The city of Turin has always been animated by a multitude of coachbuilders, designers, artists linked to the world of the automobile. In the twentieth century, especially, there were countless companies that gravitated around the four wheels. Many brandnames didn’t last long, like Testadoro, a company that was active from 1946 to 1949. It comes back to life today thanks to Dario Pasqualini, an artist-entrepreneur who, together with the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile of Turin (Mauto), will give life to an interesting initiative christened ‘Arte di Boita’. Halfway between a static exhibition and a performance, it will reproduce in a time frame of six months the work of the “boita”, the traditional workshops where skilled craftsmen gave shape to limited series cars, prototypes and one-offs that made car history in Italy and beyond.
With the help of two panel beaters, Pasqualini will show to the Mauto’s visitors how a car is made using the processes of the past. Starting from the clay model up to the final assembly, also using a wooden mask. Pasqualini explains the project as follows: “We want to show people the culture of artisan production, the one that led to the birth of simple cars, made with traditional methods and classic materials such as aluminum, steel, wood, fabrics. No plastic on this car, which is called Testadoro Essenziale and which, from a stylistic point of view, recalls the appearance of the 50s and 60s berlinettas”.
Pasqualini discovered the Testadoro brand (whose name refers to the characteristic golden color of the engine heads) in 2017 and relaunched it after 70 years of oblivion. Pasqualini first created the Barchetta 1951, a tribute to a car that remained unfinished. Now he tries his hand at the Essenziale, which however will take shape on an existing model which, having an approved chassis and engine, will also be able to circulate on the road.
