Inside Fiat's secret car museum - picture gallery

A pivotal figure in Fiat design and 'father' of the classic Fiat 500. A Fiat engineer pre-war, Giacosa became head of Fiat design in 1946 and was responsible for the shape and engineering of all models up to 1970. Many groundbreaking Fiats, including the 500, 124 and 128, came under his watch.

Dante Giacosa's design office 

The Centro Storico Fiat has this mock up of Dante Giacosaís design office on the second floor. Representing the 1950s and 1960s, working scale models of the Nuova 500 and Fiat 850 are next to his desk. Due to his influence and success with small car design, Giacosa has been likened to the 'Issigonis of Italy'.

Fiat's first car 

Fiat's first ever car, the elegant 3.5hp. Produced in limited numbers from the end of 1899, it could seat 2-3 passengers and was guided via handlebar steering. This version has a 679cc engine with chain drive while others had 837cc. Just 111 cars in circulation in all of Italy at that time, the museum adds.

Shell of 1950s-era Fiat 1100

Fiat has long been numero uno for mass production in Italy and as a reminder, here's the painted bare metal shell of a 1950s-era Fiat 1100, on the line, complete with original manufacturing gantry from Fiat's giant Mirafiori plant in Turin.  Into the 1960s, 1970s and beyond, Fiat was cranking out thousands of cars per day.

Fiat 508S Balilla Mille Miglia from 1933 

Competitive in that era as a simple, elegant, lightweight sportster in the Mille Miglia and other classic road races such as the Targa Florio. With 995cc, 36bhp engine, it went on to dominate the domestic 1100cc class. A few came to the UK in period, too.

Fiat 8V and 1100S Mille Miglia

Exotic Fiat 8V, left, was junior Italian supercoupe of its day. With 2.0-litre V8 engine and 105bhp, the 'Ottovu' was a quick, intriguing GT. This particular one, with plastic body, was built for the 1954 Turin Show. The 1100S Mille Miglia on the right was another streamlined, specialty Fiat coupe of its era.

Fiat 1500 Cabriolet

Pininfarina styled the elegant Fiat 1500 Cabriolet, dating from 1963. Power came from Fiat's standard 1481cc, 72bhp engine but the cognoscenti could also order a hotter OSCA twin cam edition with 90bhp. Pininfarina spun off an almost identical looking car for Peugeot, which became the 404 coupé/cabriolet.

Ziguli's Fiat 124

This looks like a Fiat 124 but it's actually a Russian-made Ziguli, built through an agreement Fiat signed with the Russian government in 1966. The deal was signed in Centro Storico Fiat on May 4, 1966. The Lada Riva was another 124 derivative and remarkably the design still lives on in Russia and eastern Europe. 

Fiat advertising posters

Advertising posters adorn the walls of the Centro Storico Fiat in Turin. Here's a cool selection from the Fiat 600 and 1100 era dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. Many fine posters from the pre-war era are also out on show. History is something Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) has plenty of.

Original Fiat Multipla

"Six hundred for six declared" was the inspired UK road test headline of the time. Here's the original, still captivating Fiat Multipla, with small rear engine, rear-drive and yes, just about room for six. This is a second generation 600D from 1964 with uprated 767cc engine. With 32bhp, however, performance was still modest.

Fiat Dino Spider

Voluptuous styling by Pininfarina still evokes that dreamy 1960s Riviera style. This is one of the later 2.4-litre V6 cars, actually assembled by Ferrari and built alongside the Dino 246 which used the same engine. Reputedly only 424 were made, so hugely rare and coveted now, and at a price.

Fiat 2300S coupé

In the early 1960s, Fiat and the Ghia design house collaborated over this elegant 2300S coupé. Spun off the Fiat 2300 floorpan and with straight-six, twin carb power (136bhp), the 2300S was good for some 120mph. Dubbed the 'poor man's Ferrari' for a time, it effectively predated Fiat's cult 130 Coupé.