The most amazing test track in the world is in Italy and belongs to Fiat

The most amazing test track in the world is in Italy and belongs to Fiat. It is located in the Lingotto Building, the former factory of Fiat, and was a clear showcase of innovation, power and even avant-garde design. Due to space constraints, the brand opted to build a vertical factory crowned by an oval test track of 2.4 km. In 1915, the General Manager of Fiat commissioned the construction from engineer Giacomo Mattè-Trucco.

The building had to house the production line, offices, meeting rooms and a small test track for testing the cars once built. The building was located on Via Nizza in Turin and was limited by space and by the terrain. The Fiat factory had five floors and a rooftop test track 24 metres wide with two banked 180º curves. The structure was made of reinforced concrete and featured a spiral ramp rising to the roof, which provided enormous flexibility and the ability to adapt to the needs of the production line.

This is the most amazing test track in the world

Its construction using prefabricated pre-stressed concrete modules placed one after another made the Lingotto one of the most avant-garde buildings of its time. The works were completed in 1923, and Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy, attended the inauguration. During its active years, the Lingotto housed the manufacture of more than 80 different models of the Fiat group and appeared in films as legendary for car lovers as The Italian Job from 1969. Another curious fact is that a Fiat Turbina once drove at over 250 km/h on its track.

https://youtu.be/IrNCGdtdIRc

By 1939 the Lingotto had become too small, and a large part of the Italian brand’s production was moved to the Mirafiori factory. The factory closed in 1982, and in 1989 it reopened as an urban space open to the public, housing exhibition halls, concerts, shops, cinemas and the headquarters of the Automotive Engineering department of the Polytechnic University of Turin. Today, the oval track can be visited but not driven on. That said, you can enjoy a night at the NH Torino Lingotto Congress Hotel and imagine you are resting in the very place where the Fiat Topolino was assembled.

In 1992, the Fiat Lingotto hosted the legendary Turin Motor Show.