkswagen mean?
When we leave, I had read about a small museum in the old Fiat factory nearby. It is near the metro station so we go to look for it and after a bit of confusion find it. It is connected to a mall that I think was converted from a larger part of the factory. It has a very small art museum which we breeze through but that is not the interesting thing here. They have preserved the rooftop test track where they would test drive their vehicles. It is crazy to imagine speeding around the high curved track 6 stories above the ground. If you made a mistake or had a problem here, it could have been the first flying car. Very cool to see and they have turned the whole track into a walking path with artwork along the way. Unfortunately it is raining pretty hard so we do not get to walk it. On the way to the Metro, we stop in the mall for a couple of very good slices of pizza. We also go for one last gelato after our train ride, at the natural gelato stand oh so good.
This was pretty much the end of our touring in Torino. We really enjoyed this city, walking its streets and learning the history here. It does not have a large city feel and the vibe and people is friendly. We are glad we took a week here not only to slow our pace of our trip a bit but to enjoy the major sights without running like crazy. Tonight, we eat in. I pick up some pizza from Pizzium, which is the chain we discovered in Parma and they make great pizza. We finish off a bottle of red so we do not have to carry it and relax until bed. Moving on tomorrow.
Expenses Transport Card 8E Pizza Lunch Roma Antica (mall) 7.19E Gelato 4E Wine 3.99E Pizzium Dinner Umbria and Piemonte 25E Golden Eagle Apartment 106.60E Walked 5.5 Miles
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