MAUTO
The Museum
A collection of cars unique in the world, enhanced by the spectacular scenic contextualization created by François Confino: MAUTO is a fascinating journey through history, which tells how the car has influenced trends, culture, scientific research and technological achievements in a constant innovative momentum.
- The History
The National Automobile Museum is among the oldest of its kind: it was founded in 1933, with a first exhibition of vintage cars designed by two pioneers of national motoring, Cesare Goria Gatti and Roberto Biscaretti di Ruffia. It was Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia (son of Roberto), a Turin aristocrat born in 1879, who conceived it, planned it, gathered its initial collection, fought to bring it to life and worked all his life to give it a dignified home.
Opened to the public in the autumn of 1960 in the building designed by architect Amedeo Albertini, it was completely renovated and expanded on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy by architect Cino Zucchi. In 2011, MAUTO reopened, after four years of closure, with the new set up designed by the Franco-Swiss set designer François Confino, which effectively enhances the extraordinary collection of cars: two years later the Times listed it among the 50 most beautiful museums in the world.
- TIMELINE
Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile was established in 1933 with the first exhibition of historic cars curated by Carlo Biscaretti
1933
Birth of the Museum
On 19 July 1933, a resolution of the City of Turin sanctioned the establishment of the “Automobile Museum”, to which the head of government Mussolini attributed the title of National. Carlo Biscaretti was appointed as authorizing officer, having already distinguished himself in the organization of the retrospective dedicated to vintage vehicles created in 1933 for the Milan Motor Show.
The Museum was set up in the “temporary” headquarters of the Municipal Stadium, in the rooms under the stands, and opened to the public in 1939. The visit cost 1 lira, as did the entrance to the stadium – and the collection consisted of 181 pieces dated between 1854 and 1939 (of which only 73 were on display, due to lack of space), of which 55 cars, 62 engines, 30 frames. Yet, Biscaretti was not satisfied: the museum was open to the public, but only for five months a year, due to the cold, and the spaces were not adequate.
Meanwhile, the war was coming: the problem of how to preserve the collection remained on Biscaretti’s shoulders and the problem of a proper venue was postponed to better times.
1960
The new venue
Finally, in 1955, Mayor Amedeo Peyron and the city council identified the land where the Museum would have been built, along the current Corso Unità d’Italia, on the left bank of the Po River, which the City granted on loan: the construction of the Museum was supported primarily with funding from car factories (Alfa Romeo, Autobianchi, Fiat, Lancia, OM, Spa). On 22 February 1957, the Ente Museo was re-established by decree of the President of the Republic, to erect the building to house the collection put together over 25 years by Carlo Biscaretti.
Work began and the project was entrusted to the architect Amedeo Albertini: the construction site was completed in the autumn of 1960 but the inauguration would have to go ahead without its founder who died in 1959. Near the opening, the collection boasted 106 cars from 50 different brands, 26 chassis, 20 engines, as well as motorcycles and velocipedes; with the relationships woven by Biscaretti with car manufacturers and the protagonists of sports car racing, a unique documentary collection also took shape, consisting of books, magazines, photographs, technical drawings, illustrations and graphic works.
2011
A new Museum
In the 2000s, the need for a renovation involved the Museum, as well as the entire city of Turin. The project to design a new building was entrusted to the architect Cino Zucchi and met the needs of new museum criteria, connecting the existing architecture with the new spaces through “a long glass ribbon”, which embraces the architectural structure and its different features with its silk-screened skin.
François Confino created the new exhibition itinerary with an evocative scenography, rich in literary, historical and cinematographic references, and completed the new conception of the Museum by restoring to the object of the collection its dynamism and its automobile soul.
In 2011, after four years of closure, the Museum reopened for the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.
Discover MAUTO's
audioguide
- The Collection
Over 200 original cars from 80 different brands.
Discover the MAUTO collection.
From the steam carriages of the late Nineteenth century to the design masterpieces of the Fifties, from the protagonists of epic races and memorable journeys to the prototypes that have guided the future directions of research. Over 200 original cars from 80 different brands tell the historical evolution of the invention that changed the world.
The oldest nucleus of the collection is linked to the history of the Museum’s founder, Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia who, with enthusiasm and determination, began collecting cars, chassis and engines in 1933. The collection has been enriched over the years to become unique in its kind for the value and variety of the specimens preserved.
The spectacular scenic setting contextualizes each individual car, creating a story that accompanies the visitor to discover historical moments, cultural and social movements, technological achievements and scientific discoveries that the car has crossed and influenced, in a constant thrust of innovation.
- Exhibition itinerary
The exhibition is divided on three floors:
THE MUSEUM
- FLOOR 2
The car and the twentieth century
21 rooms recount the historical evolution of the automobile and its development in relation to the main political, economic, artistic, and social events of the twentieth century.
- FLOOR 1
The car: ingenuity and passion
8 rooms tell the story of the car in relation to the people who conceived it, built it, drove it, or simply loved it.
- GROUND FLOOR
Temporary exhibitions and design
- FLOOR -1
Open Garage
A real vault – which can be visited by reservation – in which about seventy wonderful cars are kept undergoing conservation and restoration.
- RESEARCH
Research
The Documentation Centre preserves the cultural heritage of MAUTO, including monographs, publications and vintage photos: it carries out archiving and research activities together with the Conservation and Restoration Centre, which carries out daily conservation and restoration activities of historic vehicles.
Documentation Centre
Consisting of a Library, Newspaper Library, and Archive, it preserves one of the most important collections of books and documents on the history of motor locomotion in the twentieth century in Europe. The Documentation Centre is a tool for the emergence of content at the service of the Museum’s cultural production and works to support the development of specialist training courses and national and international collaborations.
Conservation and Restoration Center
The Conservation and Restoration Center combines traditional techniques for the restoration of vintage cars with the most advanced methodologies applied to works of art. It carries out and supervises the prevention and conservation operations on the cars in the collection, adhering to the criteria of conservative restoration, to preserve the authenticity of the vehicles.
- Contact us
Contact us for information about your visit
Information and Booking
+39 011 677666
info@museoauto.it
prenotazioni@museoauto.it
Monday to Friday, 9:00 –18:00
