Historic cars, Enrico Mattei’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta on display in Piazza Colonna. «It was a real gem»

Enrico Mattei he was very attached to his Alfa Romeo Giulietta from 1956. A car that the founder ofNational Hydrocarbons Agency – And promoter of Italy’s energy liberation – he also drove himself on the streets of Rome. And with which he went to the airport Ciampino the morning of October 25, 1962 to go to Sicily: two days later he would leave on the Eni private jet towards the Metanopoli headquarters in San Donato Milanese, where, however, he never arrived. The plane exploded in mid-air in the countryside of Bascapè (Pavia) due to a bomb placed behind the dashboard of the Morane Saulnier piloted by commander Irnerio Bertuzzi. That Juliet entered into history – also decorated with Gold Plate of the Italian Historic Automotoclub – Wednesday April 24 it will be exceptionally exposed to the public in Rome: from 10am to 4pm in Piazza Colonna.

The exposition

In front of Palazzo Chigi and in the shadow of the column of Marcus Aurelius, it will be possible to admire this car, «a true jewel fifties”, say the organizers of the event, which belonged to one of the protagonists of the economy and industry of the twentieth century. The initiative – promoted by the Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano body, in collaboration with Aci Automobile Club d’Italia, Aci Storico and the Parliamentary Intergroup of Italian Heritage – anticipates the anniversary of Mattei’s birth on 29 April 1906, and aims to «enhance the ideal bond that unites two Italian excellences: a great automotive brand and a man of ingenuity, vision and enterprise». A date they already have confirmed participation numerous parliamentarians and representatives of institutions, but which is “dedicated to all lovers of history, design, elegance and vintage cars”.

Mattei drove it around Rome

After that last trip to Ciampino airport, the car returned to the underground garage of the Eni building in Eur and it didn’t move from there for years: Mattei’s driver continued to start it until his retirement in the early seventies. Then oblivion. She stayed parked in the dark for decades, until it was transferred to the Eni Historical Archive and finally to the Glass Palace in Rome. The heirs of the great entrepreneur took care of recovering it. The grandson Rosy Mattei he said: «It was his personal car. She had bought two identical ones, one for him and one for Aunt Greta, who sold it years after my uncle’s death. I have gods beautiful memories of this car: every Saturday Uncle Enrico’s driver came to pick me up from the college I attended in Rome and took me to him and Aunt Greta’s suite.Hotel Eden where they had lived since they moved to the capital from Milan. And I always see myself in the car in the back seat, when Uncle Enrico took me around Rome. He really liked it when he could drive his Giulietta.”

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April 23, 2024

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