THE ASI BERTONE COLLECTION RETURNS TO TURIN: ON DISPLAY AT STELLANTIS HERITAGE HUB FROM 2026

Turin is preparing to welcome back one of the most precious legacies of Italian automotive history: the ASI Bertone Collection will officially return to the Piedmontese capital and will be exhibited at the Stellantis Heritage Hub on Via Plava 80 by April 2026. The announcement was made during the press conference for the Salone Auto Torino 2026, held at the National Automobile Museum in the presence of key industry figures and institutional representatives.

The news was delivered by Alberto Scuro, President of the Automotoclub Storico Italiano (ASI), alongside Andrea Tronzano, Regional Councilor, and Roberto Giolito, Head of Stellantis Heritage Italy. This highly anticipated presentation marks not just a logistical relocation, but a symbolic homecoming for the culture of car design to what has historically been considered the Italian capital of the automotive industry.

Currently, the collection is housed at the Volandia Museum in Somma Lombardo, near Malpensa Airport. Its return to Turin has been described as a natural transition to bring a treasure deeply linked to the region’s industrial and creative history back to its place of origin.

Scuro (ASI): “Closing the circle of protection and preservation”

ASI President Alberto Scuro expressed great satisfaction, highlighting the cultural and identity value of the operation:

“We are truly happy and satisfied with this collaboration because, from the very beginning, the goal was to bring back to Turin a heritage that belongs to the city and to Piedmont.”

Scuro recalled how Bertone is one of the legendary names in international design and how Turin served for decades as a unique global breeding ground for automotive style. According to the ASI President, the collection’s return represents the completion of a journey that began in 2015, when the Automotoclub Storico Italiano officially acquired the entire remaining core of the collection.

“With this return to the shadow of the Mole Antonelliana, we can say we have closed the circle and completed our mission of protection and preservation.”

The event holds strong symbolic weight as it coincides with a major milestone: “Everything will take place during the 60th anniversary of the founding of ASI, which we will celebrate in 2026.”

The message is clear: Turin is renewing its international centrality in historic motoring, consolidating an identity that is not only industrial but also artistic and cultural.

Giolito (Stellantis Heritage): “A museum hub capable of telling 100 years of evolution”

Roberto Giolito, Head of Stellantis Heritage Italy, emphasized the role of the Heritage Hub, framing the collaboration as a natural reinforcement of the exhibition center’s mission:

“The mission of the Heritage HUB is to tell, through an evolutionary perspective, over a hundred years of automotive history intimately connected to the city of Turin.”

According to Giolito, the arrival of the ASI Bertone Collection will not just be a quantitative expansion, but a leap in narrative and museum quality:

“The inclusion of the ASI Bertone Collection further strengthens the role of the Heritage HUB as a unique point of reference in the museum landscape.”

Furthermore, the presence of prototypes and special vehicles will offer the public a more complete understanding of the evolution of mobility: from design to racing, from custom-built cars to economy models, right up to contemporary issues related to emissions.

Tronzano (Piedmont Region): “Strengthening the cultural, exhibition, and tourism system”

The Piedmont Region also highlighted the importance of the move. Councilor Andrea Tronzano noted that the return of the collection is not just for enthusiasts, but a concrete driver for culture and tourism:

“The return of the ASI Bertone Collection to Turin is news that adds value to the history, identity, and industrial vocation of our territory.”

Tronzano pointed out that work toward this solution had been underway for some time, with the goal of strengthening Piedmont’s museum and tourism ecosystem, confirming Turin’s central role on the national and international automotive stage.

A collection of prototypes, production cars, and one-offs: A community heritage

The ASI Bertone Collection consists of production models, prototypes, and one-offs—unique cars often created as design exercises or technological experiments. Until the final closure of the Bertone Stile Center in 2014, the collection was kept at the Caprie headquarters at the mouth of the Susa Valley, in a facility inaugurated in 1972.

It was more than just a building; it was a creative laboratory designed to ensure autonomy and confidentiality for multiple teams simultaneously. Up to 140 designers worked there, led by legendary names such as Marcello Gandini and Marc Deschamps, equipped with everything necessary to create fully functional prototypes.

In the final years of operation, in a desperate attempt to save the company, some pieces were sold to international collectors. Paradoxically, the bankruptcy itself helped stop the complete dispersion of this heritage, as the entire collection was eventually put up for auction only as a single lot, with the legal requirement that it remain in Italy.

Thus, on September 28, 2015, following an online auction, ASI acquired the entire remaining lot, preserving it as a collective heritage—a gesture that now finds its ultimate fulfillment with the return to Turin.

Turin as the capital of historic motoring

The transfer of the ASI Bertone Collection to the Heritage Hub is more than a simple change of address; it is a powerful message. Turin continues to invest in its automotive identity, valuing it as a source of culture, economy, and tourism.

In an era where the car is undergoing radical transformation, historic motoring becomes even more precious, preserving memory, style, ingenuity, and vision. And the Bertone Collection, with its uniqueness, represents one of the most important chapters of this story.