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A family of Italian petrol memorabilia enthusiasts is seeking Bahraini backers to set up a petrol museum in the kingdom.
Guido Fisogni and his son Nicolo believe that as Bahrain was the first place on the Arabian side of the Gulf where oil was discovered it would make an ideal location to place their coveted collection.
They believe the project, based on a former Guinness Book of World Records celebrated museum, could become a major tourist attraction.
Mr Fisogni Jr, 26, a financial adviser, said: “The museum was located in a factory near Milan but it closed down after the family business did, so now it is packaged and looking for a new site.
“My father and I thought of moving the museum to one of the Gulf states because of the connection with oil. All the items are connected to major oil and petrol-related companies including Shell, BP, Exxon-Mobil and so on.
“My father has been going around Europe and the US collecting petrol pumps. Many have been found in old plants, since before the time distribution of gasoline became readily available from roadside locations. Many firms in the early days used to have a petrol pump in the yard of their own buildings.
“We are hopeful that someone in the Gulf States will understand and appreciate the beauty of the collection. We simply want to showcase the history of petrol as it has been a vital component of the world economy for more than 100 years and there is not a significant museum highlighting its distribution.”
Mr Fisogni, Sr, 70, lives between Palazzolo Milanese and Lake Como, and had a firm which used to build petrol stations in Italy and Albania.
During his 40 years in the business he collected numerous petrol-related mementoes and founded his first museum in 1966, known as the Fisogni Museum.
Located a few kilometres away from Milan, although now closed it still stores an impressive collection exclusively dedicated to the history of filling stations and the oil industry from petrol pumps and signboards to compressors and tools which contributed to powering the globe.
The museum features more than 7,500 pieces including 150 gasoline pumps, 2,000 oil tanks and a selection of other equipment such as grease-cups, fire extinguishers and air compressors and an incredible array of accessories, gadgets and toys bearing the logos of many automotive companies, past and present.
Some of the objects date between 1890 and 1950 and have been completely restored by experts and continue to function.
The museum was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records in March 2000 for housing petrol pumps ranging in age from a 1910 Tokheim self-measuring pump to a 1981 FIMAC Benaglia ‘Lux 60 Puma’ volumetric pump.
The petrol buffs prefer to relocate the museum in a location preferably linked to motor racing and with an oil producing history which makes Bahrain a perfect fit as the first nation in the region to stage Formula One races as well as proudly boasting the first oil well. It is situated below Jebel Dukhan and was operated by Bahrain Petroleum Company.
Oil first spurted from this well on October 16, 1931, and the well finally began to blow heads of oil on the morning of June 2, 1932. The initial oil flow rate was 400 barrels per day and by the 1970s the well produced 70,000. The discovery of oil coincided with the collapse of the world pearl market.
One of the Fisogni family’s most prized possessions, a pump estimated to be worth half a million euros, was designed by architect Piacentini for former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in ‘littorio’ style. The museum logo (a red pump with two columns) is also considered a valuable piece.
* For more information visit www.museo-fisogni.org or email Nicolo nick.fiso@live.it There are also 23 videos on YouTube titled ‘Fisogni museum of the petrol station’, two of which are in English. Also, visit the website www.museo-fisogni.org or look at the 23 videos on Youtube searching Fisogni museum of the petrol station, two of them are in English.
