Giuseppe Merosi

Giuseppe Merosi ( born December 17, 1872 in Piacenza, † March 27, 1956 ) was an Italian designer of automobiles.

Life

Merosi trained as a surveyor. As a teenager he liked to participated in cycle race. Around 1895, he and a friend, Vittorio Bassi, a company for the manufacture of bicycles. In 1899 he joined the company Orio & Marchand, a manufacturer of sewing machines and motorcycles that produce at the time intended automobiles. There he was first test riders and racers for motorcycles, a little later, he was appointed chief engineer. It is unknown how the always modest occurring autodidact Merosi came to the professional knowledge that qualified him for the chief engineer. Around 1905 Merosi worked for about a year and then at Fiat in 1906 chief engineer of the automotive division of Bianchi. In 1909 he became chief designer for just being established company Alfa Romeo.

Merosi sat on large-volume four-cylinder with a modern arrangement of valves and two overhead camshafts. The first Alfa was the 24 HP, which came on June 24, 1910 on the market. From 4.1 liters of displacement as much as 42 hp has been made and the car reached a very considerable for the time limit of 100 km / h In the first year 50 pieces have been sold. The cars conquered quickly earned a reputation as robust and reliable vehicles, combined with a stylish design. Other four-cylinder models followed in the coming years.

At Alfa was recognized at that time the importance of motorsport both for development and for the image. So already in 1911 took two Alfa 24 HP participated in the Targa Florio. Beginning of the 20s the program was supplemented by the six-cylinder G1 and RL / RM. In 1923, then won with the RL for the first time the Targa Florio. In the same year Merosi developed the race car P1 was not competitive, however.

After the designer Vittorio Jano had taken over the development of the race car with the much more successful P2, Merosi moved into the background. In the late 1920s he left Alfa Romeo.

Swell

• Vehicle Civil Engineering
• Italian
• Born in 1872
• Died in 1956
• Alfa Romeo
• Man