Italian Motorcycles

Mead Flyer Motorcycles

A Brief History of the Italian Marque

After the death of their father, Maurizio, Secondo, Giacomo and Mary Temperino returned to Italy from the United States where they had been born and in 1907 set up an automotive workshop in Principe Oddone 44, Torino, named Officina F.lli Temperino.

In 1908 they began building their own motorcycle, perhaps under license, which they marketed under the Mead Flyer brand. A subsequent and different model, still with the same brand, was presented at the 1911 Turin international exhibition.

"In the midst of the chaos [of the 1908 Turin Show], he noticed some "Mead Flyer" brand motorcycles, elegant, solid and equipped with a gearbox (a rare device on motorcycles of that time), optionally combinable with the sidecar. The exotic name (recalling a "Mead Cycle Company" of Illinois, active between 1897 and 1898, of which Maurizio may known) suggests that they were built under license, or even imported, unlike the second type of motorcycle, commercialized a couple of years later." ~ Donatella Biffignandi, museoauto.it.

Subsequently the firm became Società Anonima Vetturette Temperino which built automobiles under the Temperino brand. Manufacture continued until 1924, and an English branch was active until 1940.

Sources: it.wikipedia.org, et al

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