page_title: Società Torinese Automobili Rapid
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Società Torinese Automobili Rapid / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 1900s S.T.A.R. Rapid poster
context_page_description: Società Torinese Automobili Rapid, also known as S.T.A.R. and Rapid, was an Italian car manufacturer founded by Giovanni Battista Ceirano in Turin in July 1904. Rapid was its trademark. In 1921 it was acquired by the S.P.A. company that had been founded by Giovanni Battista's brother Matteo Ceirano, and which, in 1925, was taken over by Fiat.
context_section_description: Giovanni Bastista and Matteo Ceirano left F.I.A.T. in 1901 to found Fratelli Ceirano & C. In 1903, Matteo left to found ITALA. In 1904 Giovanni Batista Ceirano transformed Fratelli Ceirano & C. into Società Torinese Automobili Rapid, using the name Rapid as a trademark. Production moved to a 50,000 square meters plant in Barriera di Nizza, Turin, where 500 people worked. The initial share capital was 2,000,000 lire, which in 1905 amounted to 5,000,000. Annual production was 600 units per year.
  Around 1905 Giovanni Battista suffered poor health and retired to Bordighera on the coast of Liguria, so Rodolfo Chio Maggi was appointed chief designer while Giovani Battista Maggi and Alfonso Scott took over the management.
  During World War I the factory produced both trucks and armaments, up to 4,000 artillery shells per day.
  After World War I, Rapid opened a repair-shop for all brands, but the aftermath of the war meant that in 1921 the company was liquidated and absorbed by S.P.A. (Società Piemontese Automobili), a company founded by Matteo Ceirano, and Cyclecar Italiana Petromilli (C.I.P.).
  In 1925 Giovanni Agnelli converted the Rapid factory at Barriera di Nizza, Turin, into 'Officine Meccaniche Villar Perosa S.p.A.' (RIV) to manufacture ball bearings. In 1926 FIAT, headed by Agnelli, absorbed S.P.A. (Società Piemontese Automobili).
caption: 1900s S.T.A.R. Rapid poster
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