Ferdinando Innocenti

Ferdinando Innocenti (Italian pronunciation: [ferdiˈnando innoˈtʃɛnti]; 1 September 1891, in Pescia, Italy – 21 June 1966, in Varese) was an Italian businessman who founded the machinery-works company Innocenti and was the manufacturer of the Lambretta motorscooter.

In 1923, he moved to Rome with his brother to grow their sales and they found there a booming construction industry boosted by the rise of fascism.

[1][2] After the war, he repurposed his factories for peacetime industries and launched the production of the low-cost motor scooter Lambretta in 1947.

[1] By 1966, BMC models – primarily at that date versions of the Mini and the Austin/Morris 1100, assembled to a high standard at Innocenti's Milan plant – accounted for three percent of the Italian passenger car market.

[1] Despite being an important player in the Italian car industry, Ferdinando Innocenti did not have a driving licence.