Automobile Club d'Italia

{{Short description|Not-for-profit statutory corporation of the Italian Republic}}

The Automobile Club d'Italia (usually known by its acronym ACI) is a not-for-profit statutory corporation of the Italian Republic. The club originated through the efforts of Count Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia as the "Automobile Club of Turin" founded in Turin on 6 December 1898.{{Cite web|title=La storia: L' Automobile Club Torino |date=15 March 2022 |publisher=Automobile Club d'Italia |language=it |url=https://torino.aci.it/lac-torino/chi-siamo/la-storia.html |access-date=2024-09-05}}{{Cite magazine|first=Craig |last=Fitzgerald |date=August 2009 |title=Lancia: Variations on the same theme |magazine=Hemmings Sports and Exotics |language=en |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/lancia/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/iTUeK?https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/lancia |archive-date=19 June 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=2024-09-05}} It first became a national association in 1905 when it joined together with other local automotive clubs. In 1927 the corporate body was formed by royal decree,{{Cite web|author=Victor Emmanuel III |author-link=Victor Emmanuel III of Italy |title=Regio Decreto-Legge 15 marzo 1927, n. 436 |publisher=Portale Normattiva |language=it |url=https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:regio.decreto.legge:1927-03-15;436 |access-date=2024-09-05}} with the task of promoting and regulating the car sector and to represent car owners' interests in the country.{{Cite web|title=Cos'è l'Aci |publisher=Studio Cataldi |language=it |url=https://www.studiocataldi.it/articoli/38222-aci-cos-e-l-automobil-club-d-italia.asp |date=29 April 2020 |first=Annamaria |last=Villafrate |access-date=2024-09-05}}

The corporation was called the {{lang|it|Reale Automobile Club d'Italia|i=no}} (RACI, or "Royal Automobile Club of Italy") until 1946, when the monarchy was abolished, and it dropped the royal appellation.

In 2014 the Italian parliament attempted to end official financial support for the ACI, by eliminating the "public automobile register" (PRA) fees administered by the ACI, and merging the functions into the Motorizzazione (motor vehicle agency under the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport). The ACI successfully avoided its dissolution.{{Cite news|title=Ecco come il governo è riuscito a salvare il carrozzone Aci dal tracollo |trans-title=Here's how the government saved the ACI's gravy train from collapse |date=24 April 2014 |newspaper=Espresso |language=it |url=https://espresso.repubblica.it/palazzo/2014/04/24/news/ecco-come-il-governo-e-riuscito-a-salvare-il-carrozzone-aci-dal-tracollo-1.162883|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160930215433/http://espresso.repubblica.it/palazzo/2014/04/24/news/ecco-come-il-governo-e-riuscito-a-salvare-il-carrozzone-aci-dal-tracollo-1.162883|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2016}}{{Cite news|last=Statera |first=Alberto |date=10 November 2014 |title=Oltre il Giardino |trans-title=Beyond the Garden |quote=La lobby più forte d'Italia è quella dell'Aci. |trans-quote=The strongest lobby in Italy is the ACI. |newspaper=La Repubblica |language=it |url=https://www.repubblica.it/economia/affari-e-finanza/2014/11/10/news/oltre_il_giardino-100177842/?ref=search |access-date=2024-09-05}}