| Bandini Automobili | |
| Foundation: | 1946 |
| Location City: | Forlì |
| Location Country: | Italy |
| Key People: | Eng. H.C. Ilario Bandini, founder |
| Industry: | Automobile |
| Products: | Sports cars |
| Type: | Defunct (1992) |
| Homepage: | www.ilariobandini.it www.bandinicars.com |
Bandini Automobili was an Italian automobile manufacturer operating between 1946 and 1992. It was named after its founder Ilario Bandini.[1] It produced about 75 cars, of which around 40 were sold in the United States.[2]
Bandini was founded in 1946 in Forlì, the first Bandini, the Prima, used a modified Fiat 1100 engine, the body was made from aluminum and the chassis was a modified Fiat 1100 Bandini hid from the Germans during World War 2. Following on from this, Bandini made the 1100 Sport and the 1100 Siluro. It was the Siluro that gave them their first race victory in the Giro dell'Umbria (not to be confused with the bicycle race of the same name). The chassis for these were built from tubular steel.[1] [2]
American importers, Tony Pompeo (originally from Pescara) and Perry Fina, took an interest in Bandinis and imported a Siluro. The Italian racing driver Giovanni Bracco went over to the States to promote the cars. At the suggestion of Pompeo Bandini began to put 724 cc Crosley engines in the Siluro so that they could compete in H modified racing events. The modified Siluro's won SCCA class championships in 1955 and 1957. In 1957 Bandini made the Sport International "Saponetta". It was a two-seat sports car with a tubular steel frame and room for engines of up to 1.0 litre. Bandini nicknamed the car "Saponetta" (little soap) because of its shape. The Formula 3 car of 1954 had disc brakes on all four wheels, copying the 1951 C-type Jaguar. The Zagato bodied Bandini GT raced in Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. The coupé made by the coachbuilder Corna had a 1000 cc engine mounted in the front.[1] [3] [2]
The company's owner, Ilario Bandini, divided his time between design and manufacturing of the cars, and as a race driver. He entered and drove Bandinis in more than 60 races both hillclimb events and track racing, including the Mille Miglia from 1947 until 1965, achieving 19 first-place finishes and 18 podiums in the 750 cc and 1000 cc classes. In 1953 750 Siluro driven by Massimo Bondi won the Trofeo Franco Mazzotti on the Mille Miglia.[2]
In the United States, a Bandini 750 Siluro driven by Dolph Vilradi won the SCCA HM class championship in 1955.[4] In 1957, Melvin Sachs won the HM class, one of five Bandini's in the first ten positions.[5] The successes resulted in Ilario being presented with the Gold Key of Daytona and later in 1981 the Laurea H.C. award in mechanical engineering from Pro Deo university of New York. In 1959 he produced one of the most successful Formula Juniors. Bandinis won SCCA Class HMod races well into the mid-1960s. A Bandini Siluro won the SCCA Southwest Regional Championship from 1961–1963 and the Saponetta took 3rd place in the National Hmod class in 1961. Bandini continued to make one-off cars well into the 1980s.[1] [2]
In 1992 Dino Bandini turned the company workshop into a museum to preserve all documents and the most representative cars for display. Dino did this after discovering misinformation about Bandini in a car magazine. Ten Bandinis were in the museum at the time. 47 Bandinis exist in the world today and are acknowledged by the Register. They are owned from the United States to Japan.[2]