He was born at Nansladron at St Ewe near St Austell in Cornwall , and was an only child. [1] His father was Edward Martin (born in 1843), the owner of Martin Brothers China Clay Merchants in St Austell, who lived at Treverbyn , and who also owned the Lee Moor porcelain factory in Plympton . Martin Brothers, founded in 1837, became part of English China Clays . His mother was Elizabeth Emily Birch (born in 1851 in Manchester), who had also been married previously to Walter Braithwaite who died, and she came from Salford , and her family were wealthy chalk and lime merchants; her father was William Singleton Birch, who had founded Singleton Birch , later run by his uncle Thomas Birch. His parents had married on 26 April 1877 at Lillington, Warwickshire ; he was baptised on 20 May 1878 at Lillington church. [2] He grew up in Knightsbridge . In 1891 he went to Eton College . In 1897 he went ...
In August 1915, the company came under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo , who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. Munitions, aircraft engines and other components, compressors, and generators based on the company's existing car engines were produced in a vastly enlarged factory during the war. After the war, Romeo invested his war profits in acquiring locomotive and railway carriage plants in Saronno (Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno), Rome (Officine Meccaniche di Roma), and Naples (Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali), which were added to his A.L.F.A. ownership. Car production had not been considered at first, but resumed in 1919 since parts for the completion of 105 cars had remained at the A.L.F.A. factory since 1915. [6] In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP the first car to be so badged. [9] Their first success came in 19...
The Birth of a Legend The origins of Alfa Romeo date back to The Società Italiana Automobili Darracq, founded in 1906 and located at 95, Strada del Portello, Milan, Italy. When economic hardship hit in 1909, company shares were acquired by the organization's managing director, Italian aristocrat Ugo Stella. On June 24, 1910, Stella relaunched and renamed his plant Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili – A.L.F.A. or “Alfa”. Alfa's First Merosi-Designed Vehicle, the 24HP Alfa’s young technical director, Giuseppe Merosi, was an ambitious young man who started out selling bicycles. Soon after, Merosi was designing cars and motorcycles for Fiat and Bianchi. At Alfa, Merosi designed the first vehicle to come off the new production line at Portello in Milan, Italy. The 24HP featured a single block 4.1-liter engine, single drive shaft and reached a top speed of 62 mph I have been blogging about cars for awhile now and have read hundreds of things on cars and chatted...
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