Benedetto Camerana: The Automobile Ignites Emotions

The automobile as culture, beyond mere passion, is at the heart of Fritz Kaiser’s creation: Roarington. It is no coincidence, then, that his meeting three years ago with Architect Benedetto Camerana, President of the MAUTO – National Automobile Museum of Turin, immediately sparked the opportunity for a strong and meaningful collaboration between the two.
MAUTO, whose mission is to be a “global cultural hub rooted in the automobile”, is currently experiencing an exciting period of growth that validates the visionary direction set by its President.

Camerana is a cultivated and dynamic man, a landscape architect, a passionate art lover, a scholar of philosophy and sociology, and, of course, a devoted automobile enthusiast. Over the years, he has successfully curated exhibitions that intertwine the automobile with themes such as art, photography, cinema, music, literature, and design. The results speak for themselves: in just ten years, the number of visitors has quadrupled, surpassing 400,000 in 2024, firmly placing MAUTO among the great museums of Italy.

For Camerana, the many tourists visiting Turin each year are but a small fraction compared to the immense worldwide fascination for Italian automotive history—particularly now, in the booming markets of the East. Hence the importance of leveraging the sophisticated technologies of Roarington’s Classic Car Metaland to share MAUTO and its exhibitions with a truly global audience. Camerana highlights that Mercedes-Benz’s decision to bring the cars of its prestigious Stuttgart Museum into Roarington stands as a powerful endorsement of this strategy’s quality and vision.

The MAUTO – National Automobile Museum of Turin looks to the future alongside Roarington, united by a mission to spread passion and appreciation for automotive history.

On the experiential side, even at the very start of its collaboration with Roarington, the Turin Museum adopted driving simulators by Pininfarina and Zagato, offering virtual driving sessions behind the wheel of classic cars exhibited in the museum itself. The success of this initiative has led, just recently, to the decision to create a true “Virtual Classic Car Dome”, where these simulators will allow visitors to experience legendary routes such as the Mille Miglia, another key partner in this project.

At the same time, leveraging Roarington’s virtual world, MAUTO has established its own digital space, where visitors can admire Digital Twins of extraordinary and rare cars, such as the Lancia D24 Sport, winner of the Carrera Panamericana, and the one-of-a-kind FIAT Turbina, a magnificent prototype born in the jet age. “Cars are symbols that ignite emotions, memories, and experiences”, says Camerana. “They cannot be confined to Turin alone if MAUTO is to truly embody the Global Cultural Center they represent.”

That’s why a living, active virtual extension like Roarington’s world is essential. “The virtual and the real must strengthen each other in synergy”, says Fritz Kaiser, who, as a collector, deeply loves real cars but also knows that the Virtual Classic Car Dome in Turin will become an exciting meeting place to fuel interest and passion for the automobile and its culture. A perfect and lasting synergy reinforced every day by the vibrant world of Roarington’s Classic Car Metaland.

Within Roarington, the soon-to-open MAUTO Virtual Showroom showcases Digital Twins of legendary cars such as the Lancia D24, the Fiat Turbina and the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante.