Moto Guzzi: 1st model ever

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Moto Guzzi logo 1921

Prototype name: "G.P. 500"

First model name: "Normale"

Category: Motorcycles

Subcategory: Standard

Prototype designers: Carlo Guzzi and his brother Giuseppe

First model developers: Carlo Guzzi with his brother Giuseppe, and Giorgio Parodi with his cousin Angelo

Producer: Moto Guzzi (founded on March 15, 1921 as "Società Anonima Moto Guzzi" in Genoa, Italy, by Emanuele Vittorio Parodi, his son Giorgio Parodi, and Carlo Guzzi)

Prototype made in: 1919/20

Production start: 1921 - Mandello Tonzanico (now Mandello del Lario), Lecco, Italy

Discontinued: 1924

First price: 8,500 ITL

Prototype features: Horizontal four-strokes 500 cc. single-cyclinder engine characterized the first Moto Guzzi motorcycles, since the 1919/20 "G.P." ("Guzzi-Parodi") prototype. Seeking to eliminate hand-pumped lubrication systems and exposed primary drive chains, Guzzi cast the engine in aluminium as a unit with the three-speed gearbox. Its helical-gear primary drive and considerably oversquare engine dimensions (88 x 82 mm. bore and stroke) deviated from what was normal for the period. Laying the engine horizontal in the frame aided engine cooling, which also allowed for a low-slung chassis, while the geared primary drive saw the engine rotate in the reverse direction, another unused feature at the time. To smooth out vibration and enable a more compact crankcase unit, a large (280 mm.) flywheel was mounted externally. The lubrication system was exceptionally advanced, with an oil pump driven from the camshaft; this supplied oil to an external tank that was mounted in the air stream. The cyclinder head design employed aeronautical engineering techniques, with four parallel overhead valves operated by an overhead camshaft and driven by a shaft and bevel gears. Compression was a modest 3.5 : 1 and, with 12 horsepower, the prototype was capable of 62 miles per hour. The chassis had a tubular frame with twin front downtubes, an unsprung rear bolted triangle, and a girder fork and dual springs at the front.

First model features: Name: Moto Guzzi "Normale". Engine Type: four-stroke horizontal single. Bore/stroke: 88 x 82 mm. Displacement: 498.4 cc. Power: 8 HP at 3,200 RPM to 8.5 HP at 3,400 RPM. Compression ratio 4.0 : 1. Valves: Side inlet, overhead exhaust. Carburetion system: Amac 15 PSY 1 in. Gears: Hand-change 3-speed. Ignition: Bosch ZE 1 shielded magneto. Frame: Tubular duplex cradle. Front suspension: Girder fork. Rear suspension: Rigid. Wheels: 26 x 2¼. Tires: 26 x 3.00. Brakes: Expansion rear wheel. Wheelbase: 1,380 mm. Dry weight: 130 Kg. Top speed: 85 Km/h. Production: 2,065.

Interesting facts: The "Moto Guzzi Società Anonima" was established in Genoa, Italy, on March 15, 1921, with its headquarters in Mandello Tonzanico (now Mandello del Lario), Lecco. The three founders were: shipowner Emanuele Vittorio Parodi, his son Giorgio, and Carlo Guzzi, a former comrade in the Italian airforce. The emblem, a spread-winged eagle, was chosen in memory of their friend Giovanni Ravelli, a pilot who died on August 11, 1919 during a test flight. Carlo Guzzi's first horizontal four-strokes 500 cc. single-cyclinder engine estabilished a unique formula that immediately characterized Moto Guzzi motorcycles. The prototype, developed by Carlo and his older brother Giuseppe in 1919/20, was called the "G.P.", for "Guzzi-Parodi". The G.P. soon evolved into the production "Normale", which was announced in the December 1920 issue of "Motociclismo" magazine. The Normale appeared early the following year. While the G.P. had been a pure expression of Carlo Guzzi's engineering, economic necessity saw the Normale incorporating several updates, including the replacement of the exotic four-valve cylinder head and bevel-gear-driven overhead camshaft. With the appearance of the Normale, the company was estabilished, with the senior Parodi served as president. In addition to Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi, two other engineers were also involved: Carlo's Brother Giuseppe and Giorgio's cousin Angelo. While the total production of 1921 was a modest seventeen motorcycles, it was the beginning for one of the greatest italian motorcycles marque, and also one of the longest lived.

Property: Moto Guzzi S.p.A. - Piaggio & C. S.p.A.

Producer website: https://www.motoguzzi.com

Moto Guzzi G.P. 500 prototype, announcement ("Motociclismo" magazine, Dec. 15, 1920)

Moto Guzzi G.P. 500 prototype (1919/20)

Moto Guzzi Normale, the first Moto Guzzi motorcycle (1921)

Moto Guzzi Normale engine (1921 - replica)

Moto Guzzi advertising poster (1923, art by Giorgio Muggiani)

Moto Guzzi founders. Left: Emanuele Vittorio Parodi (Genoa, ? - April 13, 1945), entrepreneur. Center: his son Giorgio Parodi (Venice, 1897 - Genoa, August 18, 1955), aviator. Right: Carlo Guzzi (Milan, November 4, 1889 - Davos, November 3, 1964), designer.

Moto Guzzi celebrate their 100th anniversary (1921-2021)

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company

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MSC logo

Names:
--- "Aponte Shipping Company S.A." (1970)
--- "Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A." (MSC)

Category: Transportation

Subcategory: Shipping

Founded: 1970 - Naples, Italy

Founder / First president: Gianluigi Aponte

Features: Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) was founded as Aponte Shipping Company by Gianluigi Aponte, a young Italian seaman and former bank teller, who purchased his first ship, Patricia, in 1970. He acquired an even bigger vessel in 1971 which he named after his wife, Rafaela. The carrier, Ilse, was bought in 1973. These three cargo ships represented the pioneering beginnings of the shipping line, which initially started operating between Mediterranean and East Africa via Cape Town. Headquartered for eight years in Brussels, Belgium, and finally in Geneva, Switzerland, MSC has remained a family business despite its incredible growth. In 1988 MSC entered cruise business, purchasing the iconic liner Monterey.

Interesting facts: In 1971, the carrier's first vessel, the Patricia, loaded about 120 camels and 150 oxen in Mogadishu, Somalia, for delivery to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Property: Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.

Official website: http://www.msc.com

MSC "Patricia", the first ship of the company, photographed passing Portishead inbound for Avonmouth on May 27, 1970. German vessel, general cargo built in Papenburg 1955 under the name Korbach, purchased by Mediterranean Shipping Co. in 1970, demolished in Pakistan 1986.

MSC "Rafaela", the second ship of the company. German vessel, general cargo built in Lübeck 1951 under the name Magdeburg, purchased by Mediterranean Shipping Co. in early 1971, demolished in Belgium 1978.

MSC "Ilse", the third ship of the company. German vessel, general cargo built in Kiel 1952 under the name Pazifik, purchased by Mediterranean Shipping Co. in late 1972, demolished in Bangladesh 1982.

Captain Gianluigi Aponte (Sant'Agnello, Naples, Italy - June 27, 1940), founder, owner and first president of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company. On October 2, 2014, he has retired from the position of CEO and president in favour of his son, Diego Aponte.

MSC "Meraviglia". When it debuted in June 2017, it was the 4th largest cruise ship in the world.

Corriere della Sera

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Corriere della Sera, first issue's header (March 5-6, 1876)

Eugenio Torelli Viollier
(Naples, Mar. 26, 1842 - Apr. 26, 1900),
Italian journalist and politician,
creator of the Corriere della Sera
and co-founder with Riccardo Pavesi

Name: "Corriere della Sera"

Category: Newspapers

Founders:
--- Eugenio Torelli Viollier
--- Riccardo Pavesi

First issue: March 5, 1876 - Milan, Italy

First editor: Riccardo Pavesi

First format: Broadsheet

First price: 5 centesimi (7 outside Milan, 10 for back issue) ITL

Overview: First published on March 5, 1876, Corriere della Sera (Italian for Evening Courier) is one of Italy's oldest daily newspapers. The foliation was four pages, printed in 15,000 copies. The newspaper was published with a double dating (March 5-6, for example), because due to the slowness of transport often copies arrived in the other regions the next day. The double dating would last until December 1902. In 1899 Corriere della Sera began to offer some interesting periodical supplements:

A newspaper "Corriere della Sera"
was founded by Giuseppe Rovelli
in Turin in 1866, ten years before
the newspaper founded in Milan,
but after only two issues (August 1-2)
it ceased publication for lack of funds

• La Domenica del Corriere (The Sunday Courier, popular, illustrated, Jan. 8, 1899);
• La Lettura (The Reading, addressed to the educated public, Jan. 1901);
• Romanzo mensile (Novel monthly, which collects the serial novels published in the Courier, Apr. 1903);
• Corriere dei Piccoli (Courier of the Childrens, Dec. 27, 1908: it was the first Italian periodical to make a regular feature of publishing comic strips).
In the 1910s and 1920s, under the direction of Luigi Albertini (1871-1941), Corriere della Sera became the most widely read newspaper in Italy, maintaining its importance and influence into the present century. In 2001, 125th anniversary of the birth of the Courier, was created the "Fondazione Corriere della Sera", a foundation with the aim of curing and open to the public the historical archives of the newspaper, and to promote initiatives in favor of the language and Italian culture.

Property: RCS MediaGroup S.p.A.

Official website: http://www.corriere.it

Corriere della Sera, front page of the first issue (March 5-6, 1876)

Corriere della Sera advertising poster (1898, by Adolfo Hohenstein)

La Domenica del Corriere, Sunday supplement by Corriere della Sera (Jan. 8, 1899)

Corriere dei Piccoli, weekly for children by Corriere della Sera (Dec. 27, 1908)

Corriere della Sera, front page June 6, 1946: Italy became a republic (June 2)

Corriere della Sera in its advanced version (March 14, 2013 - Election of Pope Francis)

Corriere della Sera, a stamp marks its 140th anniversary (1876-2016)

Ducati: 1st model ever

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Ducati logo 1927
Società Scientifica
Radio Brevetti Ducati

Name: "Ducati Cucciolo"

Category: Motorcycles

Subcategory: Motor-bicycles

Inventor: Aldo Farinelli

Developers: Aldo Farinelli and Aldo Leoni

Producers:
--- Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, founded in Bologna on July 4, 1926 by Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Bruno, and Marcello.
--- SIATA - Società Italiana per Applicazioni Tecniche Auto-Aviatorie, founded in Turin in 1926 by Giorgio Ambrosini.

Production start: March 1946 - Turin, Piedmont, Italy (debut in September at the Milan Fair)

Discontinued: 1958

Features: Single cylinder 4 stroke engine. Bore and Stroke 39 mm x 40 mm. Total displacement 48 cc. Power 1.5 HP at 5,500 RPM. Lubrication oil sump splash. Tyming system valves driven by linkage and rocker arm. Air cooling system. Weber carburetor with 9 mm choke. Magneto flywheel ignition. Transmission two-speed gearbox. Primary drive by gear.

Interesting facts: The Ducati "Cucciolo" (Italian for "puppy", in reference to the distinctive exhaust sound) was a 4-stroke clip-on engine for motorized bicycles conceived during and shortly after World War II by a Turin lawyer, Aldo Farinelli, and developed with a self-taught engineer, Aldo Leoni. Ducati Cucciolo was presented at the Turin Fair in 1945 and the title of the Motociclismo magazine on July 26, 1945 read "A puppy was born in Turin". Just a few months after the Cucciolo went in production, it became clear that SIATA couldn't handle the great demand for the Cucciolo. This is where Ducati came into play. Despite the fact that Ducati was previously only well known for its advanced radio electronic and mechanical products, in 1946 it decided to widen the scope of production by constructing the Cucciolo. In March of 1946, Ducati released the first 10 "Type 1" Cucciolo engines. The Cucciolo was released to the public at the Milan Fair in September 1946. In the same year Ducati came up with its first original design, the T2. It was heavily influenced by the T1 design, but made improvements in the engine's efficiency, robustness, and, above all, logic of construction. In 1948, Ducati Cucciolo was triumphant at the first Grand Prix of the City of Milan, which was fought out on the streets of the Milan Fairgrounds rebuilt from the devastation of the war. Out of the 60 competitors, Glauco Zitelli took first place on a series-produced Cucciolo 48 cc. In the same year, the Cucciolo garnered the World. Under the guidance of Giovanni Florio, the first engine designed entirely at Ducati, the T3, went into production. A natural derivation of the first Cucciolo, the T3 had a three-speed gear system, and a grease lubricated valve gear enclosed in a case. In 1949, a special tubular frame with rear suspension was developed for the T3 by Caproni of Rovereto, a famous wartime producer of airplanes. The complete Cucciolo T3 came out in the summer of 1949. In July of the same year Ducati started to manufacture the first real complete motorcycle: the Ducati 60.

Slogan: Cucciolo Ducati «Vi porterà ovunque» - "Will take you anywhere"

Property: Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A

Producer website: http://www.ducati.com

Ducati Cucciolo, the first motor for bicycles produced under the Ducati brand (1946)

Ducati Cucciolo applied on the frame of a normal bicycle

Ducati Cucciolo applied on a Nettunia frame

Ducati Cucciolo on display at the Ducati Museum in Borgo Panigale, Bologna

Ducati Cucciolo advertising: "Vi porterà ovunque" (Will take you anywhere)

Ducati Cucciolo in a 1948 song: "Ti porterò sul Cucciolo" (I'll Take You On My Cucciolo), a pleasant tune that soon became famous throughout Italy, by Dino Olivieri and Nino Rastelli.

Ducati 60, the first complete motorcycle produced by Ducati (1949). It used the 60 cc pullrod engine of the Cucciolo T3 moped, and a frame supplied by Caproni.

Ducati 60 advertising

Ducati company founders: Antonio Cavalieri Ducati (Comacchio, Apr. 2, 1853 - June 27, 1927) and his three sons Adriano, Bruno and Marcello.

Ducati Cucciolo developers: Aldo Farinelli, lawyer and technical journalist, and Aldo Leoni, self-taught engineer.

Ducati, an advanced model (Ducati Diavel 1260, 2021)

Ferrari: 1st model ever

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Ferrari logo 1947
by Eligio Gerosa

Name: "Auto Avio Costruzioni 815"

Category: Cars

Subcategory: Sports car

Designers: Alberto Massimino, Vittorio Bellentani

Producer: Auto Avio Costruzioni (founded by Enzo Ferrari on September 1, 1939, the company name changed to Auto Costruzioni Ferrari in 1957)

Production start: 1940 - Modena, Italy

Features: The engine was largely based on the four-cylinder, 1.1 L engine of the 508 C Balilla 1100. In concept, it was two 508C engines placed end to end, but it used a specially designed aluminium block built by Fonderia Calzoni in Bologna for integrity and light weight and a five-bearing crankshaft and a camshaft designed and built by AAC to get the traditional straight-8 timing and balance. The engine used Fiat valve gear, cylinder heads (two 508C heads per engine), and connecting rods. The engine was high-tech for the time, with a single overhead camshaft, two valves per cylinder, and a semi-dry sump lubrication system. Four Weber 30DR2 carburettors were specified for a total output of 75 hp (56 kW) at 5500 rpm. The 815 used a Fiat four-speed transmission with the Fiat gears replaced by gears made in-house by AAC. The transmission was integral to the engine block. The car had independent Dubonnet suspension with integral shock absorber at front, with a live axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs and hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear. The bodywork was done by Carrozzeria Touring using Itallumag 35, an aluminium/magnesium alloy, and was done in long, flowing forms with integrated wings. The bodywork weighed 119 lb (54 kg). The complete car weighed 625 kg (1,378 lb) and attained a maximum speed close to 170 km/h (110 mph).

Interesting facts: The AAC 815 was designed and developed in 1940 at Auto Avio Costruzioni, the company founded by Enzo Ferrari. Although a contract clause restricted him from racing or designing cars for four years, Ferrari managed to manufacture two cars for the 1940 Mille Miglia; however, legal issues with former associates Alfa Romeo prevented Ferrari from creating the Ferrari marque. One of the cars was later scrapped, while the other is currently in a car collection in Italy. The designation "815" was based on the car's 8-cylinder, 1.5 L engine.

Quote (Enzo Ferrari): «Bad luck does not exist».

Property: Ferrari S.p.A.

Producer website: http://www.ferrari.com

Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, the first car designed by Ferrari (1940)

Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, the only two models with their respective owners: the Italian racing drivers Alberto Ascari (top) and Lotario Rangoni Machiavelli.

Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 at the Mille Miglia (April 28, 1940)

Enzo Anselmo Ferrari (Modena, February 18, 1898 - Maranello, August 14, 1988), motor racing driver, entrepreneur and founder of the Ferrari S.p.A.

Ferrari advanced models (2015): the Formula One racing car model SF15-T, and the sport car model 488 GTB (official video)