{"id":10080,"date":"2016-02-09T15:25:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T14:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/museonicolis.com\/?page_id=10080"},"modified":"2025-07-01T14:02:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:02:06","slug":"the-founder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.museonicolis.com\/en\/the-founder\/","title":{"rendered":"The founder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Luciano Nicolis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The museum was his \u201clifelong dream\u201d<\/strong> since, as a boy, he collected paper for recycling by biking around the villages nearby.\"\"
\nLuciano Nicolis<\/strong>, authentic Verona born, made this dream come true in 2000, when he inaugurated \u201chis Museum\u201d which was immediately opened to the public. In the \u201cMuseum of Cars, Technology and Mechanics<\/strong>\u201d he has gathered together unfindable and precious items that his fascination for mechanics led him to seek out all around the world: cars, motorbikes, bicycles and also musical instruments, cameras, typewriters and other items of human genius.
\nHe even managed to transmit the same passion to his family, who have always backed him up and helped him. The museum was his habit and his enjoyment, he wanted it to be spectacular and creative with the collections constantly improved.
\nHe loved acting as guide for the visitors, introducing himself as \u201cI\u2019m the nutcase who did all this\u201d, and he amazed everyone telling the story of each single piece, where it came from, its history and curios. He was enthusiastically walking around \u201chis museum\u201d, bursting with ideas and projects.
\nYet, when someone asked him anything about \u201chis collections, he answered \u201cwe are not the owners of all this, just the safekeepers for the future…\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Watch the Luciano Nicolis’ History \u00a0Video<\/strong><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Luciano Nicolis remembers:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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“Today I remember it with pleasure, but as a child I was ashamed: when I was a teenager, after school I used to cycle to Mantua and collect paper sacks. The war had recently ended, and at 14 I’d pedal off to seek my fortune in the shape of old cement bags, the type builders throw away; I’d collect up to 300, and cycle home sweating kilos. I did well, and my dad was pleased with me. I was captivated and fascinated by mechanics and cars; I wanted to chase my dreams and make them come true. Whenever I saw a car I’d think: one day I’ll have a beautiful car too…. maybe two… or three.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy father Francesco was pleased with me, he believed in me. And so we began our work recovering paper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs a young man, when I bought my first van, I used to play about, put my feet on the steering wheel and look through the other corner of the windscreen, using my hand to accelerate. So anyone coming the other way got a shock, seeing no one driving. I enjoyed messing about like that; these days it would be really dangerous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAnd that’s how it began: my passion came from dismantling car parts to fix the van I had when I first started working. Because of that I started to understand mechanics, and I fell in love with the insides of cars.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Interviews<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Watch the video from the early 80s<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Saro Rolandi<\/strong>, then president of the Veteran Car Club Enrico Bernardi<\/strong>, based in Villafranca, speaks warmly of Luciano Nicolis’ passion for cars. Saro Rolandi was a prominent figure in the emerging field of vintage car collecting; a journalist and historian, he worked on numerous international stories. He is remembered for his deep culture, experience and human gifts.
\n<\/span>Rolandi publicised the story of Enrico Bernardi all over the world, with accurate, well-documented research presented in 1984 at Gran Guardia, Verona. He organised major competitions including the Stallavena-Bosco and the Salita della Torricelle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Telenuovo feature, interview by Danilo Castellarin<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I think it was in 1983, Telenuovo had just been launched and this was my first TV appearance. I was 30. You can see, I had a bit more hair then… Luciano didn’t want to appear in the programme and he sent Saro Rolandi, then president of the club, to answer my questions. We were in Via Genova and we had to go up some steps. Just that and Saro was out of breath; he had heart problems, and he died a few months later in Turin, during a conference on Enrico Bernardi. Obviously even then I was fixated on making the Stallavena-Bosco a major event.\u201d Danilo Castellarin, Verona, 6 March 2018.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Watch the video of the interview with Luciano Nicolis in the 80s.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Following Saro Rolandi’s sudden death, Luciano Nicolis<\/strong> became president of the VCC Enrico Bernardi<\/strong>, based in Villafranca.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In an unpublished interview, he talks about the origins and history of the collection of period cars, which in those days were considered a type of antique.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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