Motorized works of art
Last May, ADI Design Museum hosted the exhibition La Collezione Lopresto – Storia del car design e restauro dell’auto d’epoca (The Lopresto Collection – History of Car Design and Vintage Car Restoration). Produced by Collezione Lopresto and Accademia di Belle Arti Aldo Galli – IED Network, the exhibition revealed the evolution of Italian car design from the 1970s-80s. In addition to the presentation of unique cars – Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Bertone, Lancia Florida Pinin Farina, Osca 1600 GT Touring, Alfa Romeo Montreal Bertone, Fiat Panda Scioneri, and Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Zagato – designed by famous names in the industry, during the exhibition, young students from Accademia Galli engaged in the conservative restoration of a Fiat 2100 from 1961. The restoration combines traditional techniques for restoring vintage cars with the most advanced methodologies applied to the restoration of works of art. The purpose of this work was to preserve the constituent elements of the car without introducing extraneous elements, except for formal and structural parts that have largely lost their original functionality. Using techniques borrowed from the art world, the car is thus restored to its original splendor without the replacements and remakes typical of more common renovations. This innovative approach was brought to prominence by Corrado Lopresto also as a result of his winning of a UNESCO-sponsored award in 2016. adidesignmuseum.org lopresto.it
