Moto Rumi
An Italian Masterpiece
Moto Rumi
A Brief History of the Italian Marque
F.I.A.L was established in 1898 and operated until 1908, after which it was taken over by Rosa & Ferrario. A "Legnano" car built by the firm is in the collection of the MAUTO museum, Torino.
In 1913, Guglielmo Ghioldi with his two brothers took over the F.I.A.L. firm in Legnano. In 1914 the company developed a motorcycle with a 500cc engine, marketed under the FIAL brand, along with an automobile. Unsurprisingly given the unfortunate timing neither were successful, and production ceased for the duration of the war.
After the amnesty, Ghioldi resumed work and designed a motor-tricycle. Post-war Italy was in chaos, and rather than continue under the difficult conditions, in 1922 he sold both the design for the tri-car and the Legnano factory to Attilio Vaghi of Milan who further developed the machine as the Vaghi and SAM.
Ghioldi was a progressive with ideas far ahead of his conservative contemporaries. More information at Fabbrica_Italiana_Automobili_Legnano
Sources: Moto di Lombardia; aisastoryauto.it; en.wikipedia.org; it.wikipedia.org.
N.B. Sources give conflicting accounts, so the information above may contain errors.
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