The Art of Conservation

The story of rediscovering a very important historic vehicle and its conservation whereby the car has been treated as a work of art, saving as much as possible of the amazingly well preserved original. Drawing on art and archaeological techniques, prominent Italian collector Corrado Lopresto decided to clean only half the car, leaving the other half frozen in time. In the uncleaned half, Lopresto preserved everything (including the dust) under a thin layer of transparent matt lacquer. The cleaned part has not been restored either, but has been saved by retouching in such a way that the original aspects are not affected. This book "Alfa Romeo SVZ Coda Tronca: The Art of Conservation" captures the rediscovery of this historic vehicle and the way it has been preserved - a fascinating tale of art meeting automobile.