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Fiat's management in Turin decided to build this large complex in 1915, as the workforce had grown from 120 employees to more than 9,400 in 15 years. But they were not looking for just any factory, but one where they could comfortably follow all the steps of a production and assembly line. From start to finish.
The Lingotto factory was inspired by that of the Ford Motor Company. The Turin structure was inaugurated in 1923 and was one of the first in Italy to be made entirely of reinforced concrete, completely transforming an area dedicated to farmland into a city dedicated to the automobile.
Lingotto had a continuous production line that followed the oval shape of the building. The vehicles were assembled in series, but they were also assembled vertically, in a five-story spiral. On reaching the top floor, the rooftop, the race track was accessed. At that point, the vehicle was finished and all that remained was to test it.
Because the deck track was never built for speed, but to serve as the logical conclusion of the assembly process, the place where up to fifty cars at a time were tested for possible faults.
The total length of the track was 1.5km, with the straights connected by two spectacular banked curves designed for speeds of up to 90 km/h (more than enough speed for the 1920s).
But Lingotto had a problem: having several floors meant that the heaviest machinery had to remain on the lower levels and the presence of columns every six meters was necessary, which also caused significant limitations. For all these reasons, the factory's production was limited to only 300 vehicles per day in the 1930s, which led Fiat to look for a new alternative in the Mirafiori complex.
What had been the world's largest automobile factory operated for 71 years, until its final closure in 1982. The old factory was converted into a modern complex with concert halls, cinemas, an exhibition center, stores and a prestigious hotel. This reconstruction was completed in 1989 and is still considered by many to be one of the most beautiful pieces of the industry.
