Its founder,  EDOARDO WEBER, was born in Turin in 1889, from a Swiss father and his mother came from Piemonte in North Italy; graduated in Mechanic engineering at university of Turin, Weber moved to Bologna in 1913 working as foreman in the local FIAT subsidiary.

 

The great competence in the mechanic field together with a strong entrepreneurial personality, led him right after the I World War to the foundation of the ’Fabbrica Italiana Carburatori Weber’, together with a group of friends.

The first product of the company was a carburettor with vaporizer for trucks.

 

Later, thank to continuous research in the combustion engine charger field, he invented a new type of carburettor called Econo Supercharger, the first sidedraft double-throat carburettor.

 

Thank to this technology, the company, after few early difficulties, became soon the reference point for all its market competitors.

The great commercial success producing components for mass production cars, encouraged Weber to try the risky but challenging race-cars market.

 

Weber won the race challenge and due to that, during the 1920-1930 decade, the carburettors produced by Weber company equipped the most famous and winning automotive manufacturers worldwide, first of all Maserati and Alfa Romeo.

The deep dedication to car race led to a high level technological research which resulted in the production of pieces of  excellent quality; surely it should be mentioned among the double-throat carburettor, the double-float chamber carburettor that was able to maintain the fuel supply to the cylinder always all-constant, preventing in this way from the negative effects of the centrifugal power on the bend.

After the tragic death of Edoardo Weber the 17th may 1945, FIAT increase its involvement in the company assets, as so to assume the control of it: at this point FIAT put one of its main representatives in charge of the company.

In the period following the II World War, the company steadied as market leader in carburettors production, however, the real turning point took place in 1956, when Citroèn addressed to the Weber company in order to solve serious charging problems of its key model, DS 19.

 

Weber solved  all  Citroèn difficulties with great reliability and commitment.

 

The result of the excellent work was extraordinary: the company gained respect and appraisal, paving the way to the wide European market.

In the years ‘50 and ‘60, thank to the economic boom, the company needed to covert itself to face the production increase and to adjust to the new laws about emissions control which appeared in those years for the first time.

 

For this purpose a new wing was built in the plant in via del Timavo and consequently the foundry was moved to Crevalcore.

During the seventies the company development started slowing down, due to FIAT economic difficulties as well as to the Energy International crisis following the Yom Kippur war in 1973.

 

In order to overcome this critical situation and to improve the company position, the Weber top management decided to totally reorganize the company around the eighties.

 

The management understood that it was now necessary to locate the plant close to the automotive manufacturers production sites, since the automotive market at that point was going through a moment of hectic development (the concept of World Car was established in this period).

 

Therefore, the company took over controlling stakes in local companies in Brazil, USA and Spain.

 

Weber company in this way turned, from a small body shop in Bologna, into a multinational company.

In 1986 FIAT, after signing an agreement with the producer MATRA, took over the control of SOLEX, that had been the main competitor of Weber for almost 60 years.

 

In 1987 the “Raggruppamento Controllo Motore” of Magneti Marelli was born, Weber and Matra merged together into it.

The decade ’80-90’ was certainly a crucial period for the Automotive industry because of the pervasive advent of electronic technology.

 

This technological revolution together with the more and more strict laws regarding polluting emissions led to the end of the carburettor.

 

The last one was produced at the Bologna plant in 1992.

WEBER MARELLI company has been one of the few companies in the world able to convert from a company focused on an engine control system based on carburettor technology to those based on electronic injection.

 

In support of this ability, in 1993 it obtained important production programmes for Volkswagen POLO and GOLF as well as for some FORD models.

 

At the same time, it started the supply of multipoint injection systems for FIAT PUNTO.

 

In 1994 WEBER MARELLI company obtained the VOLVO programme with regard to the accelerator with electronic control and it started supplying the injection system to HARLEY DAVIDSON.

Since 1995, the company growth allowed the acquisition of important clients like Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini supplying the robotized transmission and Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault e Volkswagen supplying the injection system.

 

In the motorbike market new important clients like Ducati, Guzzi and Piaggio have been gained.

2001 is a crucial year from the organizational point of view. Raggruppamento Controllo Motore was replaced by Magneti Marelli Powertrain.

 

Magneti Marelli Powertrain today aims to become a worldwide leader in the design and production of gasoline and diesel engines’ components, in addition to the robotized transmission gears.

 

It is a stiff and ambitious target that, however, can be surely reached as the company already did during its long life.