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Historic Alfa Romeo museum reopens for 105th birthday

1 July, 2015

Alfa Romeo have completed grand renovations to their ‘La macchina del tempo — Museo storico Alfa Romeo’ museum in Arese (near Milan), which reopened to the public on June 30.

Translating to ‘The time machine — Alfa Romeo historical museum’, the museum’s changes have resulted in it becoming one of Italy’s most stunning monuments to motoring. Depicting more than 100 years of history across its three floors, the museum will house 69 different Alfa Romeos. These range from their first-ever production car, the 24 HP, to various Formula 1 and sports cars, including a championship-winning Juan Manuel Fangio Alfetta 159.

In an aim to define Alfa Romeo, each floor represents a distinct element of the company’s heritage. Titled ‘Timeline’, the first floor features cars that are said to best embody the development of the marque. The ground floor, titled ‘Beauty’, will unsurprisingly focus on the most beautiful cars Alfa Romeo have built, as well as the various phases of design that have influenced the brand. And finally, the basement level of the building, titled ‘Speed’, will highlight their motorsport achievement via some of their most well-known race cars.

Built in 1976, the museum faced its first closure in 2009 after its supporting Arese production plant was decommissioned. It was briefly reopened in 2010 to celebrate the brand’s 100th birthday, but was once again closed in February 2011.

It has been a busy month for the Italians following their recent unveiling of the 2016 Giulia Quadrifoglio four-door performance sedan (check out our coverage and gallery here). The Giulia is also on display at the museum; this being the first time it will be seen in the metal by the public.

Along with the car displays and the supporting test track, the museum also includes a bookshop, cafe, and documentation centre.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.