Automobiles

Giacomo Puccini was attracted by speed and the fascination of modernity. He bought his first automobile, a De Dion-Buton, in July 1901, causing admiration and amazement on the streets of Versilia. In fact, there were only 917 motor vehicles in Italy that year, one for every 37,000 inhabitants.

His second car was a Clément Bayard, an unfortunate purchase in some ways, because on the night of February 25, 1903, while returning from Lucca to Torre del Lago with his wife Elvira, son Antonio and the driver, the Clément fell into a ditch on a dirt road. The composer suffered a serious fracture of the tibia and the driver a fracture of the femur, while his wife and son were fortunately unharmed.

In 1905 he bought a white Sizaire Nadin, and in 1906 the Italian Touring Club granted him a "Permis de Libre circulation Internationale".

His garage then expanded with an Ansaldo Pf-1va (1906), the Isotta Fraschini An 20/30hp (1909), several FIATs (between 1909 and 1919) and the Lancia Trikappa (8 cylinders for a top speed of 130 km/h, a true luxury car of 1922).

His last car was a Lancia Lambda, with which he made his last trip. On November 4, 1924, he went to Pisa station to catch the train to Brussels. There he underwent an operation to remove a tumor from his throat, but it proved fatal.