Description
This new book traces the history of the FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) company from foundation in 1899, when a group of well-to-do young men decided to found one of the first Italian motorcar manufacturers in Turin, having watched imported French cars putter around and realising their country had no equivalent industry. One of the founders, Giovanni Agnelli, addressed a meeting of fellow-founders on 11th July 1899 thus: “We cannot waste any time. You should have seen what I saw the other day on my trip to Nice. Hannibal is at the gates. In France, even the public sector is starting to use the motorcar.”
Fiat today is a pre-eminent European motor manufacturer producing a wide range of cars to suit every need and budget, cars always cleverly engineered and elegantly styled.
This is volume 1 of 2, a historical survey of 100 years of Fiat cars. The first book covers a fifty year period from 1899-1949, which witnessed the creation of the Fiat businesses and the creation of many innovatively engineered popular cars and trucks as well as aircraft which saw action during two wars.
Competition successes were legion during the period. Fiat attracted brilliant engineers and talented managers, many of whom became legendary names in the annals of motoring history. Without their creative genius, knowledge and skills the company might not have gotten where it is today- bumpy thought the road has been many a time.
