A Bygone Age of excellence
A privledged visit to the amazing auto collection of Milanese architect Corrado Lopresto.
In October 2013 I had the privilege to meet Corrado Lopresto a Milanese architect and avid car collector who very kindly showed my wife and I a small part of his unique automobile collection. My singular impression of this very charismatic gentleman was his unbridled passion for his collection. It would be fair to say that I was not able to store the myriad of details Corrado showered me with about each and every car that he showed us which was roughly 40-50 cars at two of the four locations his stores his cars in and around the city of Milan. The collection comprises some 100 automobile of Italian manufacture, with Alfa Romeos and Lancias figuring prominently in the collection. To view this collection is to take a step back in time to an age when cars were hand built to their owners’ individual tastes, Corrado’s cars showcase the age of the coachbuilders or carrozzeria in Italy who produced bespoke works of art for wealthy patrons. This is a dwindling art form, but names such as Bertone, Pininfarina live on working with manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. The major difference in Corrado’s collection is that these are working, drivable cars not cossetted fragile antiques to this end he takes great pleasures is presenting his cars around the world at Concors d elegance meetings. For each purchase Corrado researches the history of the car establishing its provenance, once purchased he and his team painstakingly restore the cars to running order, though not to perfection. Corrado told me about being at an event where Ralph Lauren was present with some of his cars, one example being a 1939 Bugatti 57C Altanti valued at some 30 million dollars, these cars are immaculate, and yet almost two perfect, whereas Corrado cars with the interior is as original as possible where the seats and steering show the aged patina of use. Numerous examples of this came to my mind from visit, however being a racing fan the one that stands out is a 1948 Abarth formula one car driven bar Taruffi Nuvolari. The wooden steering wheel is heavily weathered and frighteningly thin, but the red original leather seat cracked and worn with age made my connection with the car so much more tangible and real. Of course having the gas tank directly under the driver’s seat also made me appreciate how much racing has changed in racing has since 1948.
1948 Abarth Formula 1 car
Wooden steering , slightly bent from the pressure used to muscle this car around the track.
Corrado’s second location for housing some of his cars is located some 40 minutes outside of Milan in a warehouse full of hidden treasure. Driving into the open section of the warehouse are a dozen or so cars that have just joined the collection but have not yet been worked on, then we went into a locked of area in which 20 or more cars sat under car covers. One by one I helped Corrado pull by the covers to reveal a host of Alfa Romeos and Lancia all of which are either 001 or 1 of 1 or simply a prototype, then Corrado opened the door to the inner sanctum. Inside was a living museum of cars, the immaculate floor, the walls adorned with pictures of many of the cars in the room, and stacked in a cabinet and beside the cars numerous trophies and victory wreaths. A few cars I recognized but I confess for the majority only the badge on the front helped with the make and nothing more, wherever one looked a unique car sat quietly waiting for Corrado to tell me its story.
1974 De Tomaso Pantera Series II
1931 Alfa Romeo Aprile Spider corsa
Alfa Cockpit
Lancia Sibilo Prototype based on the Lancia Stratos.
I would need to write a book to do justice to all the cars in this wonderful room, however a few caught my eye. The first car I spotted was gold 1974 De Tomaso Pantera Series II prototype, I have long been a fan of the Pantera so I knew what it was but not its history, this car is a one off which was designed and built by the Ghia design studio for Ford who cancelled the project in 1973. The car in the center of the room was a 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Aprile Spider Corsa, a bit a mouthful for such an utterly beguiling work of art. The Aprile Roadster was originally constructed as a supercharged Gran Sport chassis in 1931 bodied by Zagato as a racing car. The car was purchased with extensive damage in 1938 by Giuseppe Aprile, a coachbuilder in Savona who intended to rebody the Alfa in a style that would showcase the abilities of his Carrosserie. Aprile commissioned Count Revelli de Beaumont to design the body. Corrado purchased the Alfa in 2008 and had it restored to exquisite work of art we see today. This car typifies the history of all of Carrado’s cars, the art and styling of individual carrozzeria, the personal history and the restoration to working order. For me one of the most unusual cars was the Lancia Sibilo prototype, a very 1970’s interpretation of future cars in dark brown. It turned out this car was based on the iconic Lancia Stratos, which is a one of my favorite cars. Looking in more detail I recalled seeing this car in car magazine many years ago and here I was standing in front of this eclectic machine.
While the cars in Corrado’s collection deserve all praise and adulation it would not exist without the passion of Corrado Leprosta, who started his collection at the age of 18. Among the many stories Corrado told me about showing his cars around the world the one that struck me most was during a presentation he was told he had only 3 minutes to talk about his car, 30 minutes later Corrado was still on the stage telling the story of his unique car. I think this speaks to heart of his passion for each car, which is not bought with thoughts of future value, but because of Corrado’s personal interest in the history and the detail of the car. It was a privilege to meet Corrado and be given this rare opportunity to view a unique automobile collection. I have been afforded two rare opportunities, to visit Ferrari and to meet Corrado Lepresto. I am continually inspired to pursue my passion for supercars and my Television show First Rides. I would like to thank Mr. Lepresto for his generosity in showing my wife and me his stunning collection and allowing the opportunity to get a glimpse of another age. I look forward to visiting Corrado again in the future to see the rest of the collection and hopefully many new editions to the collection.
Corrado Lopresto and me.
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