Retromobile invites you to meet the 2024 partner museums(1/2)

For this first event, the most beautiful ephemeral garage dedicated to classic cars will be taking you to meet two of its partner museums: the Museo Nazionale dell'automobile (MAUTO) in Turin and the Musée National de l'Automobile in Mulhouse.

Museo Nazionale dell'automobile (MAUTO)

Founded in Turin in 1932 by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile (also known as MAUTO) is today one of the great names in terms of museums dedicated to motorised heritage. With the aim of preserving the world's automotive heritage and making it accessible to as many people as possible, the Turin museum now houses more than 200 exceptional vehicles from 80 different brands. In 2024, the museum is answering to the call of Retromobile and will be presenting two masterpieces of Italian motoring: the Fiat 130 HP and the ITALA 35/45 HP.

Fiat 130 HP: passion at high speed

Created in 1907 by Carlo Cavalli, then technical director of the Italian brand, the Fiat 130 HP is still considered by many to be a  treasure of engineering. Specially built to meet the constraints of certain Grand Prix races, which limited fuel consumption, the vehicle was equipped with a 16,286 cm³ engine which develop a maximum power of 130 bhp, a record for the time. It was in this car that Felice Nazzaro won the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, the equivalent of Formula 1 at the time.

The ITALA 35/45 HP, when Italy comes to China

A purely Italian product, the ITALA 35-45 HP is also known as the ITALA Pechino Parigi, a nickname derived from the car raid that made its legend: the Bejing-Paris race. Specially modified for the competition (with the addition of two side tanks, wooden rims and bumpers, etc.) by its driver, Prince Scipione Borghese, the vehicle enabled his crew to win the race by almost 10 days. It was subsequently shown at a number of exhibitions before gradually falling into oblivion. The manufacturer later donated it to Count Biscaretti and his future national motor museum.

Mulhouse National Automobile Museum

Considered by many to be the museum with the largest collection of cars in the world, the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse is the result of the devouring passion of its founders for classic vehicles: the industrialists Hans and Fritz Schlumph. As a showcase for the evolution of the automotive industry, the museum will be presenting an exceptional French car at Rétromobile 2024: a Lorraine-Dietrich type VHH from 1910.

Lorraine Dietrich VHH: a French car over a hundred years old

Produced between 1910 and 1916 in Lunéville, the Lorraine Dietrich is in many aspects seen as a worthy representative of the prestige cars of the period leading up to the Great War. Despite its age and the restoration work carried out by its owner, the vehicle has retained many of its original features, including its chassis, bodywork, upholstery and mechanics. The finesse of the engine bonnet fastenings, the external lubrication system controlled by a shaft driven by the engine... these are just some of the striking details of this exceptional car that visitors to Rétromobile will be able to discover.