The Barsanti and Matteucci Foundation, at the time of its establishment, had the primary aim of achieving international recognition that Barsanti and Matteucci had been the first to succeed in building and making an internal combustion engine work.
Thanks to the involvement of the Management of the Deutsches Museum in Munich in analyzing the historical documentation found, the Foundation obtained the display of a plaque in the Museum stating that the first three-stroke internal combustion engine had been invented by Barsanti and Matteucci in 1854.
Subsequently, the idea of creating reproductions of the engines was considered. Thus, thanks to the careful study of the drawings and descriptions of the patented engines by engineer Pierluigi Lazzerini, and under his constant supervision, models of various engines were built, some full-scale, others reduced.
The first were 1:2,5 scale models of the first internal combustion engine, subject of English certification n° 1072 of 12 June 1854, built in 1856 by the Officine Benini and put into operation in the workshops of the Maria Antonia Railway in Florence.
One of the models was intended for display in the engine rooms of the Museum, but shortly thereafter circumstances suggested that a full-scale model of the same engine be built and donated to the Deutsches Museum. This model was made byFanin Workshop of Fornaci di Barga and exhibited during the “Firenze World Vision” event held in Florence on 23-24 September and, from 25 to 27 September, in Lucca under the portico of the Palazzo Ducale; it was finally permanently transported to Munich in October 2004 where it is permanently on display in the Museum's motors section.
Of the three 1:2,5 scale models, one remained permanently exhibited at the Foundation's headquarters and later at the Internal Combustion Engine Museum, the others were donated to theXimenian Observatory of Florence and Nicolis Museum of Villafranca di Verona.
Subsequently, several models of the engines were built. In 2005, based on the drawings attached to the patent, an engine conforming to French patent no. 35009 of 1858 was built. This engine was never built by the two scientists, but it is of considerable importance because, based on it, with minor variations, the Bauer engine was built.
In 2006, a new engine model was built, one with horizontal pistons, following the description of the Piedmontese patent n° 700 of 1858.
In 2010, a model of the Bauer engine was built, for which there was no specific patent and whose construction drawings were obtained from a photo of the time.
Other models of the engines were built and donated to important Italian and foreign museums: models of the first engine (English certification n° 1072 of 1854) to the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, in Shanghai, to the Franklin Museum in Philadelphia, to the Biscaretti Museum and to the Agnelli Museum, both in Turin.
The material produced by the Foundation, namely documents, illustrated panels, publications and engine models, allowed for the organization of important exhibitions and events, including those held in Moscow at the Kremlin Manege and at the European Parliament in Brussels, in Shanghai on the occasion of the centenary of the Paris/Beijing Bridge, at the Italian Embassy in Washington, as well as in Volterra, at the Municipality of Brussels and at the Municipality of Capannori.
The Internal Combustion Engine Museum in Lucca houses five models of as many engines, the movement of which can be admired, as they are powered by a compressed air system.
Many of the models described were made in theGalli and Morelli Precision Mechanical Workshop in Lucca, which regularly provides maintenance and repairs.
