WILD ABOUT RACING: MY LOTUS YEARS WITH CLARK AND CHAPMAN

By Derek Wild 2024 review by James Loveridge Anyone who has followed Grand Prix racing for any length of...

INSIDED OSCA: THE BOLOGNESE MIRACLE THAT AMAZED THE WORLD

By Carlo Cavicchi 2024 review by James Loveridge Despite what its title may suggest, Inside OSCA: The Bolognese Miracle...

Aspects of Motoring History # 20

Published August 2024. 110 pages, 30 black & white illustrations and charts and 51 full-colour images, softbound. Articles: Oliver...

Aspects of Motoring History # 19

Published August 2023. 132 pages, 60 black & white illustrations and charts and 26 full-colour images, softbound. Articles: Paul...

Success again – the Third European Conference at Turin

The third European Conference for Automotive History, organised by Anders Ditlev Clausager of the SAHB and Thomas Ulrich of the German AHG (Automobilhistorische Gesellschaft), with sponsorship from FIVA (Fédération International des Véhicules Anciens), was hosted in the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin, Italy, over the weekend of 15-16 October, with 90 delegates from 20 different countries. There were 18 presentations on a wide range of subjects, including Pietro Frua, the Soviet automobile industry, car manufacture in Denmark, John Tjaarda’s project for a world car, the automobile in poster art, and even the automobile as mechanical mistress.

Delegates were able to join guided “behind the scenes” tours of the museum’s vehicle store and workshop, and the documentation centre. Also during the weekend, delegates enjoyed visits to the Fiat Centro Storico museum in the original Fiat factory in downtown Turin, to the new Stellantis Heritage Hub in a part of the Mirafiori factory with about 200 cars on display – mostly Fiats and Lancias, including many one-offs and prototypes. Many delegates stayed in a hotel in the former Fiat factory at Lingotto, with a Fiat 500 themed café on the top floor adjacent to the original 1920s’ “pista”, the roof top proving track famously used in the film The Italian Job.

The museum in Turin was originally opened in 1960 and was named after its founder, the Italian pioneer motorist, Conte Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, who began collecting historic vehicles in the 1930s. The building is of striking modern design, on a site overlooking the river Po. The museum was extended and re-named in 2011, and now houses some 200 vehicles in 19,000 square metres over three floors.

The first two conferences were held in the Cité de’l’Automobile in Mulhouse, France, in 2016, and in the Louwman Museum in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 2019. The next conference is planned for 2024 and will hopefully be held in Munich in Germany. The FIVA has now become involved as a sponsor, and it is hoped that selected papers from the three conferences held so far will be published with their support.

Photos: (courtesy Nataša Grom Jerina of FIVA)

(1) A group of delegates in front of the entrance to the museum

 

(2) The auditorium during the opening speeches

 

(3) Tour of the museum store and workshop

 

(4) Tour of the documentation and experience centre

 


One response to “Success again – the Third European Conference at Turin”

  1. Roger Beattie says:

    Great to read about the success of the conference, as a regular visitor to Turin I was particularly interested to be involved and enjoyed doing so. No doubt Munich will have as many delights on offer for the next conference in 2024.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *