At MAUTO: A Special Exhibition On The Golden Age Of Rallying

Images: Gian Mario Mollar

On 27th of October last, Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Torino (Italy), otherwise known as MAUTO, opened an exhibition… an extraordinary exhibition that should delight all automotive and motorsport enthusiasts who followed the rallying scene internationally during the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s, and even the early 1990s.

An exhibition that seems to be the first ever of its kind in the international scene, it captures the ‘The Golden Age of Rallying’ through a display of 19 of the most evocative rallying machines the automotive world has ever known.

Of the 19 cars on display, 18 come from the iconic specimens that belong to Fondazione Gino Macaluso, who had put together some of the most important and remarkable rally cars through the decades.

Although the exhibition will be running until the 2nd of May 2023, we suggest you book your tickets now and plan to see the extraordinary line-up of cars.

The cars on display are some of the very machines that won the most important races of the championship, from Monte Carlo to the Safari Rally, from the Rally Finland to San Remo. On display are iconic examples, such as the Lancia rally 037 evo2 and Audi Quattro, the protagonists of the rallying world championship that have now become legends.

Additionally, there are displays and explanations of the exploits of the rally stars and their teams, the technological evolution, and the enormous success with audiences that used to throng the rally routes over the decades that are on display.

“Although rallying had had its start before WWII, and became fairly popular during the 1950s, it was only in the 1960s when it caught the imagination of the people,” explains Stefano Macaluso, the son of Gino Macaluso, and the curator of the show, “when popular and accessible cars like the Mini Cooper S and the Ford Lotus Cortina and then the Escort started winning rallies.”

“Here were cars that the common person could own and relate to, and these cars were winning convincingly against bigger and more expensive machineries,” says MAUTO’s director Mariella Menghozi, adding, “here were these giant killers which were highly competitive, thanks to their deft handling. Moreover, these cars soon became associated with the likes of Finnish and Swedish rally stars such as Rauno Aaltonen and Stig Blomqvist.”

Therefore, the exhibition starts with a display of the Mini Cooper, a Lotus Cortina, an Escort, and a Porsche 911 in the first part.

In the second part, the cars on display are the ones from the specialists such as Lancia with their Fulvia Coupe HF and Alpine’s giant killing A110.

Into that same section are cars that I would go crazy about: a Lancia Stratos, a Fiat X1/9 Abarth and a Fiat 131C Abarth, when the first and the last completely dominated the rallying world championships in the 1970s.

The third room has on display an Audi Quattro and a Lancia Rallye 037—to showcase the advent of all-wheel-drive at the time when the last of the rear-wheel-drive powerhouses were bowing out with a last swan song.

As well as to underline the importance of Group B, with cars like the Lancia Delta S4 and the Peugeot 205 T16 (this is the only car that was borrowed from Stellantis’ collection of historic Peugeot vehicles).

This is an exhibition that no motorsport enthusiast can ever afford to miss!