Times Five

The year 2019 was big for birthdays in the car world. Damien O’Carroll looks at five of the biggest.

Fiat (120 years old)

Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory, Turin) was founded in 1899 by a group of businessmen, including Giovanni Agnelli, whose family are still part of the company. His great-greatgrandson John Elkann is the head of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

For a long time Fiat was the largest carmaker in Europe and the third largest in the world, after General Motors and Ford. And then the 1980s happened.

Fiat merged with Chrysler in 2014 to form Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the all-butconfirmed merger between FCA and PSA (Peugeot Citroen Group) will put the Fiat name back up near the top, as part of the fourth largest carmaker in the world.

Renault (120 years old)

The same year Fiat sprang to life, the three Renault brothers – Louis, Marcel and Fernand – started their car company after selling their first car to a family friend the previous year. Their first big break came in 1905 when the Societe des Automobiles de Place bought 1500 Renault AG1s for use as taxis, following the invention of the taximeter.

The brothers recognised the value of motor racing as a promotional tool and all actively raced, quickly establishing the Renault name in motorsport, although after Marcel was killed in an accident during the 1903 ParisMadrid race, Louis never raced again. But the company has continued to do rather well in it.

Bentley (100 years old)

Founded by Walter Owen Bentley in 1919, the Bentley company was tragically underfunded, but still managed to win Le Mans in 1924. This inspired Woolf Barnato to invest £100,000 (NZ$10 million today) into saving the company and propelling it onto its glory days.

The Great Depression in 1930 crippled Bentley, however, and Rolls-Royce pounced, acquiring the ‘‘other’’ legendary British brand for itself. Bentleys were essentially rebadged Rolls-Royces until a bitter battle between German companies in 1998 led to BMW pulling a swifty and nabbing the Rolls-Royce name, leaving VW with an old factory in Crewe and Bentley. Which it hasn’t done too badly with since . . .

Citroen (100 years old)

Andre Citroen was in charge of a modern and successful arms manufacturer during Word War I. He realised he would have a very modern factory with nothing to build in it when the war ended. So he decided to build cars instead and in 1919, Citroen was born.

Initially making cheap, robust small cars, Citroen’s reputation for innovative technology was established by the remarkable Traction Avant of 1934. Sadly, the cost of developing the world’s first mass-produced FWD unibody car also pushed the company into bankruptcy. Michelin took control and continued the innovation.

Things went wobbly again in the 1970s, however, and in 1974 Citroen merged with Peugeot to form PSA.

Mini (60 years old)

Mini wasn’t born in 1959 as a brand, rather it was a British Motor Corporation model variously known as the Austin Mini, Austin 850, Austin Seven, Morris Mini or Morris 850. It went on to be called many different names around the world over the years, including Austin Partner, Morris Mascot and in mildly disguised form as the Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet.

But it will still be forever known as the Mini and it did become a brand in its own right in 1969.

Indeed, it was the only brand BMW retained after jettisoning the rest of the Rover Group mess in 2000, which it has since developed into an entire range, even including an SUV.