Giovanni Battista Ceirano (1 October 1860 – 1912) was an Italian entrepreneur and car pioneer. The first motorcar he designed and built was the Well-Eyes, but he sold the rights to Giovanni Agnelli of F.I.A.T. who manufactured it in volume as their first motor car.

Ceirano family background

The Ceirano brothers, Giovanni Battista,

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

Ernesto Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

and

Matteo Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escen ...

, were influential in the founding of the Italian auto industry, being variously responsible for : Ceirano; Welleyes (the technical basis of F.I.A.T.);

Fratelli Ceirano Fratelli Ceirano & C was an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1901 by Giovanni Battista Ceirano and his brother Matteo Ceirano after they had left F.I.A.T. Their own automobile manufacturing business, Ceirano GB & C and its ''Welleyes'' ...

; S.T.A.R. / Rapid (

Società Torinese Automobili Rapid Società Torinese Automobili Rapid, also known as S.T.A.R. and Rapid, was an Italian car manufacturer founded by Giovanni Battista Ceirano in Turin in July 1904. ''Rapid'' was its trademark. In 1921 it was acquired by the S.P.A. (Società Piem ...

); SCAT (Società Ceirano Automobili Torino);

Itala Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy, from 1904 to 1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. Ceirano family background The Ceirano brothers, Giovanni Battista, Giovanni, Ernesto and Matteo, were influential in the ...

and S.P.A. (Società Piemontese Automobili). Giovanni's son Giovanni "Ernesto" was also influential, co-founding

Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili, or Ceirano Giovanni Fabbrica Automobili or Giovanni Ceirano Fabbrica AutomobiliThe Complete Encyclopedia of the Motor Car, 1885 to the Present, by G.N. Georgano, Ebury Press, 1973. page 177. Ceirano ii Italy, 1919-193 ...

(aka Giovanni Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili) and Fabrica Anonima Torinese Automobili (FATA). In 1888, after eight years apprenticeship at his father's watch-making business, Giovanni Battista started building ''Welleyes'' bicycles, so named because English names had more sales appeal. In October 1898 Giovanni Battista and Matteo co-founded

Ceirano GB & C Ceirano GB & C was a historic automobile company, founded in October 1888 by Giovanni Battista Ceirano, Emanuele di Bricherasio, Attilio Calligaris, Pietro Fenoglio and Cesare Goria Gatti. The new company was based in Turin, where it began to b ...

and started producing the ''Welleyes'' motor car in 1899. In July 1899 the plant and patents were sold to

Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...

and produced as the first

F.I.A.T. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest s ...

s - the

Fiat 4 HP The Fiat 4 HP (also known as the 3½ HP or 3½ CV) was the first model of car produced by FIAT, from 1899 to 1900 based on a third party design. Background The 4 HP is related to the Ceirano brothers—Giovanni, Ernesto and Matteo—who were an ...

. Giovanni Battista was employed by Fiat as the agent for Italy, but within a year he left to found Fratelli Ceirano & C. which in 1903 became

(S.T.A.R.) building cars badged as 'Rapid'. In 1904

Matteo Ceirano Matteo Ceirano (1870 in Cuneo – 19 March 1941 in Torino) was an Italian businessman in the early automobile industry who co-founded the manufacturers Ceirano; Itala Fabbrica Automobili in 1904 and Società Piemontese Automobili (S.P.A. ...

left Ceirano GB & C to create his own brand -

. In 1906 Matteo left Itala to found S.P.A. (Società Piemontese Automobili) with chief designer, Alberto Ballacco. In 1906 Giovanni founded SCAT (Società Ceirano Automobili Torino) in Turin. In 1919 Giovanni and Giovanni "Ernesto" co-founded

(aka Giovanni Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili) and in 1922 they took control of Fabrica Anonima Torinese Automobili (FATA).

Early life

Born in

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

in 1860, Giovanni Battista was the eldest of four brothers born to Giovanni Ceirano, a watchmaker, and Teresa Corino.Treccani, Dizionario-Biografico. Profile of Giovanni Ceirano
/ref> Aged twenty, devoured by the "sacred fire of mechanics", he left Cuneo for

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

with the aim to broaden his technical horizon, which was too limited at his father's small watchmaker workshop.

Career

In 1888, after eight years of "apprenticeship", he rented a storage space and started to build bicycles with his brothers

and

.Some offline anglophone sources may describe John and Matthew The bicycles were sold under the name of ''Welleyes'', because at the time English names had more clout with the public. At the end of 1898 the company

was founded with the intention to build cars. Among the workers was

Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia (24 August 1881 – 15 February 1937) was an Italian racing driver, engineer and founder of Lancia. Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin; his family tree starts in Fabello ...

, who founded

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

. The first car was designed by Aristide Faccioli. It was equipped with a small twin engine (663 cc) and a two speed gearbox. This car was also named ''Welleyes'' and presented to the public in mid-1899. Due to the success of this car a small-series production was planned. This was impossible to implement in the cramped spaces of ''Ceirano GB & C.''. For this reason, Ceirano contacted members of the aristocracy and finance Turin in order to form a company that can build a factory. The preliminary agreement was reached on July 1, 1899, signed by the group of aristocrats. On July 11, 1899 ''Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino'' -

was officially founded and the 'Welleyes' was launched as the F.I.A.T. 4hp. When F.I.A.T. acquired "Ceirano GB & C." Giovanni Battista was paid for his shares and employed as sales agent for Italy, but being an employee and representative was not in his nature so he left Fiat after only one year to found "Fratelli Ceirano" with his brother Matteo. In July 1903 'Fratelli Ceirano' became

(S.T.A.R.) with the cars badged as 'Rapid'.

Death

In 1905 he retired to

Bordighera Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...

where he died in 1912.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceirano, Giovanni Battista

Giovanni Battista Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gia ...