Year: 2016

Fiat “125 Samantha”, Vignale, 1968 The Fiat 125 Vignale “Samantha” was made by Vignale on the Fiat 125 frame and unveiled at the 1967 Turin Car Show. It’s a four-seater coupé with pop-up headlights and despite it didn’t arouse a huge admiration, it went into production. The 1608cm3 Lampredi twincam engine came straight from the...

Porsche “911 T”, 1969 Born as the replacement for the 356, the Porsche 911 is one the most-known sports car ever. Its design, drawn by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, will remain unaffected for decades, from 1964 to 1989 with the 964 series. The car in the Museo is a 1969 911, year when the flat-6 engine...

Maserati “3500 GT coupé”, Touring, 1958 The first series Maserati Gran Turismo, the A6 1500, was presented in 1947, after that the company,  purchased in 1937 by Cav. Adolfo Orsi, had already moved to Modena. In the mid-1950s, Omer Orsi realized that the market was ready to welcome a luxury grand tourer in line with...

Maserati “Mistral 4.0 coupè”, Frua, 1968 Following the commercial success of the 3500 GT Touring, Maserati launched a new 2-seater coupé at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. Designed by Frua, the new Mistral anticipated some styling innovations like the hatchback or the integrated front bumper with the front grille inside, that will be adopted by...

Lancia “2000 i.e. Berlina “, 1972 The Lancia 2000 was born to replace the missing spot left by the Flaminia in 1970. Lancia needed a new flagship model and by substantially modifying the Flavia berlina, the 2000 Berlina saw the light. Powered by the Flavia’s flat-4 engine, the 2000 will be the first Italian car (and one...

Lancia “Ardea I° Serie”, 1941 The Lancia Ardea stemmed from the need for a smaller and cheaper alternative to the Aprilia. The result was a 9/10 scale model of the big sister, with the same design, very streamlined for the time, but also the same technical solutions, mantaining the typical Lancia’s class and refinement intact. The Ardea was...

Lamborghini “Espada 400 GT coupé”, Bertone, 1969 Presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1968, it was Lamborghini’s first four-seater. It aroused much interest because of its highly innovative and aerodynamic lines, designed by Marcello Gandini for Bertone. It was the answer to the gran turismo coupés already on the market, such as Maserati’s...

Fiat  “18 P”, army truck, 1914 The Fiat 18 is a military truck made by Fiat Veicoli Industriali, used by the Royal Italian Army during WWI. Together with the lighter 15, the 18 will be the protagonist of motorizing our army forces and built in the BL, BLR, DC and P (pesante – heavy) versions....

Fiat “ 500 Topolino, tipo C, trasformabile”, 1953 This Fiat Topolino 500 C, is the last in the series, produced from 1949 and presented at the Geneva Motor Show of the same year. Compared to the 1947 Fiat 500 Topolino type A exhibited at the Museo Nicolis, the bodywork is more modern: headlights recessed in...

BMW Isetta 300, 1957 The Isetta was introduced in 1953 by Iso Automotoveicoli Spa, a company founded in 1939 with the name Isothermos for the production of heaters and refrigerators. After the war, Iso started manufacturing motorcycles and scooters and later, in the ‘60s, fast GT cars powered by big American V8 engines. In Italy,...

Lancia Aurelia B20 GT 2500, Pininfarina, 1957 Presented at the 1951 Turin Motor Show, the Aurelia B20 was produced by Lancia in 6 series until 1958, and was undoubtedly one of the most popular and best-known Italian grand tourers in the world, not least for having inaugurated the successful 2+2 formula (2 plus 2 seats)...

NSU “RO 80″, 1971 The NSU (Neckarsulmer Strickmaschinen Union) was founded in 1873 to produce knitting machines. In 1880 it began to produce bicycles and, by the end of the century, it was producing motorcycles. It began to make cars in 1905 but production was interrupted in 1928 when the Hellsbronn factory was sold to...