Beyond Milan, Via Ornato changes its name into Via Vittorio Veneto and becomes the main street of Bresso. The little church Madonna del Pilastrello rises just after entering the city at the very heart of the historical centre of Bresso. Just few metres and you can see the unique entrance of the old Iso factory, now owned by the RAM, a haulage firm.
The hangars forming the complex have so much mantained their aspect during the past thirty years that still now it is possible to recognize the foreshortenings shown in some picture of those days.
The industrial area is surrounded by the city park, calle dafter Renzo Rivolta, and by the villa and its gardens.

The history of this factory is in paractice the history of the origins of Iso itself.
When in 1939 Renzo Rivolta bought the villa, at that time owned by the nobles Patellanis, and changed its name into Villa Rivolta, a great park full of trees, gardens and stables was enclosed to it. Towards the end of World War II the enterprising Renzo decided to sacrifice a part of the holding to build some hangars, meant for the production activity of his just  founded factory, the Isothermos, which mainly produced radiators and refrigerators. This kind of production required a larger area than the one the villa could offer.
So the hangars, still visible from via Vittorio Veneto 66,  were built up.
After the War the factory production was converted into motor production, scooters and light motor-cycles became the core business  of Isothermos, whose name was changed simply into Iso in a very short time. The raising necessity of larger spaces compelled the construction of new buildings and hangars for the assembly line, the storehouse and the canteen.
In the middle of the 50s the factory had reached considerable dimensions, annexing an area next to the villa, where the test track rose, edged by other hangars and the aqueduct tower. The connection between the two areas was underground, through a tunnel which is still practicable.
The Iso counted formerly 300 employees; that was a significant figure of Bresso active population. The Rivoltas’ factory definitely marked the inhabitants’ daily life, governed by the siren which drew the workers in the morning or announced the end of the day in the evening. Every inhabitant had practically  a relative or a friend at least working for the Iso!

In the large and modern hangars the production of Isetta could be started parallely to the production of motor-cycles and four and three wheeled vans. But from 1962 the beginning of the gran turismo era compelled a rational altering of the inner spaces and the introduction of the new machinery, as the modern and efficient car assembly lane.

Iso rivolta GT, Iso Grifo, S4 and Fidia were conceived and projected in those spaces. But during the presentation period of Iso Lele in 1969 an agreement was signed to decree the assignment of the hangars from Iso to other factories. The conception of all the models (except the Varedo) is strongly bound to Bresso, where the commitment and the imagination of many men contributed to teh rising of original and fascinating vehicles, which are nowadays difficult to find.


Text by Flavio Campetti