This factory is part of a former industrial area, used to be site of mechanical workshops since 1850. The first established company was "Costruzioni Meccaniche", a small workshop nearby the railway station of Saronno. In 1887 a German company, called "Maschinenfabrik Esslingen", decided to begin manufacturing in Italy. Then it took over and enlarged the factory of "Costruzioni Meccaniche" to built steam locomotives and various rolling stock.
In 1925 Saronno and Isotta Fraschini destinies crossed themselves: the factory was owned by a famous aeronautics manufacturer, the Caproni Group, with a controlled company called C.E.M.S.A. (Costruzioni ElettroMeccaniche SAronno - Saronno Electromechanical Works). Caproni Group was also the main shareholder of Isotta Fraschini, an historical automobile factory founded in Milano in 1902, which manufactured high class cars well known all over the world. During the 30s, the international political situation led the Caproni Group to aim the business on war production. A few years before the Second World War Isotta Fraschini began in Saronno the production of engines, sent to the Caproni airplanes factory in Milano. During the war the old factory inside the city of Milano was seriously damaged by air raids and the complete production was shifted to Saronno. Here, Isotta Fraschini and Caproni manufactured light alloys for aeronautics (Magnesium Elektron), petrol and diesel engines, cars prototypes, various mechanical equipments and trucks motorized chassis. After some failed attempts to convert war production into civil one, the company was winded-up in 1949.
The rebirth was in 1955, when Isotta Fraschini merged with the Engines Division of Breda, a big steelworks and mechanical workshop of Milano, to create a new company: S.A. Isotta Fraschini e Motori Breda. The factory of Saronno was restarted to produce high quality engines with the old trademark "IF". In the middle of the 80s the company decided to move its business to Trieste, and factories in Saronno were closed.
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