The Alfa Romeo Portello Plant in Portello

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

was the first

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

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 Alfa Romeo Arese Plant was a plant area where Alfa Romeo had its head office for more than two decades prior to 1986. After Fiat Group purchased Alfa Romeo in 1986, Arese became one of the assembly plants of Fiat Group. The factory is in the ...

. 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 A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladi ...

, 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 () was 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 19 ...

, then Citroën, FIAT, Carrozzeria Touring,

Zagato Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and total design centre located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano, a small village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft)- 11,000 ...

and the Cesare Sala 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