SPA an Italian automobile manufacturer, produced cars between 1906 and 1926.
The company was established by Matteo Ceirano and Michele Ansaldi in Turin under the name of Societa Piemontese Automobili. The first cars were exhibited at the Esposizione di Torino. These models,designed by Ceirano, were called 28/40HP and 60/70 HP.
In 1908, the company merged with FLAG (Fabbrica Ligure Automobili Genova) and the new company became Societa Ligure Piemontese Automobili. The headquarters was in Genoa while production continued in Turin.
Next year a SPA racer driven by Ciuppa won the Targa Florio race. Before the World War I, there were twin, four and six cylinder cars - the biggest had a 11.536cc displacement.
In 1916, both Ceirano and Ansaldi left.
After the war, production was resumed with pre-war models (25/30 HP and 14/16 HP). In 1923 the company moved to Turin again. New sporting models (Tipo 23, Tipo 24 and Tipo 25) were marketed - the most progressive model had a six cylinder dohc 24 valve engine.
Following to financial problems of the company, Fiat took over in 1925 and the company soon discontinued manufacturing cars in favor of commercial and military vehicles. After the World War II, Fiat resumed car production for a while but in 1947 the company was finally absorbed into Fiat.
External links
http://carsfromitaly.com/others/index.html
http://ideahobby.it/DB-Auto/spa.html (in Italian)
