When planning my side trip from Genoa (my base for the month) to Turin, I knew I wanted to write about the Savoy dynasty that ruled Piedmont-Sardinia and then united Italy from here. (Click here to read that story.) I booked a hotel and found train tickets. And then, realizing I would be arriving just after noon on Friday and not getting to the touristic center until the following morning, I looked for something to do on Friday afternoon.
I was surprised to find out that a mere fifteen or so minute walk from my hotel was the Italian National Automobile Museum, or MAUTO. I am not a “car guy,” and couldn’t even identify pretty much any parts inside of my Toyota Camry, but hey, Italian cars are a big part of culture, and national museums of basically anything tend to be good in this country. So I decided to give it a go. And let me just say: wow!
MAUTO traces the entire history of the automotive industry. And while it focuses – naturally – on Italian car manufacturers, collections include other European brands as well as American. (I don’t believe I saw anything from Asia, although I could be wrong.)
I wandered through the rooms, amazed at all I saw, but wonderedwhy this gem was here and not in Rome or Milan. And then I came across one room, made up of a map on the floor, and it all made sense. It would be impossible to separate out Italian cars from Turin, as this map of the city, which has car factories and dealerships (color coded by year of founding) marked, shows. Most have since closed; some remain. But Turin was – and still is – Italy’s Car City.
In 1899, a new industrialized Italy, emerging from an economic depression, was ready to join the new car industry. Fabricca Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) opened here in Turin (Torino is the city’s name in Italian). By 1906, the city had a whopping 21 auto manufacturers! And even coming out of a stock crash that year, some would remain in business, names like Fiat and Lancia.
Fiat especially would become THE Italian car. From artisans making fewer than five cars per month, by 1908 that number was about five per day. Other companies like Lancia and Itala likewise increased production.
But it was auto sports that really launched Italian brands. One of the cool vehicles on display at MAUTO is a 1907 Itala that won a race from Beijing (Peking at the time) to Paris, driven by an Italian prince. That car recently completed the route again in 2007 to honor its 100th anniversary.
Turin would continue to be the center of the Italian automotive world. The Turin Auto Salon became one of the premier car shows from its founding in 1900 and is still such today, being held in September in 2026. And while some of Turin’s famed auto brands like Itala are no longer in business (that one shuttered in 1934), Fiat and Lancia have been joined by names like Alfa Romeo and Stellantis in headquartering here in the city.
MAUTO’s exhibit route begins with the automobile as a concept, with a Da Vinci model joined by steam powered tricycles and a currently-being-restored 1854 steam carriage. (Yes, that carriage was designed and built here in Turin.) And then things get wild, with some of the most pristine examples of the earliest Italian cars to be found anywhere.
From that 1899 Fiat 3.5 HP pictured above, by 1901 the new brand was putting a whopping 8 horsepower into its car.
Other companies focused a bit more on power, with the Isotta Fraschini 1909 edition achieving 30 HP, allowing a maximum speed of roughly 40 mph. (Coincidentally, this version of that car on display was owned by the first Italian woman to get a drivers license. The license is also on exhibit here.)
Cars would get larger as the century progressed, and power and speed would likewise increase. This 1948 Lancia could reach nearly 70 miles per hour.
1936 was a big year for Fiat, with the first Fiat 500 entering service. The car, made through the 1950s, would become emblematic of the European practical car: small, with not much power and few frills, but reliable and cost-effective.
Lest one think that only personal vehicles are on display here at Turin’s MAUTO, that other local brand, Alfa Romeo, has quite a representation of fascinating sports cars from the literal sports sense. While some could be owned and driven by anyone, many at least originated as race cars. This one from 1952 is quite a looker, although it doesn’t seem practical as an everyday driver.
One brand seems to define Italian sports cars better than any other: Ferrari. Launched in 1929 as a racing team, the company (a part of Fiat until 2016) has been manufacturing the highest end Italian personal sports cars since 1947. A current exhibition at MAUTO explored the most recent decades of the company’s offerings, ranging from pure race cars to a crossover utility vehicle.
If you enjoy race cars, though, the highlight of MAUTO will be a long hall with the history of Italian race cars lined up as if to race, and some famous ones (like one driven by Michael Schumacher) along one wall.
Car enthusiasts will also enjoy an exhibition of concept cars, ranging from the solar powered Phoenix II to a modern carbon fiber beauty embedded with Swarovski crystals.
It is a dizzying collection, one that even those coming in with little knowledge of cars can’t help but to appreciate. And with signage being in both Italian and English, it is easy to spend several hours reading all of the fascinating tidbits on each vehicle, engine, or art display.
Writing about cars is not something I ever intended to do. Even after deciding to visit Turin’s MAUTO, I didn’t think it would lead to an article. But between the cultural value of the Italian manufacturers to the history – and modern reality – of cars, and that industry’s historic and current ties to Turin, my mind was changed. This is a stunning museum, one worth targeting as the centerpiece of a visit to what is a fascinating city.
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