Ferdinando Innocenti in established his machinery company in 1920. After World War Two Innocenti made Lambretta scooters, Automobilistica Innocenti gained a contract in 1961 to build BMC products such as the Mini, Austin A40, Austin 1100 and Sprite cars. Ownership passed to British Leyland in 1972, but in 1975 following the collapse of British Leyland Innocenti was forcibly sold and picked up by Alejandro de Tomaso. Fiat took over Innocenti at the end of the 1980s and the brand 'Innocenti' was lost in 1996.