03-Italian automobile manufacturers

Automotive industry in Italy
Italy is the one the most significant automobile producers in Europe and World.
Italy’s automotive industry is best known for its automobile designs and small city cars,
sports and supercars.
Today the Italian automotive industry is almost totally dominated by Fiat Group, in 2001
over 90% of vehicles were produced by it. Besides its mass market model range, Fiat also
owns the upmarket Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands as well as the exotic
Ferrari and Maserati.
History of Fiat
On July 11, 1899 the Fiat company was founded. The name comes from Fabbrica Italiana
Automobili Torino. Giovanni Agnelli was one of the original investors.
The first factory opened in 1900. With only 150 workers they could produce 24 cars a year. One of
them was the 3/12 HP. In 1904 Biscaretti designed an oval logo with a blue background.
It was 1908 that Fiat was exported to the United States. They were now making marine engines,
trams, trucks, commercial vehicles and aircraft.
During World War I, Fiat had to devote all of its factories to supply the Allies with aircraft, engines,
machine guns, trucks, and ambulances.
The Lingotto, the first automobile factory was completed in 1922. It was the largest factory in
Europe. t was the first Fiat factory to use assembly lines.
Fiat 418
Fiat BR.20
In the 1930's technology in cars advanced. During the years of Mussolini's autarchic
policy, Fiat had to focus on the domestic market and cars as The Balilla, also called “Tariffa”
minima for its low consumption of fuel, and Topolino came out
in 1934 and 1936.
Balilla
}The Topolino was the smallest car in the world
and remained in production until 1955.
Topolino
After the war, new cars showed Fiat innovative ideas such as the 500 and the 1400.
Fiat 500
Fiat 1400
In 1958, the period of the Italian economic boom, the production increases enormously. Cars as the
600 and the new 500 were presented.
In 1960 Fiat introduced the “Giardinetta” version car, a precursor of the Station Wagon Style.
Through out the years Fiat produced excellent cars, such as: Tempra, Fiat Punto, Multipla, Doblò,
Ulysse, Panda. Etc.
As Fiat celebrated their 100th anniversary they changed the logo to a round one.
Today the attractive styling and the exciting engines of the Fiat Brand are improved the quality of
everyday life, but first of all, the Fiat Brand has became the emblem of our heritage and tradition.
History of Lancia
Lancia was founded on november 1906 in Turin, by Vincenzo Lancia and his friend Claudio
Fogolin, both technicians and racing car drivers at the FIAT motor company. Lancia automobile
was famous for elegance and technical innovation.
The logo showed a lance, a shield and a flag.
The first Lancia automobile the “tipo 51”.was made in 1907.
In 1913, the Theta was the first revolutionary car built with an electrical engine system.
In 1921, the Trikappa was a prestigious luxury car with the first 8 cylinders engine in the world.
But the most revolutionary model, emblematic of the brand’s philosophy was the Lancia Lambda. A
car ever built with a monocoque- type body, independent suspensions and a luggage compartment
built into the body-structure.
Pioneers in the term of comfort, Lancia engineers launched cars
as: The Augusta, Artena and Austura. Ardea and Aprilia.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s years the brand was involved in motor
sport. Special cars were designed for competitions and the
results were excellent.
In the same years the company presented “Aurelia”, the
absolute highlight car in the Lancia history. The car was
available in different models: Coupe and Spider, both designed
by Pinin Farina.
The following years were very hard for the Lancia expensive and advanced cars and the company
was taken over by Fiat in 1984.
Cars as Thema, Flavia, Delta, Dedra were produced as well many sport cars for international really
events.
Flavia
From the ‘90s to the present days, the company introduced the Lancia Y with a range of different
“Kaleidos” shades to choose.
The dawn of the third millennium saw the launch of the Phedra, the Thesis fitting with innovative
solutions as a Key-Less system, an electric parking brake, comfortable electric seats with
ventilation and massage functions, sunroof with solar power cells, adaptive cruise control and
electronic controlled suspensions (sky-hook), the new Ypsilon, the Musa, and the last queen of the
road: the Lancia Delta Executive.
Musa
History of Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo is an Italian manufacturer of cars with a reputation for building expensive sports cars.
It was founded on June 24, 1910, in Milan as A.L.F.A. an acronym for Anonima Lombardia
Fabbrica Automobili. by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with some Italian investors.
The Alfa Romeo logo contains two symbols of its hometown Milan, the red cross and the snake of
the famous Visconti family.
The company at first was more a sports car specialist and has been involved in car racing ever since
the birth of 24 HP model in 1910.
In 1915 Nicola Romeo, a mathematical teacher from Naples , took over the management of the
company and brought considerable changes in the factory’s assembly converting it to produce
military hardware during the war.
In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP.
24 HP
In 1928 Nicola Romeo left Alfa Romeo as defence contracts expired and in 1932 it was
rescued by the Benito Mussolini's government.
During this period Alfa Romeo built vehicles for wealthy people like the legendary Alfa
Romeo 2900B Type 35
After the Second World War, Alfa Romeo produced the 158 Alfetta that became eligible for
the newly-created Formula One.
In 1950 Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158
Smaller mass-produced vehicles began to be produced in Alfa's factories in 1954, with the
introduction of the Giulietta series of berline coupes and open two-seaters.
Later the company developed the Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine, which would remain in
production until 1995.
In the 1960s Alfa Romeo was bought by the Italian government parent
company, Finmeccanica which produced a number of sporty cars and became famous for its
models specifically designed for the Italian police.
In 1967 the famous film "The Graduate" gave unforgettable worldwide celebrity to the
"Spider" designed by Pininfarina.
By the 1970s Alfa Romeo was in financial trouble and in November 1986 it was bought by
Fiat.
The Alfa Romeo brand is today stronger than it has been for a long time, fostering its unique
racing heritage with a great range of cars from the fresh 166, via the wonderful 156 to the
GTV/Spider sportscars.
Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport,
including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and
rallies.
History of Maserati
Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of racing and sports cars, founded on December 1, 1914 in
Bologna by four brothers: Alfieri, Ettore, Ernesto and later Bindo Maserati.
The company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident that evoked Bologna’s
famous statue of Neptune.
The first all-Maserati car was the Tipo 26 with an 8-cylinder engine, designed and built by Alfieri
Maserati in 1926.
Alfieri himself first raced the Tipo 26 car and won its class at the 1926 Targa Florio beating the
strong Bugatti team.
In 1937, the Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, even if
they continued in engineering roles with the company. The company headquarters was relocated in
Modena in 1940, where it is still today.
In 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, it was the only Italian manufacturer ever to do
so.
During the Second World War, Maserati abandoned its cars’ production to produce components for
the Italian war effort, but returned to its original activities after the war, with a new car,
the Maserati A6 series that did well in the post-war racing scene.
In 1968 the French car manufacturer Citroen took over the Italian firm of Maserati and Adolfo Orsi
remained the nominal president. The Citroen Maserati deluxe sporting coupe was launched,
combining the technical strengths of both companies.
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In 1975 Alejandro de Tomaso, an Argentinian former racing driver, bought Maserati from Citroën
and became the managing director.
One year later new models were introduced such as the Maserati Kyalami and the Maserati
Quattroporte III in 1979.
The turning point for Maserati came in 1993 when the company was acquired by Fiat.
In 1998, a new chapter began in Maserati's history when the company launched the 3200 GT, a twodoor coupé whose top speed was 285 km/h.
In 2002 it was replaced by the Maserati Spyder and Coupé , which later were replaced by
the GranTurismo and GranCabrio.
.
In 1997 Fiat Auto sold a 50% share in the company to Maserati's rival Ferrari.
In 1999 Ferrari gained full ownership of Maserati, relaunched its prestigious marque and new
models have been shown to the public: the MC12 road supersports, GT racer and the
new Quattroporte.
In 2001 Ferrari installed high-tech devices in the Modena factory, making it one of the most highly
developed in the world.
In 2005, control of Maserati was split off from Ferrari and merged with Alfa Romeo under Fiat
Auto. And so, Maserati history continues to push forward, building more than 2,000 cars each year,
including the GranSport.
Throughout its history, Maserati has participated in various forms of motorsports
including Formula One, sportscar racing and touring car racing.
History of Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari created his company Scuderia Ferrari in Modena in 1929 with the main purpose of
organizing racing for its members.
The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing horse on a yellow shield,
usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari, and with three stripes of the Italian national colors
green-white-red on top
In 1933 the Scuderia became a division of Alfa Romeo and took overall control of the racing
team.
The connection with Alfa Romeo came to an end in 1940 and the company established itself
as an independent organization called "Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari" that officially
manufactured aircraft accessories for a few years.
15 years later Ferrari began to create their own road cars in 1946.
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 Sport, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine.
125 Sport
In 1950 Ferrari fielded his racing cars in Monaco on the occasion of the first edition of the Formula
1 World Championship and the year after Froilan Gonzalez won the first Grand Prix for Ferrari.
In November 1961 internal tensions between Enzo Ferrari and his sales manager, Girolamo
Gardini, turned into a crisis and the manager threatened to leave the company. Enzo Ferrari has
never been a man to accept a challenge to his authority and threw out Girolamo Gardini and
several employees who agreed with him.
This was a huge loss for the Ferrari company and the crisis deepened when those who had been
thrown out formed their own company - Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS). Mauro Forghieri and
Sergio Scaglietti, a young engineer and a racing bodyman respectively, assumed responsibility and
finished the development of 250 GTO; a new 250-based model that could compete with the Jaguar
E-type.
250 GTO
The '60s started out pretty good for Ferrari: Phil Hill won the Formula 1 championship in 1961
using V6 race car nicknamed "Dino."
It was the era of the swooping 250 Testa Rossa.
250 Testa Rossa
In the mid-1960s the foundation of Lamborghini, which launched the so-called “supercar”,
challenged the Ferrari, that responded with another masterpiece, the front-engined V12 “Daytona”
365TB/4.
“Daytona” 365TB/4
Later financial pressure affected Ferrari, to solve the problem Enzo sold 50 percent stakes of his
company to local FIAT in 1969. The FIAT concentrated on building road cars, while Enzo retained
control over the racing division Until his death in 1988 at the age of ninety.
Ferrari enjoyed a successful spell in Formula 1 in the 1970s, with Niki Lauda winning the World
Championship in 1975 and 1977 and Jody Scheckter in 1979.
In the mid-1980s Ferrari built a limited edition of supercars such as 288GTO and F40 the
realization of Enzo Ferrari's dream. The last one was built to celebrate the company's 40th
anniversary and it was the last car enveiled by Enzo.
F40
In 1991, Luca di Montezemolo took the reins of the Prancing Horse and the supercar line continued
with the F50 and the Testarossas that continued to be built through the mid-90s.
The German driver Michael Schumacher raced Ferraris to seven F1 championships between 1994
and 2004.
The team's records include fourteen World Drivers Championship titles, fourteen World
Constructors Championship titles, 179 grand prix victories.
Famous drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Chinetti, Alberto Ascari, Phil
Hill, Mike Hawthorn, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Gerhard Berger,
Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.
History of Lamborghini
“Automobili Lamborghini” SPA was founded in 1963 by a tractor builder Ferruccio Lamborghini
Owner of Oscas, Maseratis and Ferraris, he was always disappointed with their engines, so he
started to get interested in developing a high performance car.
One day, he went to visit Enzo Ferrari whose factory was nearby. Enzo had no time for a tractor
manufacture and simply dismissed him. So Lamborghini decided to build his own car with a V12
engine.
The Lamborghini "350 GTV" prototype was shown to the public on the Turin Auto Show of 1963.
The car was called the 350 GT. It was a complete success.
The Charging Bull Logo was inspired by Lamborghini zodiacal sign (Taurus).
The 350 GT was succeeded by the 400 GT 2+2. Both made the Lamborghini name known
throughout the world. With the funds coming in from these cars and his successful tractor business,
Lamborghini allowed his engineers to design a new car - the Lamborghini Miura. The Miura made
the Lamborghini name legendary. It shocked even companies like Ferrari and Maserati.
The Miura was first shown on November 1965 at the Turin Auto Show by Ferruccio Lamborghini
himself
The car was very aggressively styled, and an appropriate name was chosen for it, the Miura, a name
taken from the ferocious Spanish fighting bulls.
In 1973, at the Geneva Auto Show, Lamborghini shocked the world again with his revolutionary
LP400 Countach
In 1974 disaster struck. A massive order of tractors for a south American country was cancelled.
The company lost a lot of money, so Lamborghini decided to sell part of his share in the factory,
that was taken over by Fiat.
During the years of the oil crisis in the 70's the sales dropped and the business survived thanks to
the sales of Miura.
In 1978 the company declared bankruptcy, fortunately a Swiss based group called the Mimran
brother's were able to save the factory.
The Mimran brothers sold the company to Chrysler Corporation while they were working on a
Countach successor - the Diablo.
Again, the result was an outstanding success, the new Lamborghini Diablo got rave reviews
everywhere it went
However in 1994 Chrysler fell upon hard times and had to sell the company
It was bought by an Indonesian investment group headed by Tommy Suharto.
In the late 90's the German company Audi AG became the owner of “Automobili Lamborghini”.
Audi took an active role in designing the Murcielago, a flashy new supercar for the new
millennium.
Today the company still retains his name.
Beyond their high engineering, their luxury standards and their extravagant design, Lamborghini
cars are a rare example of automotive architecture considered as a work of art.