The Prinetti & Stucchi company was founded in Milan by Giulio Prinetti and Augusto Stucchi in 1874 and began as a small mechanical workshop that produced cork stoppers and then sewing machines. From 1892 they began to make bicycles and in 1898 ventured into the burgeoning automotive trade with forecars of three and four wheels. A 17yo apprentice, Ettore Bugatti, designed a tricycle with a De Dion Bouton engine and Rochet[1] chassis, and he later rode a twin-engine model to victory in the "Reggio Emilia" and the "Brescia - Verona - Brescia" races.[2]
In 1901 Giulio Prinetti, a politician, became Italian foreign minister and in 1902 the company changed its name to Stucchi & C., located in via Tortona in Milan. The change of name appears to have been a political convenience as advertising of Stucchi & C. always contains the phrase "gia Prinetti & Stucchi".
The story continues: Stucchi & C.
Notes.
1. This page earlier stated that the frame was built by Rochet-Schneider, based in Lyon. The Bugatti trust writes that it was by Rochet of Paris.
2. Motocollection states: "Bugatti, working as an unpaid apprentice, created what could be described as a twin-engine tricycle, since he simply linked two singles side by side, with their crankshafts driving a common ring gear between the two engines. He raced this machine and in 1899, won several victories with it."
3. Another who worked with the company was Giuseppe Vigorelli, a talented cyclist of the era. The Vigorelli racetrack in Milan, which he founded and been described as the Taj Mahal of velodromes and "as beautiful as a Stradivarius violin", was named for him.
Sources: Moto di Lombardia, vigorelli.eu, aisastoryauto.it, Sergio Scalerandi, Stefano Milani, motocollection.org.
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