At The Foot Of The Alps

 

Allan’s strict new training regime seemed to be paying dividends

It has been a bit quiet at DDC HQ of late. I have been on manoeuvres with The Special Correspondent and the shadowy figure just known as “The Captain”. We have been exploring Italy, from Torino to Bologna, much more on that later.

In the meantime here are some snapshots from the Grand Tour.

The Bologna Motor Show is on this week, so we popped by to discover much to interest. Audi had one of their Le Mans-winning R18 on display, one of many race cars to admire.

I said “Blow the bloody doors off”…………

What do you with a redundant car factory……….bulldoze it and build something glass and chrome? Or preserve the famous structure and recycle the whole sheebang? The latter would seem to be the best answer, at least from the evidence of the project to rescue the Lingotto factory.  The former home of FIAT, is now a shopping centre, with hotels, art galleries etc. The famous rooftop test track is still there and we were lucky enough to be allowed a visit.

First Time For Everything

As if that was not enough automotive goodness, just down the strada was the freshly opened Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, celebrating the fantastic contribution of Italy to motoring. A must visit place.

Ciao.

John Brooks, December 2011

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.