Carrozzeria Barbi is an Italian bus manufacturer, with headquarters in

Mirandola Mirandola ( Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance city-fortress. For four centuries it was ...

, near Modena.

History

The company was founded in 1905 by Galileo Barbi as a small workshop for the production of horse-drawn carriages in the small village of Fossa. In 1910 it moved to

Concordia sulla Secchia Concordia sulla Secchia ( Concordiese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about north of Modena. Concordia sulla Secchia borders the following ...

. In 1911 they won the International Exhibition in Paris in 1911 for the quality and comfort of the carriages produced. In 1927, with the advent of motorization, car production began. The main plant was opened in

where they realized vehicles bodies on chassis of

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

, Ansaldo, Lancia, Fiat and

Officine Meccaniche Officine Meccaniche or OM was an Italian car and truck manufacturing company. It was founded in 1899 in Milan as Società Anonima Officine Meccaniche to manufacture railway rolling stock and car production began in 1918. It disappeared as s ...

. In 1931 the production focused on the realization of bodies for commercial vehicles: vans, cabins for trucks, trucks and ambulances, occupying about 70 workers. Subsequently, the first buses were made, first with a wooden structure and then with tubular steel. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the production was temporarily converted for the wartime needs of the Ministry of the Navy, while in the post-war period the company participated in exhibitions and events industry bus (like the Golden Rose of San Remo), which allow to know the name in the Italian bus market. In 1962 the founder died and the company passed to his son Sirner. The 1970s were characterized by considerable investment. New models were made, innovative for their time, as the bus roof, the bus floor, the bus with seedlings structural inclined. They introduced innovations such as remote-controlled doors, acoustic and thermal insulation, air conditioning, reclining seats, heating, radio and television. The frames used were from DAF, Fiat,

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

, Mercedes and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

. In the 1980 Barbi started a collaboration with

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

. Among the most important products of that decade is the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Italia 99. On the death of Sirner Barbi in 1994, the management passed to the brothers Alberto and Carlo Barbi and the factory was transferred in the industrial Mirandola, in San Giacomo Roncole. That decade saw the introduction of the Echo coach. In the 2000 was designed the model Genesis, the evolution of which became the Galileo in 2008. In 2007 the group produced some prototypes of a van for the horse transport and cabins for lifts. From 2009 has been sold the new version of Genesis, powered by Iveco and Irisbus chassis. The company was liquidated in the year 2018 . In October of the same year, a successor company is formed: ''Barbi Coach and Bus srl''. They manufacture schoolbuses.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bus manufacturers of Italy Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1905 Italian brands Mirandola Companies based in the Province of Modena Italian companies established in 1905 Italian companies disestablished in 2018