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
X1/9 Superlight (Aluminium version from Alcan)
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.
Here is a photo of the rear boot (also unpainted, but who needs paint on aluminium?
).
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.
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
.
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.
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
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!
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).
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).