VM MOTORI, which produces some of the best recreational marine engines on the market, has its origins in 1947, in Cento in the province of Ferrara (Italy). It was initiated by two local entrepreneurs named Vancini and Martelli: hence the acronym VM. The company soon built the first Italian air-cooled diesel engine with direct injection.
After three generations the Lorenzoni company has continued to distribute engines both enthusiastically and successfully, along with VM engine spare parts since 1961, in addition to giving the same level of service for aftersales.
Automotive use of Marine engines
Among the engines produced at the Cento plant you will find the new series of pre-chamber, water-cooled, supercharged and high-revving HR engines (4200 rpm).
These are the engines that at the end of the '70s found their first applications in the automotive sector, also as a result of the first serious oil crisis that occurred in the world of cars.
At the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show the first car equipped with a diesel engine produced at the Cento plant was presented – an Alfetta produced by Alfa Romeo in Arese.
The numbers of a market leader
In 2000, VM MOTORI together with the Detroit Diesel Corporation became part of the Daimler Chrysler group. With a production capacity of 80,000 engines and a staff of a thousand employees, the company operates today in a factory of 85,000 square metres, 50,000 of which are covered, where they develop their research in collaboration with the most important international institutes, as well as designing new generations of propellers.