Itom (acronym for Industria Torinese Meccanica) was a motorcycle factory founded in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
(in Via Millio, at number 41), in 1944, and transferred to
Sant'Ambrogio di Torino
Sant'Ambrogio di Torino () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about 25 km west of Turin in the Susa Valley.
Sant'Ambrogio di Torino borders the municipalities of ...
in 1957/58 where it produced motorcycles until the close of 1975. The owner was the lawyer Corrado Corradi.
History
The Itom company began with an association with the bicycle manufacturer Benotto, and started production with a motorised bicycle model called SIRIO, using engines from Officine Meccanica Broglia (OMB), also based in Turin. Soon after, the young engineer
Giuseppe Spotto
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
The feminine form of the name is Giuseppa or Giuseppina.
People with the given name include:
:''Note ...
arrived from Sicily. He had been an airplane pilot in the Second World War, and together with Silvano Bonetto, he began to design new engines to be applied to bicycles first mounted on the fork then behind the saddle and finally (beginning with the famous TOURIST model) to be placed between the pedals.
[ In 1953 the Esperia model was launched with a monocoque structure,][ followed in 1954 by the ASTOR][ and ASTOR Sport models with 2 and 3 hand-operated gears, and in 1957 the ASTOR Sport Competizione.][ Finally 1959 saw the launch of the 65 cc TABOR model with 4 gears, first manually operated and then with a pedal preselector positioned under the engine.][
At the end of the 1950s, ITOM became IMSA (Industria Meccanica Sant'Ambrogio) having moved in 1957/58 to the factory of the former in Sant'Ambrogio di Torino in the ]Susa Valley
The Susa Valley (; ; ; ; ) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. It is one of the longest valleys of the Italian Alps. ...
, strengthening the production of motorcycles. In 1960 the ITOM Junior model was released, and in 1965 what became the most famous ITOM model was launched: the ASTOR Sport with 4-speed pedal gearbox, in this period with the well-known Yellow / White or Red / White livery. In 1969 the SIRIO Cross was launched, and in 1970 a new version of the ASTOR.[ In 1973 in-house production of engines stopped, and the ITOM models were equipped with engines by ]Moto Morini
Moto Morini is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded by Alfonso Morini in Bologna, in 1937.
Earlier, Morini had also manufactured motorcycles together with Mario Mazzetti under the name MM. Moto Morini came under Cagiva control in 1987, the ...
. In the same year, a Cross Competition model with a Zündapp
Zündapp (a.k.a. Zuendapp) was a major German motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." ...
engine was presented at the Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
Motor Show.
ITOM also built air compressors
An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a pneumatic device that converts mechanical power (from an electric motor, diesel or ...
. These operated on an innovative system, using not piston-based but rotary compressors, which was very innovative for the time. ITOM also built a three-wheeler motortricycle based on the structure of ordinary production motorcycles.
In 1965, about 130 people worked in ITOM. On the evening of 26 August 1965, a sudden fire broke out in the attic and destroyed the roof of the factory, causing extensive damage both to equipment and to products already completed.
In 1975 production ended at the Sant'Ambrogio di Torino plant.[
In 2010 the road leading to the former factory in Sant'Ambrogio di Torino was named after the enterprise, with the name of "Via Itom".
]
Models
Production was initially limited to auxiliary engines to be applied to bicycles,[ then to ]mopeds
A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. Historically, the term exclusively meant a similar vehicle with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. ...
entirely of their own production, including the engine; this latter fact distinguishes it from the majority of contemporary Italian makers who used engines produced by the specialized houses of Minarelli
Motori Minarelli is an Italian motorcycle engine manufacturer. It is part of the Fantic Motor group.
History
Motori Minarelli was founded in Bologna in 1951 as a motorcycle manufacturer. In 1954 it also began to build mopeds. Two years later Mi ...
and Franco Morini.
ITOM production remained limited to mopeds, with the exceptions only, in the sector of larger models registered as motorcycles, of the Tabor, a 65 cm3 model derived from the various 50 cm3 models, and two models of off-road motorcycles. These latter were presented at the Milan EICMA international cycle and motorcycle exhibition in 1973: a motocross model called 'Gringo' with a 5-speed Zündapp 125 power unit and an 'Enduro' model powered by a Minarelli 125 engine with 5-speed gearbox. The Itom 125 did not have much luck and only a few units were sold. The 50 cm3 production ranged from single-speed models to two-speed, three-speed and even four-speed sports models, the latter being produced in both Sport / Competition and MotoCross / Regularity versions.
''ITOM'' Models (1948–1975)
Competitions
From 1950 to 1969 ITOM participated in national and international motorsport competitions.
The most famous model of ITOM remains the Astor, a model that in its highest performing versions was widely used in competitions, both by many private riders and by various trainers and also by ITOM itself, with participation at national level (gaining the title of Campione Italiano della Montagna 1966 by Sergio Bongiovanni, official driver of the House, who in 1964 and 1965 had placed second in the championship, and who was subsequently replaced by Domenico De Giorgi). There was also sporadic participation in the Class 50 World Championship by private teams (famously in England that of the Tooleys dealership) and others in Holland, France, Belgium and Germany. Several riders who later became World Champions began their racing activities on the Itom Astor: Mike Hailwood
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...
, Bill Ivy
William David Ivy (27 August 1942 – 12 July 1969) was an English professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Maidstone, Kent. He died during practice for a race in East Germany.
The early years
Ivy started ra ...
, Dave Simmonds
Dave Simmonds (25 October 1939 – 23 October 1972) was a British professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Grand Prix world championships from 1963 to 1972. Simmonds is notable for winning the 1969 125 cc FIM road ra ...
and Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (; 26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One from to . Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco Gran ...
the Formula 1 driver.
Also worthy of mention is the English rider Beryl Swain
Beryl Swain (née Beryl J Tolman, 22 January 1936 – 15 May 2007) was a female road racing, road racer of solo motorcycles from the London area. In 1962, she was the first woman to compete in a TT race for solo motorcycles on the Isle of Man T ...
, who participated in the Tourist Trophy 1962, the first woman to participate (and to place herself) in the tough world of the Isle of Man competitions.
On 21 May 1961 at the Clermont-Ferrand circuit, as part of the 1961 French motorcycle Grand Prix (third round of the 1961 world championship), a national race took place reserved for the 50cc class, won by Jean-Claude Serre Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
People called Jean-Claude
* Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer
* Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver
* Jean-Claude Amiot ( ...
on an Itom. In 1961 the Belgian driver Pierrot Vervroegen
Pierrot Vervroegen (born in Belgium) was a Belgian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a regular front runner in the Belgian motorcycle Championships and won the national 250cc title in 1959 riding a MOTOBI Catria Sport.
In 1961 he won t ...
finished in 3rd place in the F.I.M. of the 50cc Class on an Itom, with other Itoms in that 8-race championship finishing in 8th, 10th, 19th, 20th, 22nd and 24th places.
ITOM Meetings
As for most historic brands of motorcycles, scooters and not only for ITOM motorcycles, events bringing together enthusiasts of the marque are held in different parts of Europe. On 29 September 2019 the first edition of the "ITOM at Home" event was held in Sant'Ambrogio di Torino at the original production plant, which attracted hundreds of enthusiasts who exhibited dozens of restored ITOM models, in the presence of the Italian champion Sergio Bongiovanni and the rider who holds the world speed record on a 50cc motorcycle, Piercarlo Borri.
References
External links
ITOM Motorcycles
''www.motoitom.it''
''www.elsberg-tuning.dk''
{{DEFAULTSORT:ITOM (Motorcycles)
Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of Italy
Moped manufacturers
Italian brands
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1944
Companies based in Turin
Italian companies established in 1944