Carioche Le Trattrici Agricole Figlie Della Guerra/Make-Do-And-Mend Agricultural Tractors

Product description

The “carioca” was the agricultural vehicle of choice when Italy was so poor and run-down that it could not afford proper tractors. Farmers were obliged, with the assistance of local mechanics, to piece together whatever obsolete parts and equipment they could find on the market: old cars, vans and trucks. Anything that had four wheels and an engine was chopped up, switched around and stitched back together and the machines that were so imaginatively assembled became known as “carioche”. They were most widespread between 1936 and 1955 in the Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto regions. In 1947 there were around 7 thousand carioche in Italy constructed in 150 workshops that continued to develop their products for a number of years, making them ever closer to traditional tractors. Lamborghini and Lesa began in this way, along with dozens of others with various degrees of success. This book documents the history and evolution of this distinctly Italian phenomenon, featuring around a hundred models and their constructors.