As a car guy and lover of abandoned buildings this was very enjoyable to watch. Also very informative and nicely edited! What great cars where made here!
Equipment of that era was usually controlled by Mini Computers that were already museum pieces when this factory closed. Impractical to keep it operational.
As a massive car nut it was great to see the inner workings of such a pivotal company in 80's and 90's car design. It's just a shame that we're seeing fewer and fewer marques making use of their bold designs today
@@ForgottenBuildings I really like the Peugeot 406 coupe which was done by Pininfarina and the Opel Astra G coupe and convertible which were done by Bertone. I think cars like these are peak car design. I wish at least some car designs would go back to this, also with offering more coupes, convertibles and "classic" types of cars instead of basically just flooding the market with SUVs and half-SUV cars that mostly look the same and sometimes don’t even have a real purpose (imo, and some of these are more of a computer on wheels instead of a car actually)…
@@maplelafe7671 last December I was in my home city Palermo. It's gone down into the drain in the last 15 years or so and it's a shitty mess. I know what I'm talking about.
I love Pinninfarina designs. I am not Italian, I am Polish. I have 2014 Vovlo S60 and 2016 Maserati Gran Turismo both designed by Pinninfarinia. I love Italian cars, food and culture. The arts, the music, the craftsmanship!
@@ForgottenBuildings Thank you, and thank you for making the content. It really is sad to see these Factories close down. These is how people make their money to support their families. The Italian, The British, the German and the American auto industries were once so popular and many people all over the world had jobs in these respective industries but we do not build much in our countries anymore. We are now how I say "disposable nations" we do not repair, we replace. What little we produce we have to import the materials from other countries because we are not producing the steel, the electric wire, the rubber like we did long ago.
The Chrysler name badge was disappearing by the late 70's, then Mitsubishi took over. They still produced Valiants until 1981. They kept it going, reason being, the profit from 1 Valiant would take 4 Sigma's to equal.
Proud to be an owner of a gorgeous Brera in rosso red with just 22,000 miles. Been with me for 10 years and I am still in love with its looks and charm.
I had a tour round this place back in 1994 (??), at that point there were Fiat Coupes, Ferrari 456GTs and Peugeot Convertibles all on the same production line seemingly at random, this was followed by a trip round part of the test track in a 16V Turbo Fiat Coupe, so sad to see it now but thanks for showing it !!
It's always sad to see this kind of abandoned facilities, doesn't matter if it's an old factory,an old hotel or amusement parks, just to see places once full of life and people rotting away, touches something inside.
This.. Is what Urbex is all about. "touching something inside". But not everyone gets it. And that's all for the best, otherwise, abandoned places would be crowded 😂
I wanna learn about the chair leg heist. Like someone broke in, saw that robot and all that equipment and thought. “We gotta steal all those chair legs”.
I love these kind of videos especially being a car guy , it’s just amazing how the thieves grab the coppers yet leave the millions of dollars robots untouched.
Saying the millions of dollars of robots is like saying the millions of dollars in Obama's BlackBerry phones - LOL. Old tech is worthless like the Billion dollar ULA rockets from the Shuttle years leftovers.
El cobre tiene una venta asegurada, en muchos sitios te lo van a comprar, los robots como tal, son difíciles de vender, es complicado encontrar un comprador, y más siendo robados.
The history with Cadillac goes way back to 1959-60 where they did exactly same thing as the Atlante model,though in a smaller scale ,building 200 Eldorado Broughams bodys and fly them to Detroit for final assembly. Crazy expensive ,but still with a great loss ,it was more important to show with extreme models who was the leader in the luxury car field in those days
Not to beat a dead horse but as an American, a car lover, a Testarossa owner, and an owner of a shop here in Massachusetts, the site of this breaks my heart as well. The whole property, the test track, all those beautiful, super expensive machines that are worth untold millions. Someone like myself would love to take a few of those tools home!! And to hear that it’s been vandalized since this video makes it even worse!! So sad. They scrapped all those cars?? I could cry. Anyway, side note, Pininfarina is still in operation, they are a pretty large and very successful design firm still in operation today. So, that’s one nice thing to know. I don’t know when they last designed a car, but I know they are designing other item. Oddly enough, I noticed that familiar logo on a fancy Coke machine recently. I can tell you it is the sexiest coke machine I have ever seen!! Check out their website, but yes, they have done some beautiful cars back in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. Iconic cars like the Testarossa, 328, and even the Cadillac Alante. All very sexy vehicles. Ok, I’ll cut this off as I could go on for days. Great video as sad as it is.
Being a former Shop owner that enjoyed working on Italian Vehicles in American and a big fan of Abandoned Documentary series I must say this is the saddest documentary I have viewed yet amazingly filled with incredible information. Thank You for your efforts in this production.
I love Italian cars so very much. This is so very sad to see. I wish that the cars that were sitting outside were sold instead of being scraped. Pininfarina has reached legendary status amongst many European car fans. Thank you.
I'm afraid they all went into the scrapper as they probably waren't officially production cars but test cars instead. But who knows, maybe they are stored somewhere.
Those car would have probably needed a full rebuild , also they were not up to legal standard of a production car .. Test vehicles.. I dare say most of the vehicles live on as parts for other cars
Seat bases can be sold for scrap iron / steel. The plastic has no value. It would be nice if the office area could be restored and act as a museum for the company. They could also clean up the production lines and display some of the recent models produced there.
I happen to own a 406 Coupé, so it it very interesting to see what the factory where my car was built looks like nowadays. After four years of ownership, I can safely say that San Giorgio Canavese made some high quality Automobiles (in 2000)
@@oldschoolski3983 Mine is only a lowly 2.0L but I needed something that was cheaper to run and maintain, as at the time it was my daily driver. But I got it for cheap and it still works almost flawlessly
* Great Mission Guys ! Such a shame. The EB Bugatti plant is another beautiful state of the art plant left to rot. We have many abandoned plants here it Detroit too. Packard, Dodge Main, Chrysler Lynch Road etc. Most have met the wrecking ball others to follow. 😔
@@ForgottenBuildings What a shame. There's a vid on here where a guy takes an EB110 back to the plant and drives though the final assembly line. Now empty. They talk to a maintenance guy who empties the buckets that catch the rainwater from the leaking roof. I remember the vids on that plant when it was running back in the 90's. It was such a modern high tech place. 😖
In the UK the sites of the historic industries (ship building, coal mines, steel, large manufacturing etc) have been eradicated so you wouldnt know they ever existed. Usually replaced by souless housing or retail/distribution.
@@forestghost7 Last year I rented a car in Mexico for 3 weeks. They gave me an MG5. From far away it didn't look bad. Up close.... awful. The absolutely cheapest materials - cheap plastics everwhere, fake chrome on the hand brake switch that was already wearing off at less than 30 thousand kilometres! dreadful underperforming tiny motor that couldn't keep up with other traffic. But it did have LED headlamps and a touch screen inside. I'd rather have a 10 year old Golf than the flimsy Chinese MG.
Imagine if we had to produce equipment for another conflict like WWI. We would be destroyed...We lack no only the factories but the skilled personnel that occupied them. Think about it, back in the 50's Chrysler engineers designed a jet powered car. Not long ago they had to recall the remainder of the surviving engineers to rebuild one of those old engines for Jay Leno.
I had the chance to drive an Allante back when it was in production. It was an amazing car compared to anything made in America, especially during that era.
Sometimes even being good at what you do isn't enough. The 406 Coupé and Brera* were beautiful attainable cars, but forces above that level intervened. Thankfully Pininfarina itself goes on. *the Brera Spider was also designed by Pininfarina, but ironically the original Coupé is actually a Giugiaro design, so I'm surprised to learn that Pininfarina manufactured that version as well!
They did sometimes manufacture cars they didn't design: for instance the Volvo C70, second generation. It was co-produced between Volvo / Pininfarina, but it was designed in-house at Volvo, which is the reason it didn't get a 'Pininfarina' badge... which I think it deserved.
Mate, an old Brit here, just found your site and watched the Fiat factory in Sicily.. These are amazing, important and historic records of Italy’s fantastic industrial heritage. In the past, I’ve owned a Lancia Trevi and Alfa 147. Both are seared in the heart with love ❤️ 🚗 💨 🇬🇧
This is deeply deeply unsettling for me to watch. Its insane that all this equipment can't be used for anything, at all. It's also extremely inspiring, imagining all the things that could be built there. All the money that building and hardware represents, just sitting, circles me back to unsettled.
@@TomasGraf-rr6co a few months ago i was overtaken by a sedan in the area of Massif Central, it was a downward road and the speeds were high. It amazed me that the Sedan was driven at those speeds, the rear wheels almost lost contact while cornering. it must be a nice car as the driver was very confident.
Awesome content, I feel and share your pain of the loss of such an historical part of car manufacturing history. Much like Pininfarina, here in Australia we had the mighty Holden car manufacturer. Decades upon decades of history unfortunately came to an end on the 20th October 2017.
There is a video on UA-cam with Andreas Pininfarina showing off the Cadillac Allante at the Birmingham NEC Motor Show in 1986. The title of the video is: 1986 Motor Show - Highlights - Birmingham NEC. Uploaded by MontyMotorsport and the timestamp is 33:32.
One of many casualties of the global car market trending towards increased consolidation. That includes design and manufacturing being done in-house instead of by specialist companies like Pininfarina.
I have both opened new factories ( super exciting and super stressful ) and closed ones that were no longer needed ( usually depressing because they mark the end of an era,… and job losses). But I never left a factory looking like this. Typically all equipment would have been sold, auctioned off, or sent to the recycler. The building would have been brought back to a state where it could be sold or leased,… hopefully to another job creator.
As a car "nerd" i do love seeing half finished cars. And one of thesenwould be an amazing project for a automotive restoration channel to take on. But Its also kindof depressing to see
When I first researched where the fiat coupe was built (since I owned one for 16 years) I found it was built at San Giorgio but upon further investigation from Italy I today found this: “Pininfarina was entrusted with the mass production of the Coupé (on the reliable and versatile Tipo platform) at the Grugliasco plant. The production capacity was 80 cars a day that were tested at the San Giorgio Canavese plant north of Turin. The Fiat Coupé was produced from 1994 to 2000 for a total of 72698 units.” So basically they built them on both plants but the vast majority of them at Gruigliasco plant what it appears.
@@smOOdiebOOdie Didnt knew they were using both facilities. Its pretty incredible that they transported them all over just to test them in San Giorgio Canavese.
As a kid I lusted after these beautiful designs and what drove me into an enthusiast. Without these talented auto designers, we are left with SUVs and the like, that resemble melted-down soap bars.
lol park an Alfa up for a day and it more then likely won't start .. Those things would have had 0 chance of ever starting again, not to mention the electric system would probably be shot to hell ..
@@kittyhawk9707 Nonsense, I recently started up a 2003 Fiat Stilo that had not run in years and was stored outside in the weather , it started without issue and even remembered my radio station presents. Those cars in the carpark would not of had VIN numbers and would of been missing all sorts of parts.
@@BradyWedding. A parked up Fiat is not a parked up/dumped Alfa and i was being sarcastic .. also you got lucky with that Stilo ..as Fiats whilst pretty shit ..are deffo not as bad as Alfas ;)
Probably where they made the Fiat Coupe too. The Peugeot 406 Coupe was designed by Pininfarena but rejected by Fiat who designed it in-house but gave it to them to make.
With the obvious value of a facility this enormous, it's ludicrous the company wouldn't spend a paltry sum to safeguard the premises. In the UK, large and/or historically significant buildings are rented at very low cost to caretakers in exchange for keeping our vandals and looters.
Yeh right, the uk does a top notch job of looking after it's 'heritage', in your dreams. The uk is a dump filled with idiots who wouldnknow their own heritage if it fell on their heads.
It's with very mixed feelings I watch movies like this, I'm glad you are making them, but I'm very sad to see former workplaces in this state,it meant so much for so many people and now the only thing that remains is the buildings and the memories.
Very cool walk around , sad to see the end of the car factory’s , should save some off those pictures as they will rot or be destroyed , a piece of history
Those Comau robots are still really expensive piece of machine for many modern car factories, its very sad to see how this iconic car designer ended up
Haha: as if it is impossible to find out where the Pininfarina plant used to be…. (Sssst! Don’t tell anyone about the internet. They might find out!!) Uhuh
i have that car 406 coupe by pininfarina.. love it good looking car.. and it looks even better if you put bigger 18 inch wheels and tires and lower it 2 inches..
Such a shame. The most innovative and exciting design house ever to come from Italy, just destroyed by market forces. There will never be an equal to this company again, as the costs associated with low volume design and development would no longer be justifiable. I know the bean counters only consider the costs, but no one considers the heritage and beauty of Italian design.
It’s amazing that the company didn’t auction or sell the contents of the factory. The items would be put to good use and the company would recover some money. (Robots and production equipment, furniture, tools, etc.)
the san giorgio canavese plant the place where my beloved alfa brera was built, Ah I wanted sooo bad to see those prototypes, those notes, how a small scale production was handled.
Back in 1998 I bought a used 1994 Toyota Celica from a Ferrari dealership, it had been a trade-in. I stood next to a new Ferrari on the sales floor, with one of the Ferrari badges peeling off the body. And looked at the Celica, thinking, that's the better car. I was right, the Celica is still a wonderful car in 2024.
What I do notice is that the management tried to keep up with productivity with all the different models at the same time they were signing deals to ship cars by air making them unaffordable but they would be produced with beholding quality, even basic quality to allow future sales. Alfa Romeo is just one manufacturer who plays this particular role all too well, if only their cars would last. The Indian brands that have taken over seem to have it almost being manufactured in a country with cheap labour but profit margins are low and office staff minimal and of course a government that helps and not to allow unions to rule.
It is great to see these kind of video's but unfortunately there are always people of opportunity out there that once viewed they track them down and remove anything valuable and often trash the places after. Although it is great to see them, sometimes I wish they could be just left or at least preserved in their original state
I have an Alfa GTV which was designed by Pininfarina and made at the now closed Arese factory, later production moved to the, now closed, Pininfarina factory. It's such a shame to hear that these great production areas closed. Eventually we'll be hostage to foreign powers for everything, we sell the capability and knowledge and buy the product back but eventually they'll have it all and we'll have nothing.
My fist job I was 17. Springfield pa Cadillac dealer. They gave me the keys to many allantes and trusted me to drive them to the car wash.. lol. Once I would get about a block away from dealer I would stop and floor it.. you know for testing purposes lol
I own a Peugeot 205 Cabrio made by pininfarina and grew up in the back seat of my dad‘s Peugeot 406 Coupé he purchased new in 1999 - also made by pininfarina. What a shame, what a tragedy. Thank you for this video, even if it breaks my heart.
Perfect example that by far not every development is an improvement!!!! Soooooo sad. Industrial jobs are the most important onces. Once they are gone, they are almost impossible to be replaced. I hope that once again there will be cars produced in this renovated factory!!
Regarding Cadillac the car was built here in Europe so why not sell it here as well like the Cadillac BLS that was a Saab 93 it was built at Trollhattan sold in Europe but why not also sell it in North America, GM really were crap at marketing there cars no wonder they ruined Saab and sold Vauxhall/Opel .
That's very true! While the SL was much better quality, the design was getting long in the tooth when the Allante came around. Too bad Mercedes had to replace it with the garbage R129. Quality was ruined and the new sporty was a joke.
This is so sad as Cadillac Allante was beautiful and so far ahead of its time and so under appreciated now it’s just a sad memory 😢 even after all these years the Allante looks and style remained truly iconic
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Wow, get you a free car.
Who's paying for the electricity the lights are on?
@@michael-dy8tz they are windows
At 5:46 they are electric lights turned on, what do you mean about windows?@@ForgottenBuildings
@@michael-dy8tz those are skylights in the roof not lights
As a car guy and lover of abandoned buildings this was very enjoyable to watch. Also very informative and nicely edited! What great cars where made here!
Thanks for the support and kind words!
Same lmao
Same, all videos from this channel are always very entertaining and give intresting information about the abandoned places they’re visiting
Same! Car guy and Urbex guy here. Very interesting.
Is there any risk of "trespassing" into these premises?
It truly breaks my heart to see all this production equipment - super high tech for its day - going to waste.
Equipment of that era was usually controlled by Mini Computers that were already museum pieces when this factory closed. Impractical to keep it operational.
Alfa’s designed 20 years ago still look stunning today 🍀🇮🇹🤩
Yeah, and Alfas today still leak oil, catching on fire and break down often...😂
@@zoransirucka3629yeahhh and that is what Driving is like things like chat makes You appreciate the car
Jeremy Clarkson went so far as to say "you can't be a true petrolhead until you've owned an Alfa Romeo". True 🇮🇹🍀😊
La voiture c'est plus ce que c'était ça ce casse la gueule et c'est partout dans le monde 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
@@zoransirucka3629 I guess you don’t own a Alfa? Because if you had one you would know better 😅🇮🇹
As a massive car nut it was great to see the inner workings of such a pivotal company in 80's and 90's car design. It's just a shame that we're seeing fewer and fewer marques making use of their bold designs today
Totally agree, lot of modern designs are quite bland especially compared to what Pininfarina and Bertone once made
Stellantis....
But isn't a plastic clad crossover with an oversized grill the truest expression of bold?
Half of this process has been moved into a single facility fitting entirely into a laptop.
@@ForgottenBuildings I really like the Peugeot 406 coupe which was done by Pininfarina and the Opel Astra G coupe and convertible which were done by Bertone. I think cars like these are peak car design. I wish at least some car designs would go back to this, also with offering more coupes, convertibles and "classic" types of cars instead of basically just flooding the market with SUVs and half-SUV cars that mostly look the same and sometimes don’t even have a real purpose (imo, and some of these are more of a computer on wheels instead of a car actually)…
As an Italian this breaks my heart
As an Irishman this breaks me heart so you must be in bits...!
As a Portuguese this broke mi heart to ! I dream years for one Brera and now for one Gullia !
Same for me (frenchman)...😢
This breaks youre heart???
Been to a big Italian city lately??
They look even worse than this repo 😁
@@maplelafe7671 last December I was in my home city Palermo. It's gone down into the drain in the last 15 years or so and it's a shitty mess. I know what I'm talking about.
I love Pinninfarina designs. I am not Italian, I am Polish. I have 2014 Vovlo S60 and 2016 Maserati Gran Turismo both designed by Pinninfarinia. I love Italian cars, food and culture. The arts, the music, the craftsmanship!
Nice collection man!
@@ForgottenBuildings Thank you, and thank you for making the content.
It really is sad to see these Factories close down. These is how people make their money to support their families. The Italian, The British, the German and the American auto industries were once so popular and many people all over the world had jobs in these respective industries but we do not build much in our countries anymore. We are now how I say "disposable nations" we do not repair, we replace. What little we produce we have to import the materials from other countries because we are not producing the steel, the electric wire, the rubber like we did long ago.
Curiosity is getting the better of me, so I need to ask; why is it important to know that you are Polish?
@@joshfoley8862emphasizing that his love of Italian culture is not due to him being from said country
Curiosity killed the cat@@joshfoley8862
Same thing happened in Australia 🇦🇺 we lost ford, Holden, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Leyland since 1980.
The Chrysler name badge was disappearing by the late 70's, then Mitsubishi took over. They still produced Valiants until 1981. They kept it going, reason being, the profit from 1 Valiant would take 4 Sigma's to equal.
My Cadillac Allanté #2617 in 1987 came from there. Thank you for making this video.
Glad you've enjoyed it and nice car!
Proud to be an owner of a gorgeous Brera in rosso red with just 22,000 miles. Been with me for 10 years and I am still in love with its looks and charm.
Stunning car!
@@ForgottenBuildings Thank you 🙏🙏
@@kadien2006another driver of a brera rosso 2.2 jts here.Nice to meet you.Greetings
@@ciclope463 Thank you 👍 you have excellent taste in cars 🙏🙏
@@kadien2006 thanks a lot
I had a tour round this place back in 1994 (??), at that point there were Fiat Coupes, Ferrari 456GTs and Peugeot Convertibles all on the same production line seemingly at random, this was followed by a trip round part of the test track in a 16V Turbo Fiat Coupe, so sad to see it now but thanks for showing it !!
That must be weird seeing it in such state. Never knew they made the 456GT there. Pretty cool to hear!
Where is this place
@@ForgottenBuildingsthe 306 Cabriolet was also built here from 1994 to 2002.
Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo 1994 was my first car, oh those times...
It's always sad to see this kind of abandoned facilities, doesn't matter if it's an old factory,an old hotel or amusement parks, just to see places once full of life and people rotting away, touches something inside.
This is True
This.. Is what Urbex is all about. "touching something inside".
But not everyone gets it. And that's all for the best, otherwise, abandoned places would be crowded 😂
I wanna learn about the chair leg heist. Like someone broke in, saw that robot and all that equipment and thought. “We gotta steal all those chair legs”.
Easy answer. Because they made from aluminum
Some were aluminum and other were copper I have seen school chairs made from copper I made good money on them
I love these kind of videos especially being a car guy , it’s just amazing how the thieves grab the coppers yet leave the millions of dollars robots untouched.
Thanks man! Was probably a lot easier for the copper thieves to just steal the wires.
How they would loot the robots? It's gotta be easy to spot them
Saying the millions of dollars of robots is like saying the millions of dollars in Obama's BlackBerry phones - LOL. Old tech is worthless like the Billion dollar ULA rockets from the Shuttle years leftovers.
El cobre tiene una venta asegurada, en muchos sitios te lo van a comprar, los robots como tal, son difíciles de vender, es complicado encontrar un comprador, y más siendo robados.
The history with Cadillac goes way back to 1959-60 where they did exactly same thing as the Atlante model,though in a smaller scale ,building 200 Eldorado Broughams bodys and fly them to Detroit for final assembly. Crazy expensive ,but still with a great loss ,it was more important to show with extreme models who was the leader in the luxury car field in those days
Nostalgia is one thing, but the ownership costs & reliability of owning Italian automotive art 🎨 is why it happened.
Not to beat a dead horse but as an American, a car lover, a Testarossa owner, and an owner of a shop here in Massachusetts, the site of this breaks my heart as well. The whole property, the test track, all those beautiful, super expensive machines that are worth untold millions. Someone like myself would love to take a few of those tools home!! And to hear that it’s been vandalized since this video makes it even worse!! So sad. They scrapped all those cars?? I could cry.
Anyway, side note, Pininfarina is still in operation, they are a pretty large and very successful design firm still in operation today. So, that’s one nice thing to know. I don’t know when they last designed a car, but I know they are designing other item. Oddly enough, I noticed that familiar logo on a fancy Coke machine recently. I can tell you it is the sexiest coke machine I have ever seen!! Check out their website, but yes, they have done some beautiful cars back in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. Iconic cars like the Testarossa, 328, and even the Cadillac Alante. All very sexy vehicles. Ok, I’ll cut this off as I could go on for days. Great video as sad as it is.
Being a former Shop owner that enjoyed working on Italian Vehicles in American and a big fan of Abandoned Documentary series I must say this is the saddest documentary I have viewed yet amazingly filled with incredible information. Thank You for your efforts in this production.
Thanks man, more great stuff is coming soon!
All of cars manufacturing is transfer to china because of cheaper labor😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Amazing to see a detailed video of the place my car was built 20 years ago
Thanks!
I love Italian cars so very much. This is so very sad to see. I wish that the cars that were sitting outside were sold instead of being scraped. Pininfarina has reached legendary status amongst many European car fans. Thank you.
I'm afraid they all went into the scrapper as they probably waren't officially production cars but test cars instead. But who knows, maybe they are stored somewhere.
Those car would have probably needed a full rebuild , also they were not up to legal standard of a production car .. Test vehicles.. I dare say most of the vehicles live on as parts for other cars
Seat bases can be sold for scrap iron / steel. The plastic has no value. It would be nice if the office area could be restored and act as a museum for the company. They could also clean up the production lines and display some of the recent models produced there.
As a south African this too breaks my heart.
I happen to own a 406 Coupé, so it it very interesting to see what the factory where my car was built looks like nowadays.
After four years of ownership, I can safely say that San Giorgio Canavese made some high quality Automobiles (in 2000)
Stunning car man, really a future classic in my opinion.
I have one Too. Last Edition V6. One of the best looking cars ever
@@oldschoolski3983 Mine is only a lowly 2.0L but I needed something that was cheaper to run and maintain, as at the time it was my daily driver. But I got it for cheap and it still works almost flawlessly
Me too I have 7 of them! Amazing cars. 👍
I own a 306 Cabriolet, which was also built here. Quite sad how Pininfarina ended this way. It seems all they make now is coffee machines.
* Great Mission Guys ! Such a shame. The EB Bugatti plant is another beautiful state of the art plant left to rot. We have many abandoned plants here it Detroit too. Packard, Dodge Main, Chrysler Lynch Road etc. Most have met the wrecking ball others to follow. 😔
Thanks! The Bugatti plant is slated for demolition sadly enough.
@@ForgottenBuildings What a shame. There's a vid on here where a guy takes an EB110 back to the plant and drives though the final assembly line. Now empty. They talk to a maintenance guy who empties the buckets that catch the rainwater from the leaking roof. I remember the vids on that plant when it was running back in the 90's. It was such a modern high tech place. 😖
In the UK the sites of the historic industries (ship building, coal mines, steel, large manufacturing etc) have been eradicated so you wouldnt know they ever existed. Usually replaced by souless housing or retail/distribution.
Sadly, it's all in China now.
@@TomasGraf-rr6comakes me think of what happened to MG. I own and ❤❤ 2 MGBs, China will never reproduce the real thing 😢
@@forestghost7 Last year I rented a car in Mexico for 3 weeks. They gave me an MG5. From far away it didn't look bad. Up close.... awful. The absolutely cheapest materials - cheap plastics everwhere, fake chrome on the hand brake switch that was already wearing off at less than 30 thousand kilometres! dreadful underperforming tiny motor that couldn't keep up with other traffic. But it did have LED headlamps and a touch screen inside. I'd rather have a 10 year old Golf than the flimsy Chinese MG.
This has been happening, for decades In the US.. I recently lost my manufacturing job.. so I really feel for the workers ...😢
Imagine if we had to produce equipment for another conflict like WWI. We would be destroyed...We lack no only the factories but the skilled personnel that occupied them. Think about it, back in the 50's Chrysler engineers designed a jet powered car. Not long ago they had to recall the remainder of the surviving engineers to rebuild one of those old engines for Jay Leno.
@@jesses1589 The United States remains the largest arms exporter in the world and we do have the factories.
I had the chance to drive an Allante back when it was in production. It was an amazing car compared to anything made in America, especially during that era.
Sadly, it was overpriced and failed big time - ua-cam.com/video/3B7QqQR7arA/v-deo.html
The Peugeot 406 Coupé I owned 10 years ago was likely built here. It's a a shame the factory closed :(
Sometimes even being good at what you do isn't enough. The 406 Coupé and Brera* were beautiful attainable cars, but forces above that level intervened. Thankfully Pininfarina itself goes on.
*the Brera Spider was also designed by Pininfarina, but ironically the original Coupé is actually a Giugiaro design, so I'm surprised to learn that Pininfarina manufactured that version as well!
They did sometimes manufacture cars they didn't design: for instance the Volvo C70, second generation. It was co-produced between Volvo / Pininfarina, but it was designed in-house at Volvo, which is the reason it didn't get a 'Pininfarina' badge... which I think it deserved.
The Peugeot was a beautiful car. Great video 👍
I agree, thanks!
It breaks the heart to see such waste, if only someone could start that great factory up again.
I dare say a facility like that won't stay empty for too long .. may not be for cars but there is lots of space for manufacturing other stuff there
the building is surprisingly bright with just natural light, good design
Mate, an old Brit here, just found your site and watched the Fiat factory in Sicily.. These are amazing, important and historic records of Italy’s fantastic industrial heritage. In the past, I’ve owned a Lancia Trevi and Alfa 147. Both are seared in the heart with love ❤️ 🚗 💨 🇬🇧
Very sad to see any factory abandoned, but one with such heritage is even worse to me.
That's like a serious crime abandoning a Factory of The most famous car designer of The 80's and 90's
This is deeply deeply unsettling for me to watch. Its insane that all this equipment can't be used for anything, at all. It's also extremely inspiring, imagining all the things that could be built there. All the money that building and hardware represents, just sitting, circles me back to unsettled.
As a 2002 406 Coupe owner (since 2009), this video is absolutely fantastic. Lovely seeing where my car was made!
Writing this when sitting behind the wheel of my 2004 coupé. letting you know, you are not alone!
The 406 is the last beautiful Peugeot. I don't have the coupé, but I love my 406 STDT sedan.
@@TomasGraf-rr6co a few months ago i was overtaken by a sedan in the area of Massif Central, it was a downward road and the speeds were high.
It amazed me that the Sedan was driven at those speeds, the rear wheels almost lost contact while cornering.
it must be a nice car as the driver was very confident.
I had a 406 Coupe brand new when released here in the UK, so its interesting to see where it was made.
Awesome content, I feel and share your pain of the loss of such an historical part of car manufacturing history. Much like Pininfarina, here in Australia we had the mighty Holden car manufacturer. Decades upon decades of history unfortunately came to an end on the 20th October 2017.
Love the amount of history you added in while showing the current state! Definitely subbed
Welcome and thanks for the support!
There is a video on UA-cam with Andreas Pininfarina showing off the Cadillac Allante at the Birmingham NEC Motor Show in 1986. The title of the video is: 1986 Motor Show - Highlights - Birmingham NEC. Uploaded by MontyMotorsport and the timestamp is 33:32.
One of many casualties of the global car market trending towards increased consolidation. That includes design and manufacturing being done in-house instead of by specialist companies like Pininfarina.
It’s a shame, was a great time when these coach builders were still around
I have both opened new factories ( super exciting and super stressful ) and closed ones that were no longer needed ( usually depressing because they mark the end of an era,… and job losses). But I never left a factory looking like this. Typically all equipment would have been sold, auctioned off, or sent to the recycler. The building would have been brought back to a state where it could be sold or leased,… hopefully to another job creator.
The Peugeot 406 coupé... what a beautiful machine made for the common man.
As a car "nerd" i do love seeing half finished cars. And one of thesenwould be an amazing project for a automotive restoration channel to take on.
But Its also kindof depressing to see
That brera is a fine looking car.
Totally agree, timeless car still to this day
You forgot that they also built the true “poor man’s Ferrari” or “baby Ferrari” - Fiat Coupe, in that factory.
I totally forgot indeed, thought they were built at Gruigliasco (other Pininfarina factory) during my research. Would've been worth the mention.
They also built the Fiat Dino Spider and Fiat 130 Coupé and the Fiat 124 Spider
@@Schlipperschlopper they did, also in Grugliasco. Which was also abandoned for quite a long time.
When I first researched where the fiat coupe was built (since I owned one for 16 years) I found it was built at San Giorgio but upon further investigation from Italy I today found this:
“Pininfarina was entrusted with the mass production of the Coupé (on the reliable and versatile Tipo platform) at the Grugliasco plant.
The production capacity was 80 cars a day that were tested at the San Giorgio Canavese plant north of Turin.
The Fiat Coupé was produced from 1994 to 2000 for a total of 72698 units.”
So basically they built them on both plants but the vast majority of them at Gruigliasco plant what it appears.
@@smOOdiebOOdie Didnt knew they were using both facilities. Its pretty incredible that they transported them all over just to test them in San Giorgio Canavese.
Sad story, nice tour thanks allot
Glad you’ve enjoyed it!
Very insightful exploration. You seem to really do your research and explain everything very clearly.
As a kid I lusted after these beautiful designs and what drove me into an enthusiast. Without these talented auto designers, we are left with SUVs and the like, that resemble melted-down soap bars.
seeing a parking lot full of Alfas rotting away almost makes me cry
lol park an Alfa up for a day and it more then likely won't start .. Those things would have had 0 chance of ever starting again, not to mention the electric system would probably be shot to hell ..
@@kittyhawk9707 Nonsense, I recently started up a 2003 Fiat Stilo that had not run in years and was stored outside in the weather , it started without issue and even remembered my radio station presents. Those cars in the carpark would not of had VIN numbers and would of been missing all sorts of parts.
@@BradyWedding. A parked up Fiat is not a parked up/dumped Alfa and i was being sarcastic .. also you got lucky with that Stilo ..as Fiats whilst pretty shit ..are deffo not as bad as Alfas ;)
This is definitely the nicest abandoned car factory I've seen
I've been in many car factories, running and empty, that was a nice one.
Probably where they made the Fiat Coupe too. The Peugeot 406 Coupe was designed by Pininfarena but rejected by Fiat who designed it in-house but gave it to them to make.
The Coupe was made at the Grugliasco plant in Turin, they were tested here on the test track though
With the obvious value of a facility this enormous, it's ludicrous the company wouldn't spend a paltry sum to safeguard the premises. In the UK, large and/or historically significant buildings are rented at very low cost to caretakers in exchange for keeping our vandals and looters.
Yeh right, the uk does a top notch job of looking after it's 'heritage', in your dreams. The uk is a dump filled with idiots who wouldnknow their own heritage if it fell on their heads.
It's with very mixed feelings I watch movies like this, I'm glad you are making them, but I'm very sad to see former workplaces in this state,it meant so much for so many people and now the only thing that remains is the buildings and the memories.
Incredible video - just incredible! Thank you! Subscribed.
Welcome and thank you!
So sad to see a great company die.
This is what the scandal-mongers from Wall Street and the city of London want. They want to destroy the entire European industry.
Very cool walk around , sad to see the end of the car factory’s , should save some off those pictures as they will rot or be destroyed , a piece of history
Those Comau robots are still really expensive piece of machine for many modern car factories, its very sad to see how this iconic car designer ended up
Never tell people about an abandoned location. Before you know it there will be nothing left of the place
This was filmed in 2021. The factory has already fallen victim to vandalism unfortunately.
@@ForgottenBuildingsoh. That’s life I guess
Haha: as if it is impossible to find out where the Pininfarina plant used to be….
(Sssst! Don’t tell anyone about the internet. They might find out!!)
Uhuh
They should try turn that area into a museum
i have that car 406 coupe by pininfarina.. love it good looking car.. and it looks even better if you put bigger 18 inch wheels and tires and lower it 2 inches..
Such a shame. The most innovative and exciting design house ever to come from Italy, just destroyed by market forces. There will never be an equal to this company again, as the costs associated with low volume design and development would no longer be justifiable. I know the bean counters only consider the costs, but no one considers the heritage and beauty of Italian design.
BRAVO ! - Sehr gute Reportage ! - Danke.
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Thanks!
@@ForgottenBuildings - You are welcome. - Where are you from ?
.
Had a 406 coupè, absolutely loved it!!
That abandoned Brera Spider breaks my heart 😢
Those wheel multiples are worth a lot. Surprised that no one dismounted them and sold them.
Peugeot 406 coupe v6 a car someday i wish to own, such a beutiful design
It’s amazing that the company didn’t auction or sell the contents of the factory. The items would be put to good use and the company would recover some money. (Robots and production equipment, furniture, tools, etc.)
the san giorgio canavese plant the place where my beloved alfa brera was built, Ah I wanted sooo bad to see those prototypes, those notes, how a small scale production was handled.
Beautiful car man, the factory must’ve been even more amazing when everything was still intact
If you get a chance Visit the Holden Factory 🏭 Sad the way Great places are treated then demolished and forgotten.
Back in 1998 I bought a used 1994 Toyota Celica from a Ferrari dealership, it had been a trade-in. I stood next to a new Ferrari on the sales floor, with one of the Ferrari badges peeling off the body. And looked at the Celica, thinking, that's the better car. I was right, the Celica is still a wonderful car in 2024.
Great video, those images speak volumes.
Thanks for the support!
Wow this is amazing incredible footage and again thankyou for your hard work 😊❤🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🤝🍺🍻
Thanks mate!
What a Gem 💎 New subscriber! Great work very impressive!
Welcome and thanks!
I have a Alfa 156 GTA 3.2 V6, I will be keeping it as one of the best "Ferrari's" missed opportunity !
What I do notice is that the management tried to keep up with productivity with all the different models at the same time they were signing deals to ship cars by air making them unaffordable but they would be produced with beholding quality, even basic quality to allow future sales. Alfa Romeo is just one manufacturer who plays this particular role all too well, if only their cars would last.
The Indian brands that have taken over seem to have it almost being manufactured in a country with cheap labour but profit margins are low and office staff minimal and of course a government that helps and not to allow unions to rule.
It is great to see these kind of video's but unfortunately there are always people of opportunity out there that once viewed they track them down and remove anything valuable and often trash the places after. Although it is great to see them, sometimes I wish they could be just left or at least preserved in their original state
A sad end to such an iconic factory. Greetings from Australia. 👍 😀
A friend goes there a month ago, nothing’s left😢. All is gone since 2022
Damn! Even the robot arms?
@@ForgottenBuildings All. Now it’s just an empty shed. 😢
Videos like this help that kind of stuff to happen...
Interesting and sad at the same time
This is what the scandal-mongers from Wall Street and the city of London want. They want to destroy the entire European industry.
I have an Alfa GTV which was designed by Pininfarina and made at the now closed Arese factory, later production moved to the, now closed, Pininfarina factory. It's such a shame to hear that these great production areas closed. Eventually we'll be hostage to foreign powers for everything, we sell the capability and knowledge and buy the product back but eventually they'll have it all and we'll have nothing.
should be turned in to a museum for pininfaria cars
Would've been a nice idea!
There is one already, at the R&D center in Cambiano, Turin.
My fist job I was 17. Springfield pa Cadillac dealer. They gave me the keys to many allantes and trusted me to drive them to the car wash.. lol. Once I would get about a block away from dealer I would stop and floor it.. you know for testing purposes lol
I owned the 3.0V6 coupe. I miss that car and will buy another one day. 👍🇬🇧
I own a Peugeot 205 Cabrio made by pininfarina and grew up in the back seat of my dad‘s Peugeot 406 Coupé he purchased new in 1999 - also made by pininfarina. What a shame, what a tragedy.
Thank you for this video, even if it breaks my heart.
Glad you enjoyed it, you’re dad had a beautiful car man
Glad you enjoyed it, you’re dad had a beautiful car
if there's still parts to put together a Brera/Spyder I think I'll go there and help myself
Pininfarina also built the Ford Street Ka
Indeed, totally forgot that one during editing it!
As a 306 cabriolet and a 406 coupé owner, loved this intersting vidéo !
Great video but very sad also 😞😞
Perfect example that by far not every development is an improvement!!!! Soooooo sad. Industrial jobs are the most important onces. Once they are gone, they are almost impossible to be replaced. I hope that once again there will be cars produced in this renovated factory!!
Great!! I live 1 hour from the factory and I have a Brera. I need to visit..
Regarding Cadillac the car was built here in Europe so why not sell it here as well like the Cadillac BLS that was a Saab 93 it was built at Trollhattan sold in Europe but why not also sell it in North America, GM really were crap at marketing there cars no wonder they ruined Saab and sold Vauxhall/Opel .
For the same reason that the Allante failed in the US - the Mercedes SL was a much better car at a very similar price.
That's very true! While the SL was much better quality, the design was getting long in the tooth when the Allante came around. Too bad Mercedes had to replace it with the garbage R129. Quality was ruined and the new sporty was a joke.
The tech nerd in me would want to get that stuff running just to play with it. Imagine the fun things you could do with that robot.
I had a 406 coupé, great car but it was a nightmare to find spare parts.
This is so sad as Cadillac Allante was beautiful and so far ahead of its time and so under appreciated now it’s just a sad memory 😢 even after all these years the Allante looks and style remained truly iconic
"The new Allanté" @3:50
How many others couldn't help but see Kelly Bundy and the Bundy bounce? 😂
What an amazing documentary! By the way are you Dutch?
I think he ish
good upload
thanks
Great video! As a car lover, it's very interesting.