Mystery Friday Foto #7 Solved: The former FIAT Lingotto Factory in Turin, Italy
Where in the world was this famous factory?
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions
Identify the following;
- The factory and its products
Fiat's Lingotto Factory where FIAT automobiles were manufactured from 1923 to 1982.
- Where in the world is this factory? (Hint: It is NOT the United States)
Turin, Italy which was feature in the 1969 film "The Italian Job". See the below YouTube.
- The very unique feature of the factory
The rooftop test track.
- Link the factory to the Vanderbilt Cup Races
13 FIATs raced in the Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island (1904-1910), second only to the Mercedes racers (17). See images on the right.
Comments (22)
Congrats to Pete Mann, Andrew/Drew, David Miller, John Cunningham, Donald Fischer, Steve Lucas, Alan Sadwin, Andy Lloyd, Duvi, Carl Harbitz-Rasmussen, Mitch Hackett, Mark Schaier,Leonard Marino, Art Kleiner, Al Velocci, Dick Gorman, Paul Lewis Bancel and Robert Laravie for identifying the FIAT factory in Italy.
Kudos to Dick Gorman, Art Kleiner and Robert Laravie for providing extra details on the Lingotto factory.
Enjoy,
Greg O. and Howard Kroplick
Source: Google Earth
1969 Film: The Italian Job. Check out the last scene.
Roadster Life: A Test Track In The Sky: The Story of Fiat's Lingotto Factory
Comments
That is Lingotto, the former Fiat factory in Lingotto Turin Italy. Raw materials would enter on the first floor and exit as fully built cars on the fifth floor where there was a test track on the roof. It was built from 1915-1917. So the Fiat driven by Louis Chevrolet couldn’t have been built there. You can still drive on the roof today.
Fiat’s Lingotto factory in Italy, 1923
The mystery photo is The Fiat’s Lingotto factory in Italy, 1923
This is Fiat’s Lingotto factory in Turin Italy. The rooftop test track is the obvious feature that makes this factory unique. It gives off a “steampunk” inspired design if you ask me. This track was featured in the 1969 movie “The Italian Job,” among many other notable events and incarnations throughout its history.
Fiat Lingotto factory
Turin, Italy
Test track on the roof
Building was finished in 1923, I assume cars from cup races were built here.
Just seen another picture of that it think, Fiat factory in Italy with a test track on the roof.
That’s the FIAT Lingotto in Torino (Turin), Italy where FIAT cars were produced from 1923 until 1982. There is a test track on the roof where cars that had just been assembled could be tested. While many FIATS raced in the early years of the Vanderbilt Cup, after 1923 the only Vanderbilt Cup Race that had a FIAT entered that could have been built at Lingotto was in 1960.
Lingotto Building Turin Italy where Fiats were built.
Cars were built starting at ground level and going to be tested on roof
Building was completed in 1923.
Connection to Vanderbilt cup is hard. Fiat raced at Vanderbilt before building was built. Vincenzo Lancia drove for them in 1905. Lancia made cars and became part of FIAT.
I believe building test track was used in the first version of “The Italian Jib.” I remember it from a movie.
Turin, Fiat
Fiat factory Lingotto building in Via Nizza Turin Italy
This weeks mystery photo relates to last weeks mystery photo, as this is the Lingotto Building in Turin, Italy. Completed in 1923, it was a Fiat factory until 1982. It still houses the Fiat Group administration.
Fiat cars.
Italy
Test track on roof.
Turin,
Italy
The test track on the roof.
The Fiat Lingotto Factory was built in 1916 by architect Giacomo Mattè-Trucco and you may recognise this distinctive Fiat test track on top of the building from a scene in the 1969 film ‘The Italian Job’ with Michael Caine, which was filmed in Turin
The Link could be FIAT factory racer, Teddy Tetzlaff in the 1912 race.
https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/races/story/1912_vanderbilt_cup_race
I believe it’s the FIAT facility in Italy with the test track on the roof.
FIAT factory in Milan with test track on roof…Mystery Photo #7
- Pirelli, Tires
- Italy
- Banked track on roof
- supplied tires?
FIAT - auto manufacturer
Lingotto,Turin - Italy
Auto track on the roof - meant to test FIATS rather than for speed trials
FIAT built many autos driven in numerous Vanderbilt Cup Races.
The factory was heavily damaged during WWll. Now a park.
That is the Fiat automobile factory in Turin Italy. Opened I believe in 1923. Note the roof of the plant is a speedway. Connection to the Vanderbilt Cup Races is that in 1923 it was the site of a Vanderbilt Cup Race, (sort of). It was organized by a mostly unknown relative, Guglielmo del Vandabilta. Don’t recall the winner of the race but the prize was a 32 inch tall sterling silver wine glass.
Mystery Foto #7… The factory in the photo was built by FIAT, construction starting in 1916. And, of course, they built automobiles there from 1923 till 1982.
Today it is a modern complex with concert halls, theater, a convention center, shopping arcades and a hotel. This factory is located in Lingotto, a district of Turin, Italy. The unique feature of the factory is a test track on the roof of the building. In this building when it was a car factory the raw materials arrived on the ground floor of the five floor building and as the assembly process proceeded the vehicles moved up floor by floor and arrived at the top floor test track when completed.
As for its link to The Vanderbilt Cup Races let’s just say that many FIAT built race cars competed in the early Vanderbilt Cup races.
FIAT, autos, Lingotto Italy, test track on roof, 13 fiats competed over the years, 04,05,06, 09. For a while they had a factory in upstate NY, on the Hudson (Credit Hemmings)
From Paul Lewis Bancel:
Lingotto. Now that is cool!
Let’s be reasonable. If it was in the United States it would have potholes and radar traps.
Steven Vilardi- :D, it’s astonishing how a race track on a roof top could be had, but they did it! Amazing
These photos are from the June 2, 2019, Greenwich Concours D’Elegance event in
Greenwich CT.