The Lopresto Collection shows how to best preserve automotive heritage

It’s called Stainless elegance. Examples of Restoration and Conservation the exhibition that will remain open at the Mille Miglia Museum until 18 September with four unique specimens from the collection

It starts with the 1939 Fiat 1500 Cabriolet, a find that shows the signs of time on the bodywork with charm, and continues with an original 1935 Lancia Augusta Coupé, preserved with exceptional care. The exhibition, dedicated to the preservation of the automotive heritage with the unique examples of the Lopresto Collection, then presents one of the most important cars in the collection, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ restored with a conservative approach only on half of the bodywork and awarded by Unesco in 2016 precisely because of the innovative techniques used. Finally, the prototype of the Alfa Romeo Montreal is exhibited as an example of a restoration that has brought it back to its original conditions by repainting the bodywork and refurbishing the interior. The exhibition is completed by photographs by the artist Romana Zambon, who portrayed one of the cars on display, the Fiat 1500, creating high-quality images that highlight the particular details of the car.

Innovation in safeguarding the historical. The collection of architect Corrado Lopresto, made up mostly of prototypes and number ones, has for years been a point of reference for the philological approach to restoration. Thanks to experimentation with new techniques and unconventional approaches, he has developed this complex and often different subject depending on the vehicle. The exhibition at the Mille Miglia Museum in Brescia summarizes the variety of situations and difficulties that can be encountered in restoring vintage cars, each with its own specificities. After having participated in most of the concours d’elegance existing in the world, the cars of the Collection are now well known: in the last twenty years the prizes they have obtained have been over 260, with the incredible milestone of sixty Best in Show and the Unesco award in 2016. Again, the Lopresto Collection, composed only of Italian cars, won eight prizes at Pebble Beach and 18 at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este, a record. The architect himself has become an ambassador of the high quality and automotive style of Made in Italy by curating exhibitions throughout Europe.

The cars on display

1939 Fiat 1500 Cabriolet Viotti. This custom-built Fiat 1500B chassis built by Viotti in 1939 adopts the wind deflector grille introduced that year also by Fiat itself for the production models. Viotti had made several Cabriolet versions of the 1500, initially with the stock nose, then adopting more refined lines. This specimen was found disassembled and reassembled in the conditions in which it is found. Under the rust and a subsequent layer of gray paint, traces of the original greenish paint appear in several places.

1935 Lancia Augusta Coupé Stabilimenti Farina.Unique model designed by Mario Revelli of Beaumont and bodied by the Farina factories for Countess Carla Centenari Viscardi of Como on the chassis of the Lancia Augusta, the smallest Lancia model at the time. Remained by the same owner for over forty years, the car is impeccably preserved, and in 1976 it was sold to the Tavoletti museum. Awarded at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 1996 as the best preserved car, it is still completely original today, despite being almost ninety years old.

1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ “Coda Tronca” car-prototype. The prototype of the “Trunk Tail” version of the Giulietta SZ was created to counteract the Lotus Elite by exploiting the aerodynamics and the Kamm tail. Developed by Zagato together with Ercole Spada, it was found more than fifty years later in the United States in perfect conservation conditions. The restoration of the car applied techniques normally used for works of art to a car for the first time, with a revolutionary approach that allowed the original paint to be preserved intact and which earned this car the Fiva award at the concours d’elegance Villa d’Este under the patronage of Unesco. The car was invited to the Unesco headquarters in 2016 on the occasion of a conference on the conservation of the automotive heritage.

1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal Prototype. This example of Alfa Romeo Montreal is the second built, presented in 1970 at the Geneva Motor Show when the model was launched. The car has unique features in the details, modified in series production. Repainted over the years in orange and with a new black interior, it has been entirely restored and has returned to the original characteristics of when it was presented, green in color and with two-tone interior details.

The museum is open every day from 10 to 18. www.museomillemiglia.it/it/museo.php