Fiat’s Lingotto factory in Italy is known for the rooftop test track which has now been fully renovated with a garden and is open to the public for test drives of the electric 500. Visitors are also welcome to the “FIATCafé500” inside the Casa 500 museum, where they can learn more about the history of the Italian city car and enjoy their coffee with a special view of Turin.
The Lingotto factory was completed in 1923 as the world’s largest automotive plant at the time. Fiat built a total of 80 models in Lingotto before it was closed in 1982. The rooftop – 28 meters above the city of Turin – is accessible by car through a spiral inside the building. For many years it served as a test track for finished production vehicles and prototypes. In 2020, I was lucky enough to drive a few laps on it, as part of the European presentation of the 500 to the press.
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Now, after being redesigned and repurposed into a garden, the rooftop test track has opened again under the “La Pista 500” name. The garden has more than 40,000 plants from 300 different native species, in line with the environmentally-conscious strategy of Stellantis. Thankfully, a portion of the track is retained – including the bends – and visitors are welcome to test drive the electric 500 on Mondays. The rooftop will also host a series of educational activities about electric mobility, called “E-Drive School”.
As for the “FIATCafé500”, it is part of the Casa 500 museum located on the fourth floor of the Pinacoteca Agnelli. There you can enjoy your coffee next to a beautiful wooden model of the original 500, posters, memorabilia and the electric Fiat 500. The cafeteria was designed with an industrial approach, and has a nice view of the “La Pista 500” from the large windows.
