The Alfa Romeo Portello Plant in Portello,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy was the first

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

factory, and the main factory between 1908 and the 1960s. The factory was closed in 1986 following FIAT's buyout of Alfa Romeo, but all major production had already been transferred 20 years earlier to the Alfa Romeo Arese Plant. The history of the factory is primarily involved in automobile manufacture, but over the years other products were manufactured as well.

History

The first industrial plant was founded by the French company

Darracq STD Motors, formerly Darracq & Company, was a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines based in Suresnes near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he so ...

, which had decided to open a branch in Italy. The site chosen for that purpose was directly adjacent to areas that had hosted the 1906 International fair in Milan. The location was on Via Gattamelata in Milan, on the way to Gallarate, in the then extreme north-western outskirts of the city. The same area was chosen by other car companies to establish their headquarters or branches, first

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 195 ...

, then

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

FIAT Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

Carrozzeria Touring Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is an Italian automobile coachbuilder. Originally established in Milan in 1925, Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera construction methods. The ...

Zagato Zagato is a Coachbuilder, coachbuilding company founded by Ugo Zagato in 1919. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. History The 1910s: Aeronautics Ugo Zagato was an Italians, Italian ...

and the

Cesare Sala Carrozzeria Italiana Cesare Sala was a Milan-based coachbuilder. They provided carriages for the Vienna court and bodies for Isotta Fraschini automobiles. History The company was founded in Milan in the mid-19th century and initially manufact ...

Bodyworks. The latter was essentially forced to choose that area because their activities were closely linked to those of Alfa."Storia dell'Alfa Romeo su Retecivica.Milano" (History of Alfa-Romeo), retecivica.milano.it, 2001, webpage:
-->valter.molinaro/Milano/mi09/1_5.htm Ret-mi09
In 1997

Gabriele Salvatores Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...

shot his 1997 film Nirvana (film) in the Plant. The factory buildings were subsequently demolished to make room to a green area. The city park inaugurated in 2011 as Parco del Portello. (Or Parco Industria Alfa Romeo)

List of cars produced

References

{{Alfa Romeo Fiat Group factories Alfa Romeo Former motor vehicle assembly plants Motor vehicle assembly plants in Italy