Italy's Automotive History

AUTOITALO

1895 Enrico Bernardi builds the first Italian car An engineering professor at the University of Padua. The car had three wheels much like the first Benz

1898 Fiat is started Giovanni Agnelli and partners founded a small firm in Turin that becomes Fiat.

1901 Isotta Fraschini Isotta established, equivalent of Duesenberg, Rolls-Royce or Bugatti. Known for supreme engineering and world-class styling.

1906 Lancia Founded Vincenzo Lancia first prototype is destroyed by fire in

1907 First Targa Florio Race Vincenzo Florio conceived a race over the mountains and through the woods & villages of Sicily. Three laps of 150km. Driver Gino Macaluso called it "perfume, color and the extraordinary passion of people celebrating".

1908 Lancia produces first production car the Alpha with a 4 cylinder

1909 Lancia introduces the Beta automobile

1910 Alfa begins Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili or A.L.F.A. for short produces first car in a new factory outside of Milan.

1912 Bertone Founded Giovanni Bertone creates company that produces body parts and components for other companys.

1919 Carrozzeria Zagato begins Zagato, a bodyworks and design company Zagato's impact on Italian car design was major. There have also been Zagato bodied Alfas, Lancias, Fiats, Porsches, Maseratis, Bristols, Aston Martins, OSCAs and even a Jaguar XK140 along the way. The Zagato family is still very much in control of the company today.

1923 Ghia founded Giacinto Ghia started his own coach building firm 1926 First Maserati built named the Tipo 26

1927 First Mille Miglia Giovanni Canestrini, Renzo Castagneto, Aymo Maggi and Giacomo Mazzotti all came from Brescia. The race began in Brescia, traveled 1000 miles to Rome and back; Florence, Ferrara and Verona were among the stops along the way. Interrupted by World War II, it would become one of the most famous motorsports events in the world.

1932 Alfieri Maserati, dies

1936 Alfa 8C 2900 is created The most significant pre-War Alfa, and certainly one of the most important cars in the Alfa history, the 8C 2900 was a fast race car. The production version, dubbed 2900 B was the world's fastest sports car.

1937 Fiat 500 Topolino introduced 1938 Vittorio Jano leaves Alfa to join Lancia in 1938

1939 Maserati wins at Indy Maserati running as the Boyle Specials took back-to-back wins in 1939-40 at the hands of American driver Wilbur Shaw. They were the first, and so far only, Indy wins for Italian cars. Shaw, became Indys first three-time winner in 1940, previously winning in 1937.

World War II

1947 The first Ferrari is built Cisitalia 202 Debuts this Pinin Farina (Pininfarina) body design defined post-war sports car design. OSCA Formed by Maserati Brothers The Officina Specializzata Costruzione Automobili Fratelli Maserati (OSCA for short) in Bologna, Italy. Intent on building race cars, their top success was the 1500 OSCA Sport that helped Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd win a class victory at Sebring in 1954.

1948 Vignale Founded Alfredo Vignale starts his own carrozzezia in Turin

1949 Ferrari wins at Le Mans Luigi Chinetti drove a 2-liter Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta

1950 Alfa Romeo 1900 A virtually all-new Alfa for a new decade, it served as the bridge between pre-war Alfas and the Giulietta that was to follow in 1954. Several carrozzeria contributed body designs, but most were done by Touring. Handsome, well-built, and collector's prizes among today's Alfisti.

1951 Scaglietti Body Works is formed outside of Modena The coachworks constructor of choice by Ferrari, relationship continues presently.

1955 Fiat Styling Hires Giorgetto Giugiaro one of the most legendary careers in automotive design. From Fiat, Giugiaro designed for Bertone, then Ghia, to forming his own firm, Italdesign, in 1968.

1952 Siata 208S & Other Fiat 8V Projects The Siata 208S, was introduced somewhat resembling a scaled down Cobra, using the all new 70-degree overhead valve 2-liter V8. The 8V moniker came from Fiat's understanding that the term "V8" had been patented by Henry Ford. Alberto Ascari won in '52 & '53 on the Italian race circuit for Ferrari.

1953 Alfa B.A.T. Cars Franco Scaglione designs three aerodynamic studies for Alfa, dubbed the B.A.T.s. The first, B.A.T. appeared In 1955 1957 Final Mille Miglia Piero Taruffi, at the wheel of a 4.1-liter Ferrari, won the final "real" Mille. The event continued in rally form from 1958-60, then was abandoned entirely.

1955 Ferrari or Lancia? Nobody questions Fangio's greatness as a driver, but his ride to the 1956 F1 driving title is considered by some to be more Lancia than Ferrari. Lancia was developing the D50 F1 car when the company was sold to industrialist Carlo Pesenti. He padlocked the racing department, and the project was inherited some say at no cost by Ferrari. Jano went with the package and Fangio wheeled the result to another world driving championship.

1957 Maserati IFS litle Fangio drove the all-conquering 250F Maserati to yet another world driving title for himself, and Maserati's last as a constructor Final Mille Miglia Won by Piero Taruffi in a Ferrari

1959 DeTomaso Automobili Argentine-born Alejandro DeTomaso and wife Isabelle Haskell DeTomaso, an exceptionally competent race driver in her own right, formed their own works in Modena. They concentrated on building Formula Junior, Formula 3 and sports racing cars.

1961 Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS) formed group of engineers drivers and other personnel leave Ferrari to form ATS 2500 GT was first road car, body designed by Michelotti.

1962 Iso Rivolta introduced Renzo Rivolta a refrigeration industrialist trys to build a better Ferrari. Body Designed by Giorgetto Guigiaro, coach work by Bertone and an American V8. GTO introduced by Ferrari Only 36 were built, some consider it the most collectable full-bodied Ferrari Dominated the road racing circuit for the next three years.

1963 Ford bids for Ferrari. Henry Ford II was interested in acquiring an exotic Italian car company. The deal was in final stages when discussion of Ferrari's beloved racing teams came up. Enzo Ferrari found out that Ford would have been able to say where Ferrari could or could not race, the reported $18 million deal was off.

1965 Giorgetto Guigiaro joins Ghia Marcello Gandini joins Bertone Lamborghini Miura experimental chassis are shown at Geneva. DeTomaso introduces his first production model, the Vallelunga. AIfa puts the GTV into production Ferrari wins its most recent victory at Le Mans

1966 P400 Miura The Lamborghini Miura was worked on by: Giampaolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzini, test driver Bob Wallace and designer Marcello Gandini and designer Giorgetto Guigiaro. The Miura revolutionized exotic sports car design with a transverse, mid-mounted V12, a racing derived chassis, and beautiful body design. Duetto introduced Duetto came into the Alfa Romeo lineup. The Pininfarina-designed roadster was a dramatic and would say in production with updates and changed form, through 1994.

1968 Ital Design formed by Giorgetto Giugiaro 365 GTB/4 Daytona Ferrari 365 GTB/4 with the long hood, short deck, two-passenger lines was designed by Pininfarina. The engine was a 352-hp version of the 4-cam Lampredi V12, with a rear-mounted 5-speed transaxle. The "Daytona" moniker was never officially applied by the factory, instead rubbing off on the car from Ferrari's stunning GT win there a year earlier.

1969 Fiat acquires a 40% interest in Ferrari Vignale acquired by DeTomaso / Ford Alfredo Vignale dies in car crash shortly after his company was acquired by DeTomaso / Ford

1970 DeTomaso runs Formula 1 team for the last time.

1971 DeTomaso Pantera with the Pantera, DeTomaso became a volume car builder. Flaws forgotten, it delivered Maserati and Ferrari performance for one-third the price. The Pantera continued in production for another 20 years.

1972 Lamborghini Countach Bertone body design carried Lamborghini for 15 years. With wings added to it, the Countach could pass for a stealth fighter plane. The Countach's mid-engine V12 was enhanced many times throughout its production, ultimately producing more than 400 hp.

1974 Ford DeTomaso end their partnership Iso discontinues car manufacturing Lancia Stratos Now a division of Fiat, Lancia introduced the ultimate rally racer, the Stratos. Named after a Bertone concept car of 1970 and powered by the Ferrari Dino V6 in 2.5 liter form, the Stratos dominated world rallying in the 1974-76 seasons. It remains one of the most collectible Lancias.

1977 Final Targa Florio The last original Targa Florio was held on May 15, 1977. Due to cars becoming too large and too fast for the roads

1977 The 50th Anniversary of the original Mille Miglia was commemorated by staging the first vintage re-creation event along the same course.

1983 Constructor's Crown Ferrari F1 remains the most recent Constructor's Championship for an Italian team.

1987 Ferrari F40 Introduction of the F40 would celebrate the company's 40th year in business. The twin-turbo V8 put out 450+ hp. Was the last design influenced and approved by Enzo himself. Ferrari becomes majority owned by Fiat Alfa Romeo is bought by Fiat after being reviewed by GM and Ford Storica (historic) Mille Miglia became an annual event. The Storica Mille Miglia proved to be the seedground for dozens of similar events that have sprung up around the world.

1989 Enzo Ferrari dies at the age of 90 Lampredi dies Engine designer Aurelio Lampredi dies. President of Abarth during the 1970s. Notably he designed Ferrari's "big" V12, he also was in charge of engine design at Fiat, designed engines for Indy.

1991 Alfa ends IndyCar effort Alfa's efforts after three years were unsuccessful.

1994 Alfa Leaves U.S. Following Fiat, Maserati and Lancia, Alfa Romeo ends selling cars in the United States.

1995 Maserati is bought by Fiat. Fiat now owns 90% of all Italian car manufacturers

1997 Maserati & Ferrari join Fiat announces the consolidation of Maserati with Ferrari, Ferrari celebrates 50 years.

In 1990s Italian auto industry became again 3rd in Europe and 5th in World with annual output near 2 million (with 2,220,774 maximum in 1989). But in 2011 it fell below 800,000 for the first time in half a century and is now 6th place in Europe and 19st place in the World.

Italy today remains one of the significant players of car design and technology, and Fiat has large investments outside Italy including 100% stake in the American automaker Chrysler as of January 2014. Fiat's fortunes have been helped since 2007 by the huge success across Europe of its new Fiat 500 city car, although the 500 is manufactured in Poland and Mexico, rather than in Italy.

2010 Lamborgini won its first international racing victory

2017 Ferrari celebrates 70 years

2021 Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam.