A Test Track In The Sky: The Story Of Fiat's Lingotto Factory

Automobile factories are often impressive, be it for their sheer size or the complex manufacturing processes happening inside them.
But few become true architectural landmarks, and possibly none is more iconic than Fiat's Lingotto in Turin, whose defining feature is a rooftop test track that's been sparking people's imagination for decades.
Here's the story of Fiat's famed Lingotto production plant, about a hundred years from its inauguration and forty since it produced the last vehicle.
Designed by the engineer Giacomo Matté Trucco, the Lingotto was deliberately inspired by Ford's Highland Park plant, and Fiat's not-so-secret aim to streamline production the same way is visually evident in the five-story, over five hundred meters long structure.
The rooftop test track's total length is about 1.5 Km, with the two straightaways connected by two spectacular banked curves designed for speeds of up to 90 Km/h: more than enough for the 1920s, when most cars struggled to go past 70.
But the Lingotto was soon to prove less than ideal for high-volume production: the multi-story structure meant the heavier machinery had to stay on the lower levels for structural reasons, and the presence of support columns every six meters was also a constraint.
#history #turin #fiat
This more or less capped the Lingotto's output to around 300 vehicles per day by the 1930s, leading Fiat to start designing the new, sprawling Mirafiori complex less than ten years after the Lingotto's completion.
My articles on Medium:   / membership  
My automotive books:
Lancia Gamma Berlina & Coupé 1976 - 1984
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TN45L8Q
Six Appeal - The Story Of The Alfa 6
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1793931046
Alfa Romeo Giulietta - The Story 1977 - 1985
ENGLISH: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983393746
ITALIAN: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B098GVJ7RK
Alfa Romeo Arna - The Full Story 1980 - 1987 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1656632500