1.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Entrepreneurship
–
What appears as a real opportunity ex ante might actually be a non-opportunity or one that cannot be actualized by entrepreneurs lacking the necessary business skills, financial or social capital. Traditionally, an entrepreneur has been defined as a person who starts, organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. Rather than working as an employee, an entrepreneur runs a business and assumes all the risk and reward of a given business venture, idea. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as a leader and innovator of new ideas. They act as the manager and oversee the launch and growth of an enterprise, Entrepreneurship is the process by which an individual identifies a business opportunity and acquires and deploys the necessary resources required for its exploitation. For Schumpeter, the changes and dynamic disequilibrium brought on by the innovating entrepreneur, the ‘norm’ of a healthy economy. Entrepreneurial spirit is characterized by innovation and risk-taking, for example, in the 2000s, the field of social entrepreneurship has been identified, in which entrepreneurs combine business activities with humanitarian, environmental or community goals. In the 2010s, entrepreneurship can be studied in college or university as part of the disciplines of management or business administration, Entrepreneur, is a loanword from French. First used in 1723, today the term entrepreneur implies qualities of leadership, initiative, economist Robert Reich has called team-building, leadership, and management ability essential qualities for the entrepreneur. Historically the study of entrepreneurship reaches back to the work in the late 17th and early 18th centuries of Richard Cantillon and Adam Smith, which was foundational to classical economics. In the 20th century, entrepreneurship was studied by Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s and other Austrian economists such as Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, the term entrepreneurship was coined around the 1920s, while the loan from French of the word entrepreneur dates to the 1850s. According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation, thus, creative destruction is largely responsible for long-term economic growth. The idea that leads to economic growth is an interpretation of the residual in endogenous growth theory. For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship resulted in new industries and in new combinations of currently existing inputs, Schumpeters initial example of this was the combination of a steam engine and then current wagon making technologies to produce the horseless carriage. In this case the innovation, the car, was transformational and it did not immediately replace the horse-drawn carriage, but in time, incremental improvements reduced the cost and improved the technology, leading to the modern auto industry. Despite Schumpeters early 20th-century contributions, traditional microeconomic theory did not formally consider the entrepreneur in its theoretical frameworks, in this treatment, the entrepreneur was an implied but unspecified actor, consistent with the concept of the entrepreneur being the agent of x-efficiency. For Schumpeter, the entrepreneur did not bear risk, the capitalist did, Schumpeter was of the opinion that entrepreneurs shift the Production Possibility Curve to a higher level using innovations. Cantillon emphasized the willingness of the entrepreneur to assume risk and to deal with uncertainty, thus, he draws attention to the function of the entrepreneur, and distinguishes clearly between the function of the entrepreneur and the owner who provides the money
3.
Coachbuilder
–
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for automobiles or a manufacturer of complete horse-drawn vehicles. Coachwork is the body of a vehicle, a horse-drawn coach or carriage, or, by extension. The term is reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis. With reference to motor vehicles, auto body is the term in North American English. Coachbuilders are, carrossiers in French, carrozzeria in Italian, karosseriebauer in German, a British trade association the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, was incorporated in 1630. Some British coachmaking firms operating in the 20th century were established even earlier, rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Annes Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer, formed in 1810. This chassis would be delivered by the manufacturer to the coachbuilder of the buyers choice, the chassis would be a rolling chassis which included the chassis frame, drivetrain, brakes, suspension, complete steering system including the wheel, radiator, scuttle and dashboard. The manufacturer delivered the chassis with lighting system, spare wheel, front and rear mudguards, the very easily damaged honeycomb radiator, later enclosed and protected by a shell, became the main visual element identifying the chassis brand. The manufacturer retained an element of control over bodies, bodies not approved by the chassis manufacturer would lose the chassis manufacturers chassis warranties. Until the second World War it would not have been unusual to order the most popular cars as only a chassis and have a local coachbuilder put a body on it for you, the Austin 7s of the 1920s and 1930s were favourite subjects. For example, Fisher Body built all of Cadillacs closed bodies in the 1910s, though automobile manufacturers brought body building skills in-house, the practice of bespoke or custom coachbuilding remained in favour among the wealthy, who continued the habit of centuries past. All ultra-luxury vehicles sold as chassis only, for instance, when Duesenberg introduced their Model J, it was offered as chassis only, for $8,500. Other examples include the Bugatti Type 57, Cadillac V-16, Ferrari 250, Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8, delahaye had no in-house coachworks, so all its chassis were bodied by independents, who created some of their most attractive designs on the Type 135. Most of the Delahayes were bodied by Chapron, Labourdette, Franay, Saoutchik, Figoni & Falaschi, Pennock, the advent of unibody construction, where the car body is unified with, and structurally integral to the chassis, made custom coachbuilding practically impossible. Hermann Graber Ramsauer & Cie, also known as Worblaufen after the place they were built, mulliner Park Ward Mulliners Nu-Track Park Ward Harold Radford Salmons Swallow Tickford Tilbury, originators of the Tilbury carriage. Thrupp & Maberly Vanden Plas Vincent of Reading Windover Wingham Martin Walter Walter Alexander & Sons, now Alexander Dennis Ltd Wrightbus James Young Brewster & Co. Brunn Budd Company Derham Earl Automobile Works Fisher Fleetwood KEM Motorworks LeBaron Locke N2A motors Inc. a Langmesser Co. Murphy Rollston Willoughby
4.
Internal combustion engine
–
An internal combustion engine is a heat engine where the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine, the force is applied typically to pistons, turbine blades, rotor or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into mechanical energy. The first commercially successful internal combustion engine was created by Étienne Lenoir around 1859, firearms are also a form of internal combustion engine. Working fluids can be air, hot water, pressurized water or even liquid sodium, ICEs are usually powered by energy-dense fuels such as gasoline or diesel, liquids derived from fossil fuels. While there are many applications, most ICEs are used in mobile applications and are the dominant power supply for vehicles such as cars, aircraft. Typically an ICE is fed with fossil fuels like natural gas or petroleum products such as gasoline, there is a growing usage of renewable fuels like biodiesel for compression ignition engines and bioethanol or methanol for spark ignition engines. Hydrogen is sometimes used, and can be made from fossil fuels or renewable energy. Various scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines, in 1791, John Barber developed a turbine. In 1794 Thomas Mead patented a gas engine, also in 1794 Robert Street patented an internal combustion engine, which was also the first to use liquid fuel, and built an engine around that time. In 1798, John Stevens built the first American internal combustion engine, in 1807, Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an internal combustion engine ignited by electric spark. In 1823, Samuel Brown patented the first internal combustion engine to be applied industrially, in 1860, Belgian Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In 1864, Nikolaus Otto patented the first atmospheric gas engine, in 1872, American George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine. In 1876, Nikolaus Otto, working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, patented the compressed charge, in 1879, Karl Benz patented a reliable two-stroke gas engine. In 1892, Rudolf Diesel developed the first compressed charge, compression ignition engine, in 1926, Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. In 1939, the Heinkel He 178 became the worlds first jet aircraft, at one time, the word engine meant any piece of machinery — a sense that persists in expressions such as siege engine. A motor is any machine that produces mechanical power, traditionally, electric motors are not referred to as Engines, however, combustion engines are often referred to as motors. In boating an internal combustion engine that is installed in the hull is referred to as an engine, reciprocating piston engines are by far the most common power source for land and water vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, ships and to a lesser extent, locomotives
5.
Isotta Fraschini
–
Isotta Fraschini is an Italian motors brand historically known for the production of cars as well as trucks, and engines for marine and aviation use. The company went bankrupt in 1999, in 2000, a new company was founded, under the name of Isotta Fraschini Milano. Isotta Fraschini currently has offices in Milan and Bari, the firm was named for its founders, Cesare Isotta and Vincenzo Fraschini, as Società Milanese Automobili Isotta, Fraschini & C. on 27 January 1900. The motto was Import, sell, repair cars, prior to establishing their own company in 1904, Isotta and Fraschini assembled Renaults. The first automobile bearing this marque featured an engine with an output of 24 horsepower. The car, driven by Vincenzo Fraschini, appeared in several races, in 1905, Isotta Fraschini gained notoriety in the Coppa Florio, where they entered a Tipo D with a 17. 2-litre 100 horsepower engine. For a short time in 1907, Isotta Fraschini merged with French automobile company Lorraine-Dietrich, the firm started making race cars using this same 100 horsepower engine, establishing the companys reputation and giving its name considerable cachet. It was also one of the first cars with four-wheel brakes and they were also among the early pioneers of overhead cam, with an engine designed by Giustino Cattaneo. Isotta Fraschini introduced their Tipo 8, the first production automobile to be powered by an engine, at the Paris Salon in 1919. With the growth of the middle class in North America in the 1920s. Early film stars Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino drove Isotta Fraschinis, a 1929 Tipo 8A Castagna Transformable is featured in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard and another appears in the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday with Fredric March. An Isotta also makes a appearance in the 1946 film Without Reservations with John Wayne. Also, an Isotta Fraschini was gigolo Lindsay Marriotts car in Raymond Chandlers classic Farewell, My Lovely that was made into a motion picture starring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor. The grille of the Isotta with the lightning bolt insignia is seen parked in a ravine, an oversized Isotta is also the vehicle of choice for Dick and Nicole Diver in F. Scott Fitzgeralds 1933 novel Tender is the Night. Seriously affected by the crisis of the 1930s and by the disruptions of World War II. Only five of the last model, the Monterosa, were produced, the plants were converted to produce marine engines. The company was left on the register and in 1955 it was merged with engine manufacturer Breda Motori. The company started to produce buses again and in 1960s built a new diesel engine factory in Bari
6.
Duesenberg
–
Duesenberg Motors Company was an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles. It was founded by brothers August and Frederick Duesenberg in 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the brothers moved their operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for World War I. Cord added Duesenberg to his Auburn Automobile Company, with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the Depression, Duesenberg folded in 1937. In 1913, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg founded Duesenberg Motors Company, Inc. on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build engines, the brothers were self-taught engineers and built many experimental cars. Duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time, in 1914, Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Duesy to finish in 10th place at the Indianapolis 500, and Duesenberg won the race in 1924,1925, and 1927. The fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when Colonel R. C. Bolling, the end of World War I stopped this project before it could ever mature. In 1921, Duesenberg provided the car for the Indy 500. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he drove a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. At the end of World War I, they ceased building aviation and marine engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the corner of Newark Avenue, was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars. The plant was located on a 17-acre site on West Washington street at Harding street until 1937, although the Duesenberg brothers were world-class engineers, they were neither good businessmen nor administrators, they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car, the Model A. This had the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, the first mass-produced straight eight engine in the U. S, the Model A was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition. It was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time, among the celebrities who purchased this model were Tom Mix and Rudolph Valentino. The model experienced various delays going from prototype to production, deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged and the goal of building 100 Duesenbergs each month proved far too high, in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured, and only 650 Model As were sold over a period of six years. The brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars, boats, on March 8,1920, these men became president and vice president of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation of Indianapolis. Fred was chief engineer and Augie his assistant, and both were salaried as employees, van Zandt quit after a year, and business went from bad to worse in 1923. In 1924 the company went into receivership, but somehow it survived that year, in 1925, the firms name was changed to Duesenberg Motors Corporation and Fred assumed the title of president. Fred and August struggled to keep the company, but to no avail, Model X Duesenbergs are very rare
7.
Lancia
–
Lancia is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia as Lancia & C. It became part of the Fiat Group in 1969, the current company, the company has a strong rally heritage and is noted for using letters of the Greek alphabet for its model names. Lancia vehicles are no longer sold outside of Italy, and comprise only the Ypsilon supermini range, fabbrica Automobili was founded on 29 November 1906 in Turin by Fiat racing drivers, Vincenzo Lancia and his friend, Claudio Fogolin. The first car manufactured by Lancia was the Tipo 51 or 12 HP and it had a small four-cylinder engine with a power output of 28 hp. In 1910 Lancia components were exported to the United States where they were assembled, in 1915, Lancia also manufactured its first truck, the Jota that continued as a dedicated series. In 1937, Vincenzo died of an attack and both his wife, Adele Miglietti Lancia, and his son, Gianni Lancia, took over control of the company. They persuaded Vittorio Jano to join as an engineer, Jano had already made a name for himself by designing various Alfa Romeo models, including some of its most successful race cars ever such as the 6C, P2 and P3. Lancia is renowned in the world for introducing cars with numerous innovations. These include the Theta of 1913, which was the first European production car to feature a complete system as standard equipment. 1948 saw the first 5 speed gearbox to be fitted to a production car, Lancia premiered the first full-production V6 engine, in the 1950 Aurelia, after earlier industry-leading experiments with V8 and V12 engine configurations. It was also the first manufacturer to produce a V4 engine, other innovations involved the use of independent suspension in production cars and rear transaxles, which were first fitted to the Aurelia and Flaminia range. This drive for innovation, constant quest for excellence, fixation of quality, complex construction processes, with little commonality between the various models, the cost of production continued to increase extensively, while demand did not eventually affecting Lancias viability. Gianni Lancia, an engineer was president of Lancia from 1947 to 1955. In 1956 the Pesenti family took control of Lancia with Carlo Pesenti in charge. Fiat launched a bid in October 1969 which was accepted by Lancia as the company was losing significant sums of money. During the 1970s and 1980s, Lancia had great success in rallying, winning many World Rally Championships, during the 1980s, the company cooperated with Saab Automobile, with the Lancia Delta being sold as the Saab 600 in Sweden. The 1985 Lancia Thema also shared a platform with the Saab 9000, Fiat Croma, during the 1990s, all models were closely related to other Fiat models. Starting from 1 February 2007, Fiats automotive operations were reorganised, Fiat Auto became Fiat Group Automobiles S. p. A
8.
Mercedes-Benz
–
Mercedes-Benz is a global automobile manufacturer and a division of the German company Daimler AG. The brand is known for vehicles, buses, coaches. The headquarters is in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, the slogan for the brand is the best or nothing and Mercedes-Benz was one of the top growing brands in 2014 with 18% growth. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, emil Jellinek, an Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG created the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benzs, on 28 June 1926, Mercedes Benz was formed with the merger of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimlers two companies. Gottlieb Daimler was born on 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf, after training as a gunsmith and working in France, he attended the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart from 1857 to 1859. After completing various activities in France and England, he started work as a draftsman in Geislingen in 1862. At the end of 1863, he was appointed inspector in a machine tool factory in Reutlingen. Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was popular during Germanys Nazi period, Adolf Hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power, with bulletproof windshields. Most of the models have been sold at auctions to private buyers. One of them is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, the pontiffs Popemobile has often been sourced from Mercedes-Benz. In 1944,46,000 forced laborers were used in Daimler-Benzs factories to bolster Nazi war efforts, the company later paid $12 million in reparations to the laborers families. Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that became common in other vehicles. Mercedes-Benz is one of the best-known and established automotive brands in the world, for information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft including the merger into Daimler-Benz. As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes-Benz, mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1999. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999, Daimlers ultra-luxury brand Maybach was under Mercedes-Benz cars division until 2013, when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes. It now exists under the Mercedes-Maybach name, with the models being ultra-luxury versions of Mercedes cars, Daimler coorporates with BYD Auto to make and sell a battery-electric car called Denza in China. In 2016, Daimler announced plans to sell Mercedes-Benz branded all-electric battery cars in China, beside its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in, Since its inception, Mercedes-Benz had maintained a reputation for its quality and durability
9.
Alfa Romeo 6C
–
The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race, and sports cars produced between 1927 and 1954 by Alfa Romeo, the 6C name refers to six cylinders of the cars straight-six engine. Bodies for these cars were made by such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna. Starting from 1933 there was also a 6C version with a factory Alfa body, in the early 1920s Vittorio Jano got a task to create a lightweight, high performance vehicle to replace the Giuseppe Merosi designed RL and RM models. The car was introduced in April 1925 at the Salone dell’ Automobile di Milano as the 6C1500, in the mid-1920s, Alfas RL was considered too large and heavy, so a new development began. The 2-liter formula that had led to Alfa Romeo winning the Automobile World Championship in 1925, the 6C1500 was introduced in 1925 at the Milan Motor Show, production started 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as starting point. Engine capacity was now 1487 cc, against the P2s 1987 cc, first versions were bodied by Young and Touring. In 1928, a 6C Sport was released, with a dual overhead camshafts engine and its sport version won many races, including the 1928 Mille Miglia. Ten copies of a supercharged Super Sport variant were also made, the more powerful 6C1750 was introduced in 1929 in Rome. The car featured a top speed of 95 mph, a designed to flex and undulate over wavy surfaces. It was produced in six series between 1929 and 1933, base model had a single overhead cam, Super Sport and Gran Sport versions had double overhead cam engine. Most of the cars were sold as rolling chassis and bodied by coachbuilders such as Zagato, and Touring. The Alfa Romeo 6C1900 was the last derivative of the original 6C1500, produced in 197 examples during 1933, only made in Gran Turismo guise with a 2,920 mm wheelbase, the 6C1900 replaced the corresponding 6C1750 model. Besides the larger displacement, other notable changes were aluminium cylinder heads, an improved frame. The same upgrades were applied to the 1933 model 6C1750 Gran Sport, Alfa Romeo offered the 6C1900 with an in-house 4-door saloon body, while bespoke coachbuilt body styles included 4-seat cabriolets. The double overhead camshaft, naturally aspirated engine was bored from 66 mm to 68 mm. For the first time on a 6C the cylinder head was aluminium, with 68 bhp at 4,500 rpm the 6C1900 could achieve a top speed of 130 km/h. The improved frame consisted of fully boxed rails and crossmembers, instead of the 1750s C-shaped sections, a new four-speed gearbox was fitted, with synchromesh on the two top gears and a freewheel mechanism. The 6C2300 was designed by Vittorio Jano as a lower-cost alternative to the 8C, in 1934 Alfa Romeo had become a state-owned enterprise
10.
Mini (marque)
–
Mini is a British automotive marque owned by BMW which specialises in small cars. The original Mini was a line of iconic British small cars manufactured by the British Motor Corporation and their models included the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, the Countryman, Moke, 1275GT and Clubman. Performance versions of models used the name Cooper, due to a partnership with racing legend John Cooper. The original two-door Mini continued in production until 2000, Development of a successor began in 1995 and the new generation car was launched in 2001. The current Mini range includes the Hardtop/Hatch/Convertible, Clubman, Countryman, Coupe/Roadster, the Mini was originally a product of the British Motor Corporation, which in 1966 became part of British Motor Holdings. British Motor Holdings merged with Leyland Motors in 1968 to form British Leyland, Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969. In the 1980s, British Leyland was broken-up and in 1988 Rover Group, in 1994, Rover Group was acquired by BMW. In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW, with BMW retaining the Mini brand, jochen Goller of BMW currently serves as the managing director of the Mini division. The Mini Hatch/Hardtop, Clubman, Convertible, Coupe and Roadster are assembled at BMWs Plant Oxford in Cowley, England, a total of 301,526 Mini vehicles were sold worldwide in 2012. Mini vehicles have been active in rallying and the Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally on three occasions, in 1964,1965 and 1967, Mini has participated in the World Rally Championship since 2011 through the Prodrive WRC Team. The original two-door Mini was a car produced by the British Motor Corporation. It is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers, the vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th Century and this distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates, the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III, within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pickup truck, a van and the Mini Moke—a jeep-like buggy. Initially Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor, the Mini was again marketed under the Austin name in the 1980s. In the 1990s, BMW was seeking to broaden its range through the addition of compact cars. This sparked a series of compact car concept vehicles from the company during the early 1990s, the first were the E1 and Z13, powered by an electric motor and a rear-mounted 1100 cc BMW motorcycle engine, respectively. In early 1994, BMW acquired the Rover Group from British Aerospace, BMW insisted that even a compact model must feature iconic BMW characteristics to uphold the companys standards and image
11.
Gruppo Bertone
–
Gruppo Bertone, commonly known simply as Bertone, was an Italian automobile company, which specialized in car styling, coachbuilding and manufacturing. Bertone styling is distinctive, with most cars having a family resemblance even if they are badged by different manufacturers. Bertone has styled cars for Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Citroën, Ferrari, Fiat, Iso, Lancia, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, Opel and Volvo, in addition, the Bertone studio was responsible for two of the later designs of the Lambretta motorscooter. In the late 1980s, Bertone styled the K20 motorcycle helmet for Swiss bicycle and motorcycle helmet manufacturer Kiwi, the company was based in Grugliasco in northern Italy. Gruppo Bertone was founded as Carrozzeria Bertone in 1912 by Giovanni Bertone, designer Nuccio Bertone took charge of the company after World War II and the company was divided into two units, Carrozzeria for manufacturing and Stile Bertone for styling. Until its bankruptcy in 2014, the company was headed by the widow of Nuccio Bertone, Giovanni Bertone started a carriage manufacturing business in Turin, at the age of 28. Along with three workers, he built horse-drawn vehicles, in the first decades of the 20th century, cars were not common. The road traffic was dominated by horse-drawn carriages and the built by the young Bertone were particularly regarded for their accuracy. In 1914, Giuseppe Bertone, nicknamed Nuccio, the son of Giovanni Bertone, was born. This nickname later became known as the signature to Nuccio, one of the greatest Italian style masters in the world. The outbreak of the first world war triggered a crisis of the young Italian industrial sector and heavily affected Giovanni Bertone. At the end of the First World War, Bertones business restarted and expanded its activities, in 1920, a new plant was opened near the Monginevro 119 in Turin. Twenty people were on the payroll, one year later, the first important contract was signed to the company. This was a torpedo styled body based on the SPA 23S chassis, then, the FIAT501 Sport Siluro Corsa, the first of a family of models that would characterize the brand in the years to come, was designed. With that, the high performance car was born. During the 1920s, Turin was represented as one of the centers of excellence of the car industry. Bertone was sitting on the hub of it and formed partnerships with almost all the manufacturers of the day, Giovanni Bertone began doing bodywork on the Fast, Chiribiri, Aurea, SCAT and Diatto chassis. The most important and long lasting relationships were those with the two biggest Turin manufacturers were FIAT and Lancia, vincenzo Lancia realised straight away that Giovanni Bertone was an outstanding skilled craftsman with a great future ahead of him
12.
De Simon
–
De Simon Group S. p. A. is a bus manufacturer and coachbuilder based in Osoppo, Udine, Italy. The company was founded in 1925 by Giovanni De Simon, who started assembling wooden-body buses for the public transport. Later, under the management of his son Ilvo, the company introduced steel for interurban and touristic coaches, using Fiat, OM, in the sixties they started assembling buses on Fiat truck-chassis and sold over a thousand units to the public transport companies in Italy. The 1976 Friuli earthquake, with its epicenter in Osoppo, ruined most of the plants in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Ilvo with his sons Giovanni and Alvio managed to rebuild the plant in only two years time. The new site covered 70,000 square meters and included two buildings and a test track. In 1978, De Simon together with Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie formed a new consortium called Inbus, during this time, De Simon built a new construction plant in Palermo, Sicily, called IMEA, that would be the main supplier of the island for urban and interurban buses. During its ten years of existence the Inbus consortium produced about 6,000 buses, starting in 1993, De Simon focussed mainly on intercity buses built entirely from stainless steel, using chassis from European manufacturers Scania and later Mercedes-Benz. Between 1996 and 2002, the Romanian bus manufacturer Rocar and De Simon had a cooperation for the assembly of 400 urban buses. In the following five years the company developed a new range of buses called Millemiglia, designed for interurban lines, such fleets were for use in the towns of Apulia and Campania. Their line-up also included a touristic open-top bus called Millemiglia Zefiro, in 2006, De Simon Group established themselves as a joint-stock company mainly managing the supply of spare parts for bus bodies and repairs, maintenance, and conversion of bus bodies. In 2007, as an independent company, De Simon achieved a volume of 150 buses
Coachbuilders of Italy
