Quotation for the day: Rudi Volti

Italy led the way with construction of the first autostrada, a limited-access, divided road that linked Milan with Varese and Lake Como, a distance of about 30 miles (50 km).  Completed in 1925, the autostada was designed for speeds of 36 mph (60 kph), a rapid clip in those days.  Primarily intended to serve as a showpiece for the "New Roman Empire" of Benito Mussolini, the autostrada was of limited importance at a time when very few Italians owned cars.

Rudi Volti, Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004; reprinted: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006) 47.