Innocenti

Last Innocenti logo

Innocenti was an Italian machinery works originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1920.

After World War II, the company was famous for many years for Lambretta scooters models such as LI125, LI150, TV175, TV200, SX125, SX150, SX200, GP125, GP150 and GP200.

From 1961 to 1976 Innocenti built under licence the BMC (later the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC)) Mini, with 998 cc and 1275 cc engines, following with other models, including the Regent (Allegro), with engines up to 1485 cc. The company of this era is commonly called Leyland Innocenti. The Innocenti Spyder (1961–1970) was a rebodied version of the Austin-Healey MKII Sprite (styling by Ghia). The car was produced by OSI (near Milan). In 1972 BLMC took over control of the company.

In 1972 the company's land, buildings and equipment were purchased by British Leyland in a deal involving approximately £3 Million.^[1] The British company had high hopes for its newly acquired subsidiary at a time when, they reported to the UK press, Italian Innocenti sales were second only to those of Fiat, and ahead of Volkswagen and Renault^[1]: there was talk of further increasing annual production from 56,452 in 1971 to 100,000. Demonstrating their ambitions, the British company installed as Managing Director one of their youngest UK based senior executives, "32 year old" former Financial Controller Geoffrey Robinson.^[1] Three years later BLMC ran out of money and was nationalised by the UK government.

In 1975, the company passed to Alejandro de Tomaso and was reorganised by the De Tomaso Group under the name Nuova Innocenti. The first model had Bertone-designed five-seater bodywork and was available with 998 cc and 1275 cc engines. Later models from modelyear 1983 used 993 cc engines made by Daihatsu of Japan.

This company made cars until 1992. In the late 1980s, when Fiat took over, Innocenti sold Brazilian-imported versions of the Fiat Uno (Elba station wagon and Uno Mille) for the Italian market. The marque ended in 1996.^[2]

List of Innocenti vehicles

Innocenti J4

Innocenti A40

Innocenti 950-S Spider

• 1947-1971 Lambretta (motorscooter)
• 1960-1967 A40/A40S Berlina/Combinata - hatchback Austin A40 Farina
• 1961-1968 950/1100 Spider - roadster based on Austin-Healey Sprite with original body designed by Ghia
• 1963-1974 IM3/IM3S/Austin I4/I5 - rebadged sedan BMC ADO16 (Austin/Morris 1100)
• 1963 Innocenti 186 GT - prototype of the coupé with a 1.8-Litre V6 Ferrari (Dino) engine
• 1965-1975 Mini - rebadged fastback sedans and station wagons BMC ADO15 (Mini)
• 1973-1976 Regent - sedan Austin Allegro
• 1974-1982 Innocenti Mini 90L and 120L - Bertone rebodied Mini
• 1976-1987 Innocenti Mini de Tomaso - sport version of Innocenti Mini developed by de Tomaso, initially equipped with BLMC 1275 engine, since 1982 with 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged Daihatsu engine
• 1982-1992 3-Cilindri/Minitre/650/500 - further development of Innocenti Mini with Daihatsu 3-cylinder and 2-cylinder engines
• 1986-1992 Mini 990 - longer version of Innocenti Mini with 1.0-litre 3-cylinder Daihatsu engine
• 1991-1993 Koral - Yugo Koral rebadged for the Italian market
• 1991-1996 Innocenti Elba - European version of the Brazilian Fiat Elba
• 1994-1997 Mille - Brazilian Fiat Uno for Italian market (not to be confused with Innocenti Mini version under the same name manufactured between 1980–1982)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Worldwide news and comment: Innocenti under the BL wing". Autocar 136 (nbr 3969): 3. 11 May 1972. 
2. ^ "Innocenti". Austin-rover.co.uk. http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/inniindexf.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-27. 

External links

• http://vea.qc.ca/vea/marques1/innocenti.htm
• http://gerardsgarage.com/GarageContent/UniqueSprites/innocenti/Innocenti.htm
• http://ideahobby.it/DB-Auto/innocenti.html
• http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?inniminif.htm
• Photo of large Innocenti boring mill during installation in the United states
• Innocenti models with detailed specifications in automobile-catalog.com