Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena

Cooperativa Carrozzai Modenesi Carrozzeria Audrodromo Modena
legal form	Corporation
founding	1949
resolution	2003
Seat	Modena , Italy
management	Mauro Cavaletti (2003)
Number of employees	100 (2002)
Branch	Body shop

The Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena (short: Autodromo , also: CAM ) was an Italian manufacturer of automobile bodies, which made some sports car bodies in the first few years before focusing on bodies for buses and commercial vehicles. At times, Autodromo was one of the most famous Italian bus manufacturers alongside Padane .

Company history

The company, initially organized as a cooperative , was founded in Modena in 1949 under the name Cooperativa Carrozzai Modenesi . Already in the first year the legal form was converted into a Società a responsabilità limitata (corporation); at the same time the company was renamed Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena. The new name referred to the Aerautodromo di Modena race track, which was under construction at the time and in the immediate vicinity of which the company was based. The company logo shows, among other things, a stylized racing course. At times the Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena also used the abbreviation CAM as a brand name.

In the first few years Autodromo was a pure repair shop for automobiles. The change to the body manufacturer took place gradually. In the 1950s, Autodromo initially manufactured some bodies for racing cars. However, the company did not succeed in establishing itself as a body manufacturer in the sports car sector. It then shifted its focus of activity to the construction of commercial vehicle and bus bodies. The company remained independent over the decades and was not part of a larger group. Since the late 1990s, Autodromo, like its competitors, had to contend with economic difficulties. The reason given is generally the decline in bus sales in Italy, which was attributed to the local authorities' unwillingness to renew their bus fleets. In 2003 Autodromo ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy. During the insolvency proceedings, the German bus manufacturer Göppel was considering taking over the Italian plant, but then decided to invest in Neoplan .

Autodromo vehicles

Sports car bodies

Ferrari 166MM

Ferrari 166 MM (chassis 0272M) with Autodromo body (1953)

One of the best-known racing cars associated with Autodromo is a Ferrari 166 MM Spyder (chassis number 0272M) from 1953, which remained a one-off in this form. The origin of its body has not been clarified beyond doubt; some consider the origin of the car to be a "mystery". Many brand historians assume that the structure goes back to a design by Ferrari engineer Aurelio Lampredi and that Ferrari manufactured the body in its own factory in its basic structure, whereupon Autodromo then implemented the details or "refined" the structure. This would make the Spyder one of the very few vehicles whose body Ferrari built itself. In isolated cases, however, Autodromo's participation is fundamentally questioned. After the Spyder had competed in the Mille Miglia in 1953 and 1954 , it was used as a prop in the 1955 feature film Der Favorit (original title: The Racers ) with Kirk Douglas , which traces the life of Rudolf Caracciola . The one-off, which is very well known in the classic scene, still exists. In 2018 it was put up for sale at an auction in Paris but did not find a buyer.

Ferrari 735S Spyder

Also in 1953, Autodromo built a body for a Ferrari 735S Spyder , one of the few Ferrari racing cars with a four-cylinder engine. Ferrari built a total of three 735S. One chassis received a body from Pininfarina , the second a body from Scagiletti , while the third chassis (chassis number 0428M 53) was equipped with a body from Autodromo. As with the 166MM with the chassis number 0272M, the body design of the Autodromo is attributed to Aurelio Lampredi. Alberto Ascari destroyed the car with the Autodromo body when it was first used in Monza , where it competed for Ferrari's works team . The chassis received a new body from Scaglietti in the same year.

OSCA

In the following years Autodromo dressed a number of OSCA chassis.

Omnibuses

CAM Busetto in Bologna (1999)

Since the 1960s, Autodromo has primarily built bodies for buses. The vehicles, now called CAM, were mainly intended as regular buses for use in city traffic. In the 1990s, a series of buses with low-floor technology was commissioned by MAN . From 2001, Autodromo signed a cooperation agreement with Volvo , according to which Autodromo Volvos should convert buses produced in Poland so that they met the requirements of the Italian market. The last newly introduced vehicle from Autodromo was the CAM Tango from 2001.

literature

• Nick Georgano: The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile: Coachbuilding , Routledge, 2001, ISBN 9781136600722
• Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani , Società Editrice Il Cammello, Torino, 2017, ISBN 978-8896796412

Web links

Commons : Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Gianluca Pedrazzi: Carrozzeria Autodromo, è fallimento , in: Gazetta di Modena of June 18, 2004.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Braun, Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual. All series and racing vehicles from 1947 to today, Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 2006, ISBN 3-89880-501-8 , p. 32.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Description of the offer on the website of the auction house RM Sotheby’s (accessed on March 14, 2019).
4. ↑ Description of the car on the website www.automotivemmasterpieces.com (accessed on March 14, 2019).
5. ↑ Description of the Ferrari 166MM (0272M) on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on March 14, 2019).
6. ↑ Race results of the Ferrari 166MM (0272M) on the website www.racingsportscars.com (accessed on March 14, 2019).
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Braun, Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual. All series and racing vehicles from 1947 to today, Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 2006, ISBN 3-89880-501-8 , p. 36.
8. ↑ Description of the Ferrari 735S with the chassis number 0444M on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on March 14, 2019)
9. ↑ Description of the Ferrari 735S with the chassis number 0446M on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on March 14, 2019).
10. ↑ ^{a b} Description of the Ferrari 735S (0428M 53) on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on March 14, 2019).
11. ↑ Leonardo Acerbi: Ferrari: A Complete Guide to All Models , MBI Publishing Company LLC, 2006, ISBN 9780760325506 , p. 61.
12. ↑ Statistics of the 1953 Monza Grand Prix on the website www.racingsportscars.com (accessed on March 14, 2019).
13. ↑ Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani , Società Editrice Il Cammello, Torino, 2017, ISBN 978-8896796412 , p. 94.
14. ↑ Volvo's communication of July 9, 2001 (accessed on March 14, 2019).