THE INNOCENTI STORY
BIOGRAPHIC NOTES
Ferdinando Innocenti was born on 1 September 1891 in Val di Nievole, Pescia (Tuscany), the son of Dante Innocenti, a craftsman (blacksmith and wheelwright), and Rosa (née Cuppari). The family moved to Grosseto in 1899, opening a hardware store in Via Galilei; a second shop followed later in Corso Carducci. From 1906, the teenage Ferdinando worked in the business, learning stock, customers, and suppliers; After completing his studies up to the third technical class, Ferdinando joined his father and half-brother Rosolino (from Dante’s first marriage) in managing the family hardware business. The Innocenti family was already in a sound economic position at that time. By eighteen he managed a section trading in second-hand iron, often bartering recovered metal for lubricants to resell. From as early as 1920 he studied applications for steel tubing and pipes as a promising new line.
THE MOVE TO ROME (1923–1931)
In 1923, with around 500,000 lire in capital, Ferdinando with brother Rosolino sought to scale up in Rome; a bank failure wiped out the funds. Undeterred, he doubled down on seamless tubes from Dalmine (under Mannesmann licence) for construction, agriculture, and industry. In 1926 he opened a tube warehouse/workshop on Via Porto Fluviale. By 1930 the firm traded as Fratelli Innocenti (“Innocenti Brothers”). Between 1931 and 1934, Vatican-area works raised the company’s profile: the 14-hectare irrigation at Castel Gandolfo using Lake Albano water; Vatican Gardens installations; fire-prevention systems and the power plant; stands at Piazza San Pietro; and scaffolding for Sistine Chapel restoration, where the patented tubular system’s rapid assembly/disassembly avoided risk to the frescoes. These commissions were aided by Innocenti’s Dalmine technical ties (he also held shares) and influential relationships (notably Franco Ratti, Count of Desio, nephew of Pius XI, and contractor Leone Castelli).
MOVE TO MILAN & THE SCAFFOLD CLAMP (1932–1936)
Despite a harsh downturn (industrial output −27% in 1928–32 and unemployment surging past one million by 1931), Milan’s reconstruction made it ideal for expansion. In 1932 operations shifted north, with early offices in Via dell’Unione (later Via Manzoni). In 1933 a new factory rose at Lambrate (Via Pitteri) to manufacture patented scaffolding systems; the site lay between Via Pitteri and the River Lambro and would become the industrial nucleus. That year the company became a joint-stock corporation: Fratelli Innocenti, Società Anonima per Applicazioni Tubolari d’Acciaio, HQ Via XX Settembre, Rome. Share capital was 5 million lire in 5,000 shares (3,100 held by Ferdinando; 1,900 by Rosolino), and a 5,000,000-lire bond loan (4%) covered capital needs. Address logistics broadened with an office on Via San Paolo (Rome) and the first large Milan warehouse in Via Pitteri.
In 1933 came the breakthrough scaffold clamp: a reusable connector allowing fast, precise tube joints that displaced wire lashings and transformed the building trade in Italy and abroad. Its success underwrote rapid factory growth and deepened the company’s tubing specialization.
CONNECTIONS WITH INDUSTRY & EXPANSION (1933–1936)
Dalmine entered the state holding IRI in 1933; Innocenti, an important private shareholder and distributor, increased his stake. High-profile grandstand projects during the 1934 World Cup showcased the safety and speed of tubular systems. In 1935 capital doubled from 5 to 10 million lire; by October a major shed and plant were complete on the Lambrate site. The workforce rose from 20 (1929) to 100+ (1931) and kept climbing as movable/fixed irrigation systems and scaffolding scaled nationally.
HOW HE WAS
Quiet, paternal, modest, and reserved, Ferdinando spoke slowly and precisely, avoided salons and theatres, and worked through trusted confidants. He was meticulous in accounts and calculations, decisive under pressure, and politically pragmatic—cultivating ties across divides as tools to protect and advance the enterprise. He sometimes relaxed with cinema westerns, though talk quickly returned to business.
COUNTRYWIDE EVOLUTION OF THE BUSINESS
By the mid-1930s branches operated in Milan, Rome, Genoa, Naples, Bologna, Florence, Turin, Palermo, and Trieste. The business organized into four sections:
(1) building materials & electrical systems;
(2) agricultural and sporting applications of piping;
(3) industrial and power-plant materials;
(4) mechanical industry (motorcars, artillery, glassworks). Tubes, fittings, and the ability to design and deliver complete systems unified the portfolio.
WAR PRODUCTION & SAFTA (1935–1943)
From 1935 the firm expanded into armaments: 150/250-kg bomb casings using cut-down tubular sections, artillery shells, prefabricated hangars, tubular bridges and field structures. Profits rose: 840,000 lire (1935); ~1,000,000 (1937); ~1,500,000 (1938).
MO/1 (Lambrate) was built in 1936 (requiring diversion of the Lambro for later expansions);
MO/2 followed in 1939 along with the Welfare Palace (today SOCI). Seeking direct pipe manufacture, and aided by Mussolini’s Apuania industrial project, Innocenti founded SAFTA (Società Anonima Fabbricazione Tubi d’Acciaio) with majority Innocenti control and a Dalmine minority. The Apuania site (≈495,000 m²) with four longitudinal and three transverse blocks housed three rolling mills. Under Luxembourger engineer Alberto Calmes (German-trained, anti-Nazi exile), SAFTA pioneered pipe production directly from bars, cutting costs.
War damage arrested full production: during the German retreat, Field Marshal Kesselring ordered equipment dismantled and shipped; the rest was heavily hit. Reconstruction followed and partial output resumed in 1942; in November 1948 Dalmine took full control, making SAFTA its second major site.
“WAR I, WAR II, WAR III” PLANTS & GOVERNANCE (1939–1943)
War I (G1) at Tor Sapienza, Rome (1939), reached ~40,000 shells/day.
War II in Milan (1940; ~75,000 m²) specialized in sintered copper rings under German patent.
War III (begun 1941) for steel cartridge cases (also under German patent) saw two large buildings fitted with German presses before 8 September 1943 halted completion. By 1943 the workforce exceeded 7,000 (with roughly half women). Although the firm employed ~5.5% of Italy’s munitions workers, its efficiency yielded ~17% of the mechanical industry’s munitions output. The factories were designated “model Fascist establishments.”
Financially, profits climbed: 2,119,000 lire (1939); 4,231,500 (1940); 10,118,500 (1941); 12,298,000 (1942); 10,832,000 up to 8 Sept 1943. Reserves stood at 2,200,000 (ordinary) and 8,468,000 (extraordinary). Share capital rose from 20 to 50 million (11 Mar 1940) and to 100 million (8 Apr 1941) via 80,000 new shares at 1,000 lire; shareholders consolidated from 12 to 3: Ferdinando (80%), Rosolino (15%), and Paolo Missiroli (5%). The Board expanded for prestige to include Edmondo Balbo; directors and overseers at various points included Giulio Giussani, Giuseppe Checchi, Vittorio Verdarrini, Renato Finocchi, Carlo Jurgens, and Giuliano Mastrogiovanni.
THE BLOW, AND THE RESTART (1944–1946)
On 30 April 1944 Allied bombing devastated Lambrate; in retreat, German troops wrecked machinery and stripped stockrooms. After the armistice the factories were occupied and production diverted; public relations were maintained while aid reportedly reached partisans discreetly. After Liberation, Allied authorities placed the plant under military control. A lengthy legal process ended mid-1946 with Innocenti regaining possession. With buildings ruined but essential machines and materials salvaged or rebuilt, production restarted with urgent civilian needs: scaffolding, irrigation systems, tubular structures for construction, electric pylons, and gas and water pipes.
THE PLAN OF REORGANISATION (POST-1945)
Ferdinando adopted a three-point programme:
(1) create a vehicle of great diffusion at low cost;
(2) continue activity in machinery and industrial plants;
(3) develop metal sintering processes.
The first would transform Italy’s streets—and Innocenti’s future.
ENGINEERS, AERONAUTICAL KNOW-HOW & LAMBRATE
The collapse of wartime aviation released a generation of engineers. Caproni shed leading figures such as Engineer Cesare Pallavicino; formerly Technical Director at Caproni, and technicians Bonetti, and Bruno Ferrario, whose lightweight-structure, airflow, cooling, and production disciplines migrated from air to road. Lambrate’s tube factory—needing a new civil product—became the meeting ground for displaced aeronautical talent and tubular-steel mass production.
THE LAMBRETTA IS BORN — ROME 1944 TO LAMBRATE 1947
The spark was Rome, 1943–44: U.S. Cushman scooters in Allied service—compact, rugged, ideal for broken roads—suggested a small, cheap vehicle built from available materials could address Italy’s mobility crisis. In summer of 1944, with the north still occupied, Innocenti engaged Engineer Cesare Pallavicino and his technicians Bonnetti and Bruno Ferrario to create a prototype nicknamed Esperimento 0. It borrowed Cushman utility but sought Italian elegance: a self-supporting shrouded body; a two-stroke engine between the rider’s legs with chain drive; a pressed-steel fork with telescopic front suspension; and Harley-style sprung saddles. 6 tables were prepared with various sketches and construction details were presented to Ferdinando Innocenti, with imediate effect he secured their emplyment on the 2nd September 1944 with a stipend of 5000 lira per month. Ferdinando offered the ground floor of his personal residence in Via Regina Elena for the team to get to work. Ferdinando worked very closely with the team on all aspects of the design, expecting nothing but the best even if it increased the final cost of production. However after only 3 months into his employment with Innocenti Engineer Pallavicino emigrated to Argentina.
Ferdinando Innocenti then engaged with aeronautocal general, Engineer Pierluigi Torre; who then led a restart at the Centro Studi Innocenti, assisted by De Martino and Ferrario. Again dubbed Esperimento 0, in July 1946 the Lambrate work at the new G2 building kept the Cushman’s rugged sense but re-engineered everything around tubular steel and mass production. Torre’s prototype prioritized mechanical credibility: a 125cc unit with a single cylinder/twin-piston layout and fan-forced air cooling; a magneto electrical system; and a two-speed foot-operated gearbox. Six- and seven-inch wheels were trialled. A central tubular beam carried tank, glovebox, and engine; the pressed-steel front fork reflected light-aircraft practice; rubber torsion replaced simple rear springs. A mid-1946 wooden mock-up convinced Ferdinando the project was on track and subsequently Experiment 2 was now in development.
FACTORY DRAWINGS — THE PATH TO PRODUCTION
Surviving drawing sheets mark the march from idea to product:
• Autumn 1944 — first sketches presented to Ferdinando Innocenti by Pallavicino.
• 22 Aug 1945 — first Innocenti-title-block drawing (wheel size noted): engineering work begins.
• 7 Oct 1946 — update adds pedal-operated klaxon and a more resolved saddle layout, ancestral to Model A.
• 27 Nov 1946 — opposite-side view: klaxon pedal deleted; twin saddles adopted.
• 29 Jan 1947 — frame and engine installation drawn in near-final form.
• 1 Sep 1947 — sheet marked “Motocicletta I125”; Lambretta appears in the title block; klaxon pedal formally annullato; optional accessories (incl. plexiglass windscreen) illustrated.
“Tipo 2” drawings—later the frame/engine numbering prefix for Model A—show sidecar provision, signaling commuter and family/commercial roles from the outset.
ANNOUNCEMENT, HYPE, AND DELAY (1947–EARLY 1948)
Marketing moved early: RAI ran a daily jingle (“It’s 8:35! It’s time for the Lambretta!”). In Feb 1947 Motociclismo printed a rough sketch—denied officially but likely leaked and close to reality. Wooden mock-ups of the scooter and a three-wheeled mini-pickup (four versions) fed curiosity. At the 1947 Paris Salon Innocenti showed a pre-production batch of 22 machines. Material shortages and tooling bottlenecks meant only a token batch could be produced in October 1947 to appease dealers; full-scale production started early 1948 at about 50 units/day and then climbed.
MODEL A, EXPORTS, AND MODEL B (1947–1949)
The first production machine—initially “Tipo M,” soon Model A—used a tubular frame, 125cc two-stroke engine, three-speed (foot change), and 7-inch wheels. Innocenti anticipated owners’ wishes with pastel colours (grey, ivory, azure, red, amaranth) and accessories: second seat/child’s pad, plexiglass windscreen, lockable glovebox under the saddle, and even a wooden shipping crate. Early versions retained a mechanical klaxon pedal, annulled on drawings by September 1947. Around 152 units were produced in 1947; about 9,517 in 1948. The summer 1948 overhang drove exports to Argentina, where the 125 found a ready community. Italian production of the Model A ceased in October 1948 due to remaining stock in the warehouse.
In November 1948 rather than continue to produce the Model A, through technical advances and updates the Model B having already been in development for some time was launched: 8-inch wheels for stability, handlebar gear control, proper rear suspension.
REORGANISATION OF 1949
The company formalised a dual structure:
(1) heavy mechanics—tubes, machinery, plants;
(2) motor vehicles—Lambretta.
The Board expanded with the entry of Luigi Innocenti, signaling generational continuity and international ambitions.
C, LC, D, AND LD — TOWARD MASS SCOOTERISM (1950–1951)
In 1950 the Model C refined the basic concept at a widely affordable price, while the LC (Lusso / Luxury) introduced integrated bodywork and a legshield for everyday, weather-friendly use. In 1951 the Model D adopted a new all-tubular frame and a four-speed gearbox—lighter, more rigid, more economical—while the fully panelled LD with aluminium skins and a handlebar-mounted headlamp became the decade’s favourite, especially in France and England.
CULTURE, CLUBS, AND SERVICE — “LAMBRETTISMO”
From 1949, the Notiziario Lambretta (soon multilingual and in colour) knit a growing constellation of clubs that organised Sunday rides, smoothed bureaucracy, and turned a humble vehicle into a leisure culture. Service depots, trained mechanics, and parts networks spread alongside the scooters: by the early 1950s, true “mass scooterism” had arrived.
LICENSING AND GLOBAL REACH
Licensing began in 1951 with NSU (Germany), followed by France, Spain, India, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Formosa (Taiwan), Pakistan, Turkey, and others. The model was reproducible mobilization: blueprints, tooling, training, and technical assistance from Lambrate. Over time, labour scarcity and cheap cars limited some ventures; two proved most durable: India and Spain, which updated and exported Lambrettas even after Italian production ceased in 1971.
ENGINEERING & HEAVY INDUSTRY (POSTWAR)
Parallel to scooters, Innocenti expanded a heavy-industry portfolio: slabbing and blooming mills; three-high roughing, four-high hot-rolling, Sendzimir planetary and cold-strip mills; skin-pass mills; extrusion presses; hot ingot peeling; and auxiliaries. The Sendzimir concept solved issues of traditional mills, enabling high-quality cold-rolled strip with precise control and lower capital cost. Innocenti also backed Concast continuous casting, replacing conventional ingots/ditches to save investment and space, raise output, improve quality, and cut conversion costs. Non-ferrous (notably aluminium) broadened with extrusion and rolling lines for major clients (including complete lines for SLIM of the Reynolds Group–Edison).
THE 1951 MECHANICAL WORKSHOPS — CAPABILITIES
By 1951 the workshops ranked among Europe’s most advanced and flexible. Capabilities included:
• Complete tube/pipe plants for ferrous and non-ferrous metals using Calmes Rotary Tube Forging, Calmes–Dvořák Continuous Mill, and Dvořák–Calmes Push Bench.
• Complete hot-rolling mills for billets/finished products.
• Auxiliaries/finishing: billet shears, reducing/sizing mills, hot/cold saws, expanders, draw benches, bordering machines, roller ways, conveyors.
• Specialized machinery for cutting, chamfering, boring, and threading gas/API pipes.
• Hydraulic presses for breaking, piercing, expanding, testing.
• Machines for chemical, rubber, and paper industries; air/water plants; oxygen plants; foundry services.
The shops had their own power, compressed air, gas/oxygen, and foundry. In close cooperation with the Calmes Engineering Office, they designed, built, and installed complete factories abroad. Production grew: 700 tons (1947), 1,500 (1948), 3,000 (1949), 4,500 (1950), with exports to England, France, Yugoslavia, and Argentina.
THE ORINOCO STEEL PLANT (LATE 1950S)
Innocenti’s greatest foreign achievement in heavy plant was Venezuela’s Planta Siderúrgica del Orinoco—entirely designed and built for the government by a dedicated Innocenti department. Among Latin America’s principal undertakings and the first complete steel plant delivered by Italian industry, it embodied the integral cycle from ore to finished products. Pig iron was produced via two shaft electric smelting furnaces rather than blast furnaces.
The site near Puerto Ordaz on the right bank of the Orinoco (close to the Caroní hydro-electric plant) aligned with a national industrialization plan. Capacity was about one million tons/year. The complex included rolling mills (with wire-drawing), a foundry, a pipe mill, an engineering workshop, a central lab, and full services/utilities across ~2 km² of savannah eight degrees from the Equator. Construction required ≈450,000 m³ of concrete, 50 km of railway, and 25 km of roads. Since 1957 some 3,000 workers/day logged ~35 million hours. Total cost exceeded $350 million across civil works, machinery, construction, and assembly.
THE 150s, LI, TV, SX, DL, AND LUI — THE MATURITY OF THE LINE (1957–1969)
The late 1950s saw larger-capacity scooters and record volumes. In 1957 the LI series (125/150, four-speed) set the template: elegant, practical, long-lived. The TV (Turismo Veloce) established a sporting image: the 175 introduced a front disc brake—remarkable for the time—elevating performance and prestige. Through the 1960s, Series III LI/TV and the SX consolidated Lambretta’s reputation in Italy and abroad. In 1968, Bertone restyled the range as the DL (GP) in 125/150/200cc (the 200 especially prized). Technically and aesthetically strong, the DL arrived as the market pivoted to small cars. Seeking new customers, Innocenti launched the futuristic Lui family (Bertone); bold but not mass-market.
Lambretta also became a cultural icon—adopted by Mods in England, customized with mirrors, lights, and accessories—and a staple of family mobility in India.
AUTOMOBILES — FROM EXPERIMENTS TO BMC
Ideas for small cars dated to the early 1940s, but concrete steps came mid-1950s as Luigi Innocenti pressed for diversification. Despite Ferdinando’s caution about capital intensity and entrenched domestic rivals, the Centro Studi explored options. In 1956 Innocenti engaged with Glas Isaria (Goggomobil), studying designs and testing cars (including a T700) at Lambrate; a disguised prototype with alternative bodywork was built, establishing know-how and supplier links that smoothed entry into licensed car production.
By 1960 Innocenti launched the Austin A40 (BMC licence) at Lambrate, followed by the IM3, J4, and (1966) the Mini, which briefly revived sales. Even so, assembly methods lagged Europe’s most advanced systems while cheap cars eroded scooter demand. Founder Ferdinando Innocenti died in 1966. In 1971 British Leyland—already a partner—assumed control. Scooter production in Italy wound down and ceased in 1972, though licensed manufacture abroad continued into the 1990s, especially in India.
THE COMPANY AS A COMMUNITY
Innocenti invested beyond machines: worker housing, health services, schools, sports grounds, and apprenticeships. A global service ecosystem—parts depots, workshops, training—kept owners mobile and loyal. Lambrate became a “city within a city,” an industrial community whose social fabric reinforced product and brand.
CONCLUSION — LEGACY
From a Grosseto shopfront to Europe’s largest tube works; from the 1933 scaffold clamp to seamless pipes, rolling mills, and heavy plant; from a wooden mock-up to millions of scooters on six continents—Innocenti mirrors Italy’s postwar reinvention. Three pillars sustained it: engineering excellence; mobility for the people; and a social duty to those who built it. Ending scooter production in Milan in 1972 did not end the Lambretta: in India and beyond, it lived on—proof that the machines born at Lambrate outlived the factory that made them.
