CEMSA

CEMSA (Construzioni Elettro Meccaniche di Saronno) was an Italian engineering company which operated from 1925 to 1948.

History

CEMSA was founded in

Gianni Caproni who already controlled Isotta Fraschini

.

During

Paris salon in 1947. Only 10 sedan cars of this model were produced. A cabriolet version was also planned but it was not realized due to the financial crisis that hit the company in 1948 and forced it to close. One of the prototypes of the F.11 was shipped to the United States, in the hope of concluding an agreement with the Tucker sales network for the distribution of the model in the US, but this project did not come to fruition because of the closure of the company. In 1953, the Belgian company, Minerva

, bought an F.11 in an attempt to put it into production, but even this project failed.

The car

The F.11 was designed by Antonio Fessia and had revolutionary technical characteristics. These included a 4-cylinder

boxer engine which was cantilevered with respect to the front axle, steering column gear change, front suspension with transverse leaf spring and front wheel drive. All these innovations were later incorporated into the 1960 Lancia Flavia, also designed by Fessia. The body design was by the company's technicians and was styled by Bertone. When CEMSA closed, most of the ten cars were dispersed but one F.11, in excellent condition, survives on display at the Volandia

museum.

Railway rolling stock

Steam locomotives

Examples of steam locomotives built by CEMSA include:

Class	Wheels	Railway	Date built	Number built	Notes
FCL 500	2-6-2	Ferrovie Calabro Lucane	1930-1932	6	Locomotiva_FCL_500^[it] Ferrovie_Calabro_Lucane^[it]
FNM 280	4-6-0	Ferrovie Nord Milano	1925-1927	4	Locomotiva_FNM_280^[it]
FNM 290	2-6-4T	Ferrovie Nord Milano	1931	4	Locomotiva_FNM_290^[it]

Railcars

In 1924 a delegation of

petrol

with the application of a special patented carburettor by Aliverti, although two were actually built in Germany. The units were:

C.8701, later N.8701, of 160 bhp
C.8801-02, later N.8801-02 of 100 bhp.

Two other units were purchased by the Italian Railway and Tramway Company and by the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi de Italie (CFMT) which operated the Ferrovia Alifana.

Electric locomotives

Electric locomotives built by CEMSA included:

Class	Wheels	Railway	Date built	Number built	Notes
FAV Class E.440	D	Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV)	1932	3
FS Class E.333	1-C-1	Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)	1922-1924	40	(1)
FS Class E.471	1-D-1	FS	1928	1
FS Class E.552	E	FS	1922-1923	15	(1)
FS Class E.554	E	FS	1928-1930	183
FS Class E.626	Bo-Bo-Bo	FS	1927-1939	?

Notes

It appears that some locomotives attributed to CEMSA were built by Nicola Romeo before 1925.