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Officine Meccaniche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeOfficine Meccaniche (disambiguation).
Officine Meccaniche
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1899
Defunct1975
Fateabsorbed (as part of the Fiat Group) intoIVECO.
HeadquartersMilan,Italy(HQ)
Brescia,Italy(Automotive)
ProductsAutomobiles(Brescia; 1918–1934)
Railroad locomotives and equipment (Milan)
Commercial Vehicles (Brescia; 1925–1975)
Miani e Silvestri&C-A.Grondona Comi&C
Officine Meccaniche-Milano-Brescia già Miani e Silvestri&C-A.Grondona Comi&C
Share of the Officine Meccaniche, issued 13 March 1930
OM Superba 665 1929
OM 120 truck

Officine MeccanicheorOMwas an Italian car and truck manufacturing company. It was founded in 1899 inMilanas Società Anonima Officine Meccaniche to manufacture railway rolling stock and car production began in 1918.[1]It disappeared as such in 1975, subsumed intoIveco,but still exists as aforkliftbuilder.

Origins

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The inception of the company resulted from the merger of two companies, Grondona Comi & C and Miani Silvestri & C in 1899.[2]Originally, OM manufactured railway stock. Car production started in 1918, using the plant of the formerBrixia-Zust (Brixia-Züst),just after OM took overZustcar company ofBrescia,Northern Italy. The first OM car, the Tipo S305, was derived from an old Zust model. It appeared in 1918, fitted with a 4,712-cubic-centimetre (287.5 cu in) inline four-cylinder, side-valve engine.

The OM cars era

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Further models were the Tipo 465, with a 1,327 cc (81.0 cu in), in 1919, joined by the Tipo 467 (1,410 cc or 86 cu in) and Tipo 469 (1,496 cc or 91.3 cu in) in 1921. The model names reflected the number of cylinders (4) and the bore of the engines: 65, 67 or 69 mm (2.56, 2.64 or 2.72 in). 1923 saw a new model, with an engine derived from the earlier four-cylinder models, the Tipo 665 'Superba' with a 2-litre (120 cu in) six-cylinder engine. This model was extremely successful in racing, winning top five positions in the 2-litre (120 cu in) class in 1925 and 1926 at theLe Mansbut its greatest achievement was the victory in the firstMille Migliarace in 1927 whereFerdinando MinoiaandGiuseppe Morandiled home an OM '1-2-3' finish at an average speed of 77.7 km/h (48.27 mph) for 21 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds. Some cars were equipped with Roots superchargers, while later models were bored and stroked to 2.2 and 2.4 litres - without changing the model name, however.

In 1925 OM began to build trucks and buses, using licensed SwissSaurerengines and other mechanical components. Ties with Saurer persisted through all of OM's history. Passenger car production began to taper off, with some sources stating that production ended in 1932, with existing stocks sold for another couple of years. In total, 7,500 OM automobiles were built in about fifteen years.[3]After passenger car had effectively ended, OM still displayed one last model: in 1934 the OMV, also called the Alcyone made the car show circuit. Equipped with hydraulic brakes, a full synchromesh transmission, and an engine withoverhead exhaust valves,it never reached production.[4]

Fiat take-over and post-war years

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OM was taken over by theFiatGroup in 1933 and the following year passenger car sales definitely ceased; OM became strictly a commercial vehicle and train parts manufacturer.[3]

The main new product in thepost-WWIIera was theLeoncino(1950) a light truck in the 3.0 to 3.5 tonnes (3.3 to 3.9 short tons) range, which was an immediate success. It became the forefather of several series of heavier but structurally similar models, namelyTigrotto,Tigre,Lupetto,CerbiattoandDaino,launched between 1957 and 1964. Bus chassis versions of several of these models were also available. After having been subsumed into Fiat, the lighter models were replaced by theOM numerical range[it]beginning in 1967.

OM also built a heavier range of trucks, starting with the post-warOrione.This was succeeded by theSuper Orionein 1955 and by theTitano[it]in 1961. The latter was capable of pulling 35 tonnes (39 short tons) as a tractor or 19 tonnes (21 short tons) on the 6x4 truck chassis. Its 10,310 cc (629 cu in), six-cylinderturbo-dieselengine produced 260 hp (191 kW), making it the most powerful road-going European truck in the early 1960s.[5]The Titano was discontinued in 1968 and effectively replaced by Fiat's heavier trucks, theFiat 619and theFiat 682[it].As with the lighter duty models, bus versions were also available of the Titano, called the "Titano P."[5]

In the 60s and 70s the light and medium-weight OM truck ranges were sold inSwitzerlandasSaurer-OMorBerna-OM,inAustriaasSteyr-OM,inFranceasUnic-OM,and inGermanyasBüssing-OM.

The end of OM

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In 1968 OM was definitively merged into the Fiat Group as a brand belonging to the Commercial Vehicles division, which also included Fiat andUnic.

In 1975 it was absorbed (as part of the Fiat Group) intoIVECOand the OM brand disappeared from the truck and bus markets, although it still survives as an independentforkliftmanufacturer.

Products

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See also

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References

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  1. ^Piccinelli, Ferdinando (1902).Le società industriali italiane per azioni.Milan: Ulrico Hoepli. p. 229 – via University of California.
  2. ^"Locomotiva a Vapore Gruppo 740 FS".Museo Nazionale dei Trasporti.La Spezia. Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-20.
  3. ^abFacconi, Attilio (2017-04-05)."The Racing Car: Mille Miglia e O.M. in mostra"[Mille Miglia an O.M. on show].GardaPost(in Italian). Brescia, Italy. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-08-07.
  4. ^"Classic O.M., Prunel for sale".PreWarCar.Com.Archived fromthe originalon 2024-05-31.
  5. ^abErpelding, Norbert-Louis, ed. (October 1964). "Les véhicules industriels et autocars O.M." [O.M. industrial vehicles and buses].Le poids lourd: Spécial Salon(in French).49(592): 143.
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