BERTONE collection in Volandia

Henk Martens

True Classic
Ciao amici,

June 2017 the Bertone collection was moved from Caprie near Turin to Volandia near Malpensa/Milano. 5 X 1/9 are still in te collection and next spring I will visit the museum.....a great opportunity. Even better, there is also an original ALCAN aluminium SUPERLIGHT in the museum !








saluti,

Henk Martens
 
Hi Henk,

many thanks for the tip. I was lucky enough to visit while returning from Italy on Tuesday! Due to the number of photos I took and the limitations of how many photos can be incorporated into a thread, I created a Wiki page dedicated to the visit:

https://xwebforums.com/wiki/index.php/Volandia

Volandia is a museum situated right next to Malpensa airport (the new Milan airport). It now hosts the Bertone Collection which used to reside in the buildings of the former Bertone Style Center in Turin. Apparently, all 79 cars should have been transferred but as far as I could tell, some were missing (e.g. the Runabout prototype). In any case, I visited on January
2nd 2018 and the exposition doesn't officially open until March.

The museum is housed in an old air base and is quite atmospheric. It is a bit quirky (in a good way) and makes a nice change from the rather too refined BMW and Mercedes museums that we have here in Germany (more like the old Porche museum at the factory in Stuttgart).

Some of the photos are not as clear as they otherwise could have been as the lighting was poor and I only had my iPhone SE with me at the time (the visit was by chance after the tip-off from Henk).

Here are some teaser photos though (for the complete photos, refer to the wiki page above).

Overview of the X1/9 Collection

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X1/9 Superlight (Aluminium version from Alcan)

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After noticing that the bonnet and boot lids were unlatched, I was able to sneak a couple of naughty photos of the insides of these compartments ;). I can certainly confirm after lifting the front bonnet that it would be fantastic to have an aluminium bonnet on our cars: it is feather light but rigid at the same time.

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Here is a photo of the rear boot (also unpainted, but who needs paint on aluminium? ;)).
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Fiat X1/9 Passo Lungo

What became clear after inspecting this car is that it was never intended to be a practical solution. The back seats are really not usable at all (unlike other 2+2s like a 308 GT4 or Alfa Romeo Giulia Coupe). Also, as other's have pointed out, the roof wouldn't fit in the front boot when removed. Nevertheless, the car exists and appears driveable.

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Fiat X1/10

This car is just a Fibreglass model. hWat is interesting is that it was made as early as 1980 (so not very long after the introduction of the series 2 X1/9). That said, I for one am glad that it didn't go into production. It simply looks too much like a Nissan EXA ;).

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Fiat X1/9 Spider

This car looked better in the flesh than in photos. Unfortunately, it had quite a few dings (especially in the rear boot). The X1/9 in the collection haven't been immaculately looked after. The white one still had bird poo on the bonnet and the blue one looked like it hadn't been washed. But then again, it adds to the charm of the exhibition. Better this than the sleek but impersonal feel of the Mercedes museum.

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1300 X1/9

The interesting things about this car (besides the fact that it was the only 1300 in the collection) were:
  • 1977 Model with "Special Series" front rubber bumpers
  • Bertone badge but in smaller (Fiat) shape
  • Seats from later 5 Speed car (in blue vinyl)
  • Later style rear vision mirror (mounted through glass in quarter window) but only on driver's side
  • Cromodora CD 58 wheels but with black hubcaps
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A white late model (US version) X1/9. Totally unremarkable apart from the fact that my daughter insisted that her dog appear in the photo!

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Ferrari Rainbow

Again, better in the flesh than in photos. Also, it is much smaller than I would have thought (not that much bigger than an X1/9). You can see the styling queues at the front that lead to the evolution of the "elephant's ears" on the Series 2 (1500) X1/9s (2nd photo).

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Other Cars

There were plenty of other nice cars, including a Fiat 128 prototype (very nice), Lancias, a prototype of an Alfa GT convertible (not very pretty) and some interesting BMW and Jaguar prototypes. There were several Bertone designed Volvos for Hussein as well ;-)

The museum also housed many non-Bertone cars in other exhibits (some nice Citroëns including a Traction Avant).

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Cool!! I wish the aluminum one was empty so you could lift the car to feel the weight savings. like the pic with the girls holding it up.

Odie
 
Did anyone else notice the rarest or rare?




Not a single Elvis lip on any of the bumpers! Hell, thats worth the to see, rite there!
 
Hello Dominic,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MY FRIEND, you made us all so happy, just great
These are unique pictures ......graziemille

saluti,

Henk Martens
 
Hello Dom,

Wow!! Many thanks for posting this report and creating a wiki page with extra pix.

Now I have one more job for you! :) Since you personally took the pix at the museum you are considered the author and copyright holder of them for Wikipedia purposes. Could you add at least one pic of the 2+1 car, and at least 2-3 pix of the Superlight car, to the actual FIAT X1/9 Wikipedia.org page? A while back, I created a section towards the bottom called "concept cars and prototypes" and added short write-ups of the 2+1 car and the ALCAN cars. Despite there being pix available of both floating around on the internet, Wikipedia will not allow them because their copyright cannot be established. As the picture taker, you can release the copyright to the public and therefore the pics can be added to Wikipedia. If you look at the pic of the blue 1986 US Market car attached to the article, you will see that it is my car.
 
Hello Dom,

Wow!! Many thanks for posting this report and creating a wiki page with extra pix.

Now I have one more job for you! :) Since you personally took the pix at the museum you are considered the author and copyright holder of them for Wikipedia purposes. Could you add at least one pic of the 2+1 car, and at least 2-3 pix of the Superlight car, to the actual FIAT X1/9 Wikipedia.org page? A while back, I created a section towards the bottom called "concept cars and prototypes" and added short write-ups of the 2+1 car and the ALCAN cars. Despite there being pix available of both floating around on the internet, Wikipedia will not allow them because their copyright cannot be established. As the picture taker, you can release the copyright to the public and therefore the pics can be added to Wikipedia. If you look at the pic of the blue 1986 US Market car attached to the article, you will see that it is my car.

Hey Dan. Sure thing, I'll do that tonight. I plan to return in to the museum Summer with my Canon EOS so I should be able to update them at that point with higher quality variants.

Cheers,
Dom.
 
Love the pics! I’ll have to go there someday.

That white car is not a US version but a later Euro version. You can tell my the front turn signals (different shape and half white/amber) and also the front side markers are black plastic with turn indicators (repeaters) instead of just lit reflectors.
 
Love the pics! I’ll have to go there someday.

That white car is not a US version but a later Euro version. You can tell my the front turn signals (different shape and half white/amber) and also the front side markers are black plastic with turn indicators (repeaters) instead of just lit reflectors.

Good point. That is yet another error in their fact sheet displayed with the car (along with the year):

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Excellent, thanks Dom. It's on my bucket list to see all of the European automotive museums some day.
 
Hah. Wow yeah. Year of Construction 1972? Maybe 1982. haha. 138AS? Shouldn’t that be 128AS?
 
Thanks for making the pics available. Really nice to see all those cars, even in their less than resplendent glory.

Karl
 
The serial number shown in the photo of ZBB128AS007 166000

the front part of that Vin was probably just left off as it was passed on.
Last 6 digits are the "important" production sequence number.
Correct Vin is probably something like this:
ZBBBS00A9K7 166000
Probably assembled in 5/1988.
Last known assembled X1/9 is Vin 166043.
During the Bertone bankruptcy auction it was listed as a 1992.
 
GREAT pics, Dom!! That place certainly deserves a must-see on my "old fart's" bucket list!!

chees, IanL - NZ
 
Wow, I was under the impression all these cars were individually auctioned off when the Bertone museum closed.
 
I seem to remember just the marquis prototypes were auctioned off back then (Stratos Zero, Bravo, Marzal, Sibilo).
 
Hi everyone. I'm headed to Italy for a few weeks later this year. Does anyone know if this collection is still in existence and, if so, where it is at? I've been reading and finding mixed answers on what's available with regards to a Bertone museum/collection as well as a Fiat museum. I'm trying to plan my trip and wanted to see this collection if at all possible or at the very least, a Fiat museum.
 
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