58 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 APRIL 2 019
FCA’s Heritage Hub is a vast and glorious display of Italy’s car-making history
intended to inspire the company’s future. Richard Bremner pays a visit
History in the making
resh from the pleasure
of unveiling two
surprise concept cars
at the Geneva motor
show – the widely
admired Fiat Centoventi and the Alfa
Romeo Tonale – FCA Group design
chief Klaus Busse and his team nowh av e t he ple a s u r e of b e i n g a ble t o
w a l k 5 0 0 me t r e s f r om t he i r s t ud io
to step into the past and admire
mor e t h a n 2 5 0 h i s t or ic Fi at s ,
Alfa Romeos, Lancias and
Autobianchis.
T he y c a n do t h i s b e c au s e
FCA’s new Heritage Hub, housed
in a huge industrial building
within Fiat’s Mirafiori factory
and engineering complex in
Turin, is where the design centreis also housed. The former
O f f ic i n a 81 onc e m a nu f a c t u r e d
transmission components,
but now its sympathetically
restored 15,000 square metres
of space is dedicated not only to
displaying a fabulous array of
he r it a ge c a r s but a l s o pr ov id i n g
a meeting place for designers,
engineers, marketing personnel
and everyone else inside the
group, with the aim of providing
an inspirational setting for
discussion. Better still, the Hub
w i l l a l s o b e op e n t o t he publ ic.
F C A c h a i r m a n Joh n E l k a n n s ay s
the Hub’s opening is part of activities
b e g u n i n 2 0 0 5 “ t o g i v e mor e v a lue
to the Mirafiori plant”. This factory
c omple x i s c on side r a bl y le s s bu s y
t h a n it w a s 2 0 y e a r s a go, a nd pa r t
of this more recent reimagining of
its use involves opening some of the
space to the public.
“We tore down the wall between
the plant and the city, and there are
offices in the plant for CNH [Case
New Holland, the agricultural
machinery manufacturer], Centro
St i le , A ba r t h a nd I T,” s ay s E l k a n n.
“The Hub shows our heritage
in terms of innovation – we
have written the history of
car making.”
‘Co-written’ would be more
realistic, but there’s no question
that Fiat has been a huge force in
the advance of car mass-production,not least with robots and platform-
sharing. “What we believe matters
is the strength of the thought behind
t he ide a t o i n nov at e ,” E l k a n n
continues. “Innovation is the best
g u a r a nt e e t o c ont i nue bu i ld i n g t he
f ut u r e .” To t h at e nd , t he e le c t r ic
Cinquecento, which was announced
b y t he l at e S e r g io Ma r c h ion ne l a s t
June, will be built at Mirafiori.
Design chief Busse clearly ◊
F
ECHELONS OF HISTORY
These twin rows of cars don’t begin to convey the
scale of the space or the extent of FCA’s Heritage
Hub collection. Nearest are a Fiat Uno facelift
and a Fiat Tempra (left), and behind those severalexa m p l es of Fi at’s D efe n d e r -rivalling (albeit
briefly) Campagnola off-roader. On the right are
an Autobianchi A112 and Fiat 500 Giardinera.
Design chief Busse: “Be
aware of the past”
FCA^ chairman
Elkann^says^ innovati
on is^ key