Coys Auction - The Festival Auction
Incorporating The Excellence of Porsche
Brands Hatch
Kent

Sunday 25th May 2008

Collectors'' Items: 2.30pm
Motor Cars: 4.30pm

In 1916 the construction of Fiat''s Lingotto factory started under the direction of Giacomo Matte Trucco. The car-making plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, was built over five floors and boasted an awesome test track on the roof which can still be seen today. It soon became the emblem of the Italian automotive industry and was completed in 1922. In the meantime, Fiat diversified its activities into the steel industry, the railway, electricity and public transportation lines. Fiat Lubrificante was established and the first Italian subsidiary was opened in Russia. When the Great War broke out, company production was almost entirely aimed at supplying the Army. After the war, there were years of transformation and crisis but, as early as 1923, growth resumed than