It’s been more than a decade since the Automotoclub Storico Italiano (ASI) acquired the Bertone Collection. While a handful of concept cars had been privately sold prior to the 2014 closure of Centro Stile Bertone, the collection still amounted to a large chunk of the famous Piedmontese design house’s creative legacy.
Up to now, the ASI Bertone Collection cars – including iconic concepts designed by Marcello Gandini, Marc Deschamps and others – have been on modest display in a corner of the Volandia Park and Museum of Flight, adjacent to Milan’s Malpensa airport. We visited in 2024 to shoot the Rainbow, Ramarro and Nivola, as featured in Magneto 25 and 27 respectively. Volandia was always meant to be a temporary arrangement, one that allowed time for certain cars to be restored while a more appropriate display case for these automotive jewels was sought. It seems that moment is imminent.
At a recent press conference at the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, ASI president Alberto Scuro announced that the Bertone Collection will be returning to Turin in 2026. In a collaboration with Stellantis Heritage Italia, the collection – an assortment of significant series, concept, prototype and one-off cars – will have a dedicated display space within the Stellantis Heritage Hub. The move is expected to be complete by April 2026.
President Scuro expressed his great satisfaction with the arrangement, stating that: “From the beginning the goal was to bring back to Turin a heritage that belongs to the city and to Piedmont. This return closes the circle and completes our mission to protect and safeguard the collection.”
Commenting on the new agreement, head of Stellantis Heritage Italia Roberto Giolito noted that the mission of the Heritage Hub is to tell the more than 100 years of motoring history intimately connected to the city of Turin. With the Bertone cars complementing and enriching the Hub’s existing collection, Giolito was both pleased and proud to bring this extraordinary local history to a wider audience. After a decade in the shadows, we couldn’t agree more.
Sharing the platform with Scuro and Giolito, regional councillor Andrea Tronzano spoke on the importance of returning the ASI Bertone Collection to Turin. He revealed that the region had been working for some time to arrive at this solution. “Piedmont is a land of innovation and design: the presence of the Collection in the Stellantis Heritage Hub confirms the centrality of Turin in the national and international automotive scene”, he underlined.
Credit is due to all parties involved here, but most importantly to the ASI, not just for preserving the Bertone legacy and keeping what remains of it intact, but also for not squirrelling it away for its investment value alone. Cars such as the Autobianchi Runabout, Citroën GS Camargue, NSU Trapeze, Lotus Emotion and the aforementioned Magneto trio represent a very rich chapter in the great Italian car design story. They deserve a little limelight.
