Beccaris

Beccaris Temistocle ; ILLAT Sas ; Beccaris & Teraschi Snc
legal form	Partnership
founding	1938
resolution	1962
Reason for dissolution	insolvency
Seat	Turin
management	Temistocle Beccaris, Carlo Beccaris, Michele Giovara, Egidio Teraschi
Branch	Body shop

Beccaris is a former Italian coachbuilder from Turin . For around 20 years the company was active under several company names and with various participants. The general name Carrozzeria Beccaris is also in use .

The most important people were Carlo Beccaris and his father Temistocle. Meaning the acquired companies in particular through cooperation with the car manufacturers Abarth in the years 1960 to 1962 there with specialization in light metal - bodies for road and racing cars . At Abarth , Beccaris followed Zagato and the Corna brothers and was in turn replaced by the Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano .

The relevant people

Temistocle Beccaris was on 24 April 1899 in Montegrosso d'Asti in the region Piedmont born; he died on November 17, 1975 in Turin. From his marriage to Maggiorina Beccaris, b. Gonella (1906–1985) was born on May 31, 1927 in Turin, son Carlo Beccaris. He was named after his paternal grandfather and died on January 11, 1990 in Monteu da Po, Piedmont .

Temistocle Beccaris also appeared as an inventor: Together with Giovanni Beccaris from Turin, he was granted a patent on May 18, 1937 under the number 348373 for the improvement of hydraulic dampers for automobiles and similar vehicles.

Company history

Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero from 1961 with a body by Beccaris (round tail with ventilation flap in the bonnet)

Fiat Abarth Monomille with a body by Beccaris from 1962 ("Shortnose" with wired headlights and with "Ducktail", ie rear spoiler edge on the engine cover)

Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero with a body by Beccaris from 1962 ("Shortnose" / "Ducktail")

The slightly larger Abarth Simca 2000 GT with a body by Beccaris from 1962 ("Shortnose" / "Ducktail")

The companies led by Temistocle Beccaris

Towards the end of 1938 founded Temistocle Beccaris as sole proprietor a small plumbing related to the processing of sheet metal was specialized for the production of car bodies. He made entire bodies and individual parts on behalf of other bodybuilders. In 1940 he had to interrupt his manual activity when he was called up to serve at the front during World War II , and in 1945 he resumed it. The company's headquarters were originally in Via Sostegno 83 on the outskirts of the municipality of Grugliasco bordering Turin ; The place is in the Piedmont region in the then province of Turin , but had to give the district in question to Turin in 1945. In 1952, Beccaris moved the headquarters within Turin to the nearby Via Francesco De Sanctis 150/12 (today: Via Santa Maria Mazzarello 30/12 ). The company continued to grow, however, and so in 1955 he founded a new, much larger company called ILLAT .

ILLAT stood for Industria Lavorazione Lamiera Automobili Torino , in German simply: Industry for processing automotive sheet metal , Turin ; it had the legal form of a Società in accomandita semplice (Sas) , which in the German-speaking area roughly corresponds to a limited partnership . Other shareholders besides Temistocle Beccaris were his son Carlo and Michele Giovara. The original factory was replaced by a new workshop at 32 Via Col di Lana , which they left in 1957 to the Corna brothers, who were also coachbuilders. The cooperation formally existed until 1960, when the company was declared insolvent . However, father and son Beccaris had already turned away in 1959 and opened a new workshop together with Egidio Teraschi.

The reasons for the decline of the ILLAT company are not known in detail. However, it falls at a time in which some, including well-known body construction companies, which, without specialization, only produced in a manual, non- industrial style. The development was accelerated by the transition from passenger cars with separate chassis to self-supporting bodies , which were less suitable for the construction of individual items and small series . At the same time, large-scale manufacturers increasingly offered mass- produced coupés , convertibles and station wagons at lower prices.

The company under the leadership of Carlo Beccaris

In 1959 Carlo Beccaris left the already dormant company ILLAT, which was initiated by his father . He teamed up with Egidio Teraschi and founded the Beccaris & Teraschi Snc The legal form they chose a Società in nome collettivo that in German-speaking about the general partnership equivalent (oHG). The new company was based at Strada Antica di Grugliasco 295 in Turin. Temistocle Beccaris also took part again.

In 1960 there was a collaboration with the sports car manufacturer Abarth . Beccaris specialized in the processing of light metal sheets of aluminum - alloys and their assembly into weight-saving light-alloy bodies, mostly in closed form as a coupe, isolated as a minimalist racing Spider . The proportion of time-consuming manual labor remained very high.

Despite the important Abarth contract, financial difficulties arose in 1962. The number of units remained low, probably only in the double-digit range. There were also not enough other customers for a sufficient capacity utilization. Beccaris & Teraschi had to close at the end of 1962 .

Automobiles bodied by Beccaris (as Beccaris & Teraschi Snc )

Overview of the vehicle models

The production of the complete bodies for several sports car models is documented:

Fiat Abarth 700/750/800/850 Coupé Record Monza (GT) (1960 and '61)
Fiat Abarth Monomille (1961 and '62)
- Street version with forward, upright headlights
- Street version with recessed headlights covered by plexiglass half-shells
- Racing version with recessed headlights covered by plexiglass half-shells
Fiat Abarth 700/1000 Bialbero (1961 and '62)
Abarth Simca 1300 GT ("Shortnose", initially without, then with "Ducktail") (1961 and '62)
Abarth Simca 2000 GT ("Shortnose" with "Ducktail") (1962)

There are also indications that Beccaris manufactured at least individual vehicles for Abarth or body parts for other models.

Fiat Abarth 750/1000/1300 Spider Telaio Tubolare (Tipo 221/130 S / 131 / SE 04 / SE 05) (1961 and '62) (together with or after the Carrozzeria Corna )

The assignment to individual bodybuilders is often made more difficult by the fact that Abarth often appeared as a “Carrozzeria” itself during this phase, although only the design came from there; the actual body shop, on the other hand , was outsourced to external body builders such as Corna , Beccaris or Sibona-Basano without being externally identified by their emblems.

Design and technical basis

The design of the coupé bodies manufactured by Beccaris & Teraschi was based in many cases on earlier Zagato designs, but dispensed with the “double bubbles” typical of it, two characteristic roof bumps for greater headroom. The basic project was continuous from the Abarth boss engineer Mario Colucci developed. The focus was on reducing the drag coefficient to increase top speed and increasing downforce to increase cornering speed. The design was largely functional, which Beccaris could only influence in detail.

The vehicles clad in Turin were mostly based on the revised floor assembly of a Fiat 600 , especially the 600 D with a wheelbase of 2000 millimeters and a track width of 1150 millimeters at the front and 1160 at the rear. Towards the end, modified floor assemblies of the Simca 1000 were added, whose wheelbase was 9 centimeters and whose track widths were 11 and 8 centimeters larger. Very few examples used a mid-engine in a tubular space frame instead of the concept with a rear drive block .

Success in motorsport

Sports cars bodied by Beccaris achieved numerous successes in motorsport , both on the circuit and in slalom and hillclimb races . Sun won Abarth sports car with Beccaris -Karosserie the world title in the World Sportscar Championship in 1962 in the newly created category of sports cars to 1.0 liters. The class win had already been achieved (14th overall) in the 1961 24-hour race in Le Mans, which is part of the sports car world championship, and second place in the class in the 1961 4-hour race in Pescara (11th overall among Ferrari - and Porsche sports car).

The Beccaris-Abarths today

Mainly because of their rarity and, in many cases , their racing history, the sports cars bodied by Beccaris are among the most sought-after collector's items today. Over-the-counter sales are now rare; Occasionally they are auctioned off at automobile auctions or traded among collectors. Several Beccaris-Abarths were in the well-known, now dissolved Collezione Maranello Rosso by Fabrizio Violati in San Marino

At an auction in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2014, an Abarth 1000 Sport 131-MC Spider Tubolare with a Beccaris body fetched 122,460 pounds sterling (136,768 euros ) (including hammer price ) , although not ready to drive .

At the same event, an Abarth Simca 2000 GT Corsa "Campionissimo Europa Montagna" with a Beccaris body reached £ 219,900 (€ 249,057) (including hammer price).

In 2015, an Abarth Simca 1300 GT Corsa "Short Nose World Champion Coupé" with a Beccaris body - although partially dismantled - brought in 82,140 pounds (93,031 euros), in the same year a similar but complete vehicle from the Maranello Rosso collection brought in 128,800 euros ( each including surcharge).

Also in 2015, a Fiat Abarth Monomille GT Coupé from 1961 / '62 achieved 36,800 pounds (41,679 euros) (including surcharge) despite the non-original engine.

literature

Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani . Il Cammello, 1st edition, Turin 2017, ISBN 978-8-8967-9641-2 (Italian).

Web links

Extensive information and pictures about the Fiat Abarth Monomille , in particular the Monomille Scorpione with body by Beccaris, on the web portal abarth-germany.de , accessed on November 27, 2017.

Extensive information and pictures about the Abarth Simca 1300 (GT) with body from Beccaris on the web portal abarth-germany.de , accessed on November 27, 2017.

Bruno von Rotz: Fiat-Abarth 1000 Bialbero - serial race winner with Turin limousine origins . August 26, 2013 on the web portal zwischengas.com , accessed on 27 November 2017th

Overview of the Abarth models, including the vehicles bodyworked by Beccaris with the internal designations Tipo 110 , 129 and 130 , on the web portal bernimotori.com , accessed on November 27, 2017 (English / Italian).