IMAM (Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali) was an Italian aircraft manufacturer founded in Naples in 1923 by the engineer Nicola Romeo. In 1955 it merged into Aerfer.
History
The Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali had its origins in the aircraft division of OFM (Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali), an Italian railway and rolling stock manufacturing company owned by Nicola Romeo. Romeo hired Alessandro Tonini, an aeronautical engineer experienced in aerodynamics and airplane design, as OFM's chief designer. OFM contacted Fokker and got production licence for the Fokker C.V. It was built by the Naples factory in 1927 as the OFM Ro.1. On 27 October 1934, Romeo spun off the aircraft business, renamed, as the Società Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo (IAR). The most successful aircraft produced by IAR was the Ro.37 Lince. The first prototype Ro.37 flew in November 1933.[1] In 1935, OFM (the railway workshop) was sold to Società Italiana Ernesto Breda. Romeo later sold Società Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo to Società Italiana Ernesto Breda, which later became the Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali (IMAM).