Miari E Gusti

(Also see Bernadi)

The La Società Miari Guisti company was established  in 1896 to build the Miari E Giusti. The vehicle was originally introduced in 1894 by Professor Enrico Bernardi and was possibly the first vehicle to run on the roads of Italy. Bernardi had researched the Internal Combustion Engine at the University of Padua where he was Professor of Physics and in 1884 he produced his first engine.  This was a small engine and was demonstrated by powering a sewing machine. From 1889 Bernardi became interested in motorised vehicles and so started to build an engine that could propel a vehicle. In 1894 Bernardi introduced his first 3-wheeler. Powered by a 624cc single cylinder four-stroke engine with overhead valve the vehicle has an interesting feature in that the throttle was a bulb mounted on the handlebars and this had to be squeezed and closed to control the speed of the vehicle.

An 1896 Miari E Giusti. (My thanks go to Kerry Croxton for sending in this photo)