SCAT, 1908

SCAT “15/20 hp”, Munroe & Spons ,1908

SCAT (Società Cerano Automobili Torino) was established in 1906 by Giovanni Battista Ceirano, one of the brothers who were the pioneers of the Italian automobile industry and who also contributed to the founding of FIAT in 1899.

Scat did not merely produce touring vehicles and did, in fact, take part in the 1911, 1912 and 1914 editions of the Targa Florio car race. This beautiful torpedo was found in Australia and, besides the original upholstery and paintwork having survived to present day in such a well-preserved state (note the green threading on the leaf springs and along the entire edge of the bodywork as well as on the wheel spokes), it was the first vehicle in the world to have a compressed air automatic start-up installed, the predecessor of electrical start-up used for the first time on the Cadillac in 1912. This absolute innovation at that time was a SCAT patent.

The great Tazio Nuvolari, then SCAT's exclusive representative in the Veneto region and the city of Mantua, was well aware that the SCAT car had remarkable quality. His representative offices were in Verona, as a signed letter on headed paper dated February 1st 1917 proves.