The car built in Padua in 1894 by Enrico Bernardi (Verona 1841-Turin 1919) is essential to Italian automobile history, because it was the first car ever to be produced in Italy. It is a three-wheel model with a single horizontal cylinder engine, three forward gears and the reverse gear, and single chain drive. This vehicle was an accomplished industrial product, the result of precise and deep engineering research, which placed Bernardi alongside Etienne Lenoir, Nicolaus August Otto, Karl Benz, and Gottlieb Daimler, that is, the greatest forerunners of car manufacturing in Europe.
Bernardi attempted to market this car (it was sold at 4,000 lire complete with coachwork and accessories) through two different companies, first Motori Bernardi and then Miari e Giusti, but without luck. About 100 cars of this model were produced up to 1901, both with 3 and 4 wheels, but the lack of a real and efficient sales management and a scarce development due to the company’s modest financial resources, finally spelled its death.
