Società Ligure Piemontese Automobili

Società Ligure Piemontese Automobili
legal form	Società per Azioni
founding	1906
Seat	Turin , at times Genoa , Italy
Branch	Automobiles

The Società Ligure Piemontese Automobili (SPA) was an Italian automobile and later military vehicle manufacturer founded in 1906 , which was taken over by Fiat after 1925 and produced until 1949.

description

The company was founded on June 12, 1906 by Matteo Ceirano and Michele Ansaldi in Turin, initially under the name Società Piemontese Automobili . Powerful vehicles with two-, four- and six-cylinder engines were produced for the civilian market.

In 1907, SPA presented the four-cylinder SPA 28/40 HP with 7785  cm³ and the six-cylinder SPA 60/70 HP with 11.677 cm³ at the Salone dell'automobile in Turin , which came from the creative pen of Ceirano . The powerful engines were designed by Ansaldi .

The models from SPA were also represented in the racing sector since 1908 . In the same year , Ernesto Ceirano took third place with the SPA 28/40 HP at the Targa Florio in Sicily and a year later Baron Francesco Ciuppa won the race with the model. The two SPA founders left the company during the First World War . After the end of the war, SPA resumed production with the previously planned models SPA 25/30 HP and SPA 14/16 HP .

SPA 50 HP 9000 from 1914

As a result of the merger with Fabbrica Ligure Automobili Genova (FLAG) in 1909, the company moved its administrative headquarters to the business premises of the new partner in Genoa and was renamed Societa Ligure-Piemontese Automobili . Manufacturing and manufacturing remained in Genoa. In 1920/21, the Turin-based coachbuilder Carrozzeria Bertone from SPA received their first major order to manufacture a body for the sports car called "Torpedo" based on a SPA 23 S. This order helped Bertone enter the automotive industry. On February 13, 1923, SPA relocated the company headquarters back to Turin and produced other sports car models, including a six-cylinder with 24 valves and an overhead camshaft .

Financial difficulties led Fiat to take over the company in 1926. During this period, SPA also produced vehicles for the military sector. After the end of the Second World War , it was decided in 1947 to finally integrate SPA production into Fiat production.

Web links

Commons : SPA vehicles  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• SPA militare (ital.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Society for Technical Supervision : Oldtimerservice: (I) SPA (0900)