Bernardi
| |
| 1896 Bernardi Model 3 1/2 HP | |
|---|---|
| Engine | rear, 1 flat cylinder |
| Capacity | 624 cc |
| Max power output | 3.5 bhp at 800 rpm |
| Max speed | 35/40 Km/h |
| Weight | 270 kg |
| Gearbox | Three-speed |
Prof. Enrico Bernardi of Verona was a leading automobile pioneer and a skilful inventor who took out a number of patents. He also built the first motor car to travel in Italian roads.
The three-wheeler 3,5 HP with its “duc” coachwork displays many of Bernardi’s inventions: cylinder with detachable head, overhead valves and a centrifugal inlet valve regulator, constant-level carburettor with float and spray nozzle, incandescent ignition with platinum heat sponge, and goemetrically correct steering.
1894 - 1901
Bernardi (Societa Italiana Bernardi, later La Società Miari Guisti (1894)) was founded in Padua in 1899 by Enrico Bernardi. Enrico Bernardi built the first "motorcycle" that rode on the Italian roads. He did research on internal combustion engines at the University of Padua in 1884 and built his first engine that drove a sewing machine.
Soon he shifted his attention to the motorcyclists and in 1894 he had his motorized bike ready. He had a four-cylinder horizontal engine with overhead valves. The engine sat on a trailer that would push the bike. Acceleration was done with a pneumatic rubber ball (like a squeeze horn). By squeezing the ball gave the engine gas and upon releasing, you went slower.
The goal was to resume the operation of the dissolved car manufacturer Bernardi again. The company planned the production of small cars with four wheels and engines with a capacity of 2.5 to 6 hp similar of that of the three wheelers of the day. Professor Enrico Bernardi, one of the fathers of the automobile, did not belong to the company's management and was only involved in the planning, but in the end, the company was dissolved.
A company (Società Miari Guisti) was created to sell the machines and to settle patents, but that once a production has started is unlikely. Even today, Bernardi auxiliary engines are avaliable, probably named after Enrico Bernardi and provides both gasoline all electric motors.
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