The first experimental model of a steam powered vehicle, built by young Captain of the Sardinian Engineer Corps, Virginio Bordino (Turin 1804-Florence 1879), dates back to 1835. However, it was only after the war against Austria (1848-49) that the Piedmont military authorities realized the importance of logistics and transport, and instructed Bordino to continue his studies on mechanical locomotion. He built two more vehicles; the second is the one that has reached us. Aesthetically he was inspired on the old English steam stagecoaches, the most advanced of the time. His model is a high landau carriage, built in the Military Arsenal in Turin. On the rear, Bordino placed an engine boiler, and below the vehicle, the horizontal two-cylinder engine. It circulated in the streets of Turin from 1854 to 1860, consuming 30 kg of coke/hour, and reaching a maximum speed of 8 km/hour. However, it remained an isolated attempt, and was never developed. Bordino continued his studies and obtained several patents: for example the patent for a kind of track, that anticipated tanks and caterpillars.
