Fábrica Nacional de Motores
Encyclopedia
Duque de Caxias
Duque de Caxias is a city in southeast Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, bordered by Rio de Janeiro to the south. Its population was 842,890 and its area is 465 km². Its current Mayor is José Camilo Zito...
near Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
that operated between 1942 and 1988.
Origins
The company was created 1942 by the Brazilian state as part of the Estado NovoEstado Novo (Brazil)
Vargas Era is the period in the history of Brazil that lasted from 1930 to 1945, when the country was under the leadership of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas....
agenda of President Getúlio Dornelles Vargas. It was one of several business launched by the state during this period (including also Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...
launched in 1941 and CHESF
CHESF
CHESF generates and transmits electric power from hydroelectric plants to all of the cities in northeast of Brazil....
in the later 1940s) to kick start an industrial sector in Brazil. Initially the company produced American Curtiss-Wright
Curtiss-Wright
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States at the end of World War II, but has evolved to largely become a component manufacturer, specializing in actuators, aircraft controls, valves, and metalworking....
aircraft engines under license along with ammunition, bicycles, spindles and refrigerators.
After the Second World War it was decided to diversify production. The government was keen to launch a vehicle manufacturing industry. In 1949 an agreement was reached with the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
manufacturer, Isotta Fraschini, whereby FNM would produce the Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
ese company's heavy trucks under license. Isotta Fraschini commercial vehicles enjoyed an excellent reputation at this time, but the Italian company was already economically troubled, although its formal bankruptcy would be put off till the end of 1951.
The Alfa Romeo connection
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
, another Milanese vehicle manufacturer. Unusually in Europe, Alfa Romeo was (like FNM) a state owned
Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale was an Italian public company set up by the fascist government in 1933 to combat the effects of the global depression on the Italian economy...
business, following bankruptcy and a government rescue in the 1930s. Under the agreement with Alfa Romeo, FNM would manufacture Alfa Romeo's commercial vehicle range under license. Though little known north of the Alps
The Alps
The Alps is a 2007 American documentary film about the climbing of the north face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps by John Harlin III, son of John Harlin who died on the same ascent 40 years earlier...
, Alfa Romeo commercial vehicles were well established in Italy, and other south European markets. Between 1956 and 1960 FNM built more than 15,000 heavy trucks of Alfa Romeo design: it also manufactured the chassis for buses and coaches. In the Brazilian heavy truck sector which FNM dominated till the early 1970s, FNM was initially the only manufacturer. Trucks produced by FNM were generally called as Fenemê.
In 1960 the range was extended to include passenger cars, with the launch of the FNM 2000, a Brazilian version of the Alfa Romeo 2000
Alfa Romeo 2000
Alfa Romeo 2000 is a car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturing company Alfa Romeo as a successor to the 1900.First shown in 1957 on the Turin autosalon, the car was produced in two models, the Berlina with and the Spider with since 1958. In 1960, the Sprint was added...
four door sedan (berlina). The engine was the same 1975 cc twin camshaft unit found in the Italian product, but detuned to produce only 95 hp. A coupé version was offered from 1966. Known as the FNM Onça, the coupe did not follow the line of any Alfa Romeo design, but featured an elegant locally designed body unmistakably reminiscent of the original Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
. The FNM 2000 was followed by more powerful versions, culminating with the 130 hp TiMB ("Turismo Internazionale Modello Brasile"), now boasting usefully more power than was claimed for its Alfa Romeo cousins of the time.
Alfa Romeo control
In 1968 Alfa Romeo acquired a controlling share in the FNM business: the next year the FNM 2000 was replaced by a restyled version, the FNM 2150, the most obvious visual differences affecting the front of the car. For this application the twin camshaft four cylinder engine saw its capacity increased to 2132 cc, and performance was further enhanced by the installation of a five speed gear box in place of the (at that time still more usual with Italian style passenger cars) four speed one of the 2000. The FNM 2150 would continue in production from 1969 till 1974.In 1972 another coupé the Furia GT 2150 was presented to the public. Based on chassis and mechanics of the FNM/JK 2150 cc model, the car was designed by Brazilian designer Tony Bianco. Only a few hand built examples were produced, but the stylish coupé may have helped the public image of the by now aging design of the mainstream FNM 2150.
Alfa Romeo had disposed of its commercial vehicle operations in Italy in the 1960s, and in 1973 the FNM commercial vehicle business was sold to Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
's, industrial vehicle division
Fiat Professional
Fiat Professional is the new brand name for Fiat Group Automobiles Light Commercial Vehicles division. It was launched on 17 April 2007 and replaces the "Fiat Veicoli Commerciali" brand name....
. The business would subsequently be absorbed into Fiat's Brazilian Iveco
Iveco
Iveco, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat , Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin...
business. At this stage, however, Alfa Romeo retained responsibility for the FNM automobile business.
Closing chapter
1974 saw the FNM 2150 replaced with the Alfa Romeo 2300Alfa Romeo 2300
The FNM Alfa Romeo 2300 is a Brazilian luxury sedan produced from 1974 to 1987. The general look of the new car was very similar to that of the Italian built Alfetta sedan, designed by Giuseppe Scarnati and first offered in Europe in 1972, although the Brazilian car was actually 41 centimetres ...
. This was the end for the FNM badged cars: the FNM badge itself, obviously inspired by the Alfa Romeo badge, was also replaced on this car with an actual Alfa Romeo badge. The general look of the new car was very similar to that of the Italian built Alfetta
Alfa Romeo Alfetta
Alfa Romeo GTV redirects here. For 916 series GTV see Alfa Romeo GTV & SpiderThe Alfa Romeo Alfetta is an Italian rear-wheel drive executive saloon car and fastback coupé produced from 1972 until 1987 by Alfa Romeo...
sedan, designed by Giuseppe Scarnati and first offered in Europe in 1972, although the Brazilian car was actually 41 centimetres (16.1 in) longer and 7 centimetres (2.8 in) wider than the Alfetta. Under the skin, the 2300 was based technically on the older Alfa Romeo 1900
Alfa Romeo 1900
The Alfa Romeo 1900 is a sports sedan designed by Orazio Satta for the Alfa Romeo company in 1950. It was Alfa Romeo's first car built entirely on a production line and was also Alfa's first production car without separate chassis and first Alfa offered with left-hand drive...
. The gear box of the 2300 was conventionally located adjacent to the engine and not (as with the Alfetta) across the rear axle. Like its Brazilian predecessor the 2300 featured a four cylinder twin camshaft engine, now of 2310 cc with a claimed output of 140 hp. A maximum speed of 170 km/h (106 mph) was claimed. For the 1985 model year the 2300 was renamed as "Alfa Romeo 85". This model was manufactured until November 1986.
Marketing opportunities were identified in Europe where Alfa Romeo's locally designed attempt
Alfa Romeo Alfa 6
The Alfa Romeo Alfa 6 is an executive car produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 1979 to 1986.On its launch in 1979, the Alfa 6 was the flagship of the Alfa Romeo range...
to move upmarket had made little impact on the competition
BMW E28
The BMW E28 BMW 5-Series was made between 1981 and 1988. It replaced the BMW E12 in 1981 and was replaced by the BMW E34 in 1989.E28 Production started in July 1981 and ended in December 1987...
from Bavaria: the Brazilian Alfa Romeo was offered briefly in 1981 under the designation Alfa Rio and distributed by Alfa Romeo Germany,. In addition around 600 of the cars were shipped to The Netherlands.
The end
Alfa Romeo faced difficulties in Europe during the late 1970s and early 1980s, coming under increasing commercial pressure from the threeBMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
largest German
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
up-market auto producers even in Italy. Objective financial data concerning nationalised businesses are seldom published, but Alfa Romeo is believed to have operated at a substantial loss for much of its time under state control: in 1986 Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
who was at the time chairman of the IRI (the government body responsible for nationalised industries in Italy)
Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale was an Italian public company set up by the fascist government in 1933 to combat the effects of the global depression on the Italian economy...
, wishing to reduce the losses of the IRI, transferred Alfa Romeo to the private sector, which in Italy's mass market automobile business meant at this time Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
. Since 1976 Fiat had been developing its own Brazilian operation, based in Betim
Betim
Betim is a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located at around . The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitan of Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte....
. The Brazilian based car business that had formerly comprised FNM was accordingly integrated into Fiat's own Brazilian operation, and in 1988 the FNM badged commercial vehicles - already produced by a Fiat owned business since Alfa Romeo sold the business in 1973 - were rebadged as Iveco
Iveco
Iveco, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat , Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin...
products.
Automobile production volumes
Production volumes of the FNM 2000/2150, to the extent these can be determined::- 1966: 474
- 1967: 714
- 1968:
- 1969: 555
- 1970: 1,209
- 1971: 800
- 1972: 600
Automobile technical data
Onca: 4425 mm (174.2 in) x 1670 mm (65.7 in) x 1290 mm (50.8 in) || colspan="3" align="center" | 4690 mm (184.6 in)/4719 mm (185.8 in) x 1692 mm (66.6 in) x 1362 mm (53.6 in)|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| Unloaded weight: || colspan="6" align="center" |1360 kg (2,998.3 lb)
Onca: 1100 kg (2,425.1 lb) || align="center" |1412 kg (3,112.9 lb)
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| Top speed: || align="center" |155 km/h (96.3 mph)|| align="center" |165 km/h (102.5 mph)|| align="center" |175 km/h (108.7 mph) || align="center" |165 km/h (102.5 mph) || align="center" |170 km/h (105.6 mph) || align="center" |175 km/h (108.7 mph) || align="center" |170 km/h (105.6 mph)
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| 0–100 km/h: || colspan="6" align="center" |not indicated || align="center" |12,0 s
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| Consumption (Liter/100 Kilometer): || colspan="4" align="center" |10.5 L/100 km || colspan="3" align="center" |not indicated
|}