27.06.2024
The new ACI and ACI Storico exhibition space inaugurated in the Caracciolo Gallery in via Marsala, in the heart of the capital
from left – Gerardo Capozza (ACI General Secretary), Angelo Sticchi Damiani (ACI President), Giuseppina Fusco (ACI Vice President), Massimo Ruffilli (ACI Vice President).
“We open an emotional space dedicated to beautiful things, where the history and passion of the car come together in the shapes of four cars that represent the cardinal points of the Italian motoring tradition”. This was declared by the President of the Automobile Club of Italy and of ACI Storico, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, cutting the ribbon of the MAUTO – National Automobile Museum’s vintage car exhibition, at the new ACI – ACI Storico exhibition space in Galleria Caracciolo in via Marsala in Rome, right under the national headquarters of the Automobile Club of Italy.
The exhibition represents a tribute to the National Automobile Museum for the 90 years of automotive history spent together with ACI, founding member of the museum.
The first car, in order of age, presented at the exhibition is an Isotta Fraschini Bn 30/40 Hp from 1910, beige in colour: a luxury car with a 4-cylinder engine and 8000 cc displacement, particularly fashionable in the United States.
In a color reminiscent of ACI blue, a 1919 Lancia Kappa stands out, the first model of the Turin company after the First World War, with an engine of almost 5000 cc of displacement and the gearbox moved centrally rather than lateral, as usual at the time.
Then there is a 1922 OM 469 Sport, a sports car that won the Alpine Cup and the Garda and Mugello circuits, with a 1500 cc engine in a sheet metal silhouette. The example on display, in particular, was designed specifically for the first owner, the well-known mechanic Luigi Del Re, precisely to adapt it to competitions, and took part in the 2021 Mille Miglia.
The youngest car on display, at 90 years old, is a 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, with bodywork by the historic Touring workshop, one of Vittorio Jano’s masterpieces at Alfa Romeo and among the most prestigious and advanced cars of the 1930s. In fact, with its 155 hp of power, it was driven by greats of the past such as Nuvolari, Borzacchini and Brivio, winning for several years the Mille Miglia, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix and the Targa Florio .
The vehicles, which arrived in the capital directly from the MAUTO, will remain in the exhibition space of the Automobile Club of Italy in Rome until mid-July.