Niccolò De Nora appears in the company

For about a decade, at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, Oronzio De Nora worked on perfecting the mercury cathode cells, achieving unparalleled efficiency levels worldwide. Niccolò De Nora watched the company's industrial developments from the outside. He lacked neither the means nor the will to translate his passions into other entrepreneurial activities; one project that soon proved interesting concerns the possibility of building and marketing an exceptional automobile: the first small-capacity Ferrari.

In 1958, Enzo Ferrari developed a prototype car called the "Ferrarina": a sports car with a great engine and a feisty personality, yet small in size, suitable for city use. After the 1961 Turin Motor Show, Enzo Ferrari searched Italy and abroad for a possible manufacturer for his small-displacement prototype. Niccolò De Nora, who loved sports cars and was a good customer of Ferrari, presented a business plan proposal. From these premises, a plan was born in 1962 to form a company to buy the project and start mass production of the car. The new production company was called ASA, Autocostruzioni Società per Azioni. The small Ferrari project was exciting and innovative regarding engineering and business. However, ASA's industrial project failed to get off the ground. The ASA was a good car, but building small cars in small series was impossible. The car quickly became a cult object by owners and drivers who had the opportunity to drive it in races at Targa Florio, Le Mans, Nürburgring, Daytona and Sebring.

By the 1970s, the time was ripe for a change in production goals. Some drawings which Oronzio De Nora had sketched out a few years earlier, thinking of an asbestos diaphragm cell, came back into focus. In the scheme of the new cell, the diaphragms were deposited on metal supports that acted as cathodes coupled with DSA® anodes. The success of the diaphragm cells was immediately remarkable. The systems spread to Japan as a replacement technology for mercury systems and from the land of the rising sun, they expanded throughout the industrialized world. Diaphragm cells, however, were burdened by an environmental problem that would explode in the following years related to the hazardous nature of asbestos. Despite the success of Glanor® cells and the fact that asbestos was a material currently used in many industrial productions, from construction to clothing, researchers turned to the study of new electrolysis plants. Indeed, the future seemed to lie with membrane cells, which Oronzio De Nora was beginning to develop, although he very much liked the simplicity and robustness of traditional diaphragm plants. "Diaphragm cells are like draft horses," noted Oronzio De Nora, "they always work and eat anything, while membrane cells are like thoroughbred horses: they run very fast but need good food and endless care, otherwise, they suffer." Despite his affection for diaphragm cells, Oronzio De Nora developed a membrane prototype installed at the Caffaro company in Brescia in 1976, well ahead of the competition.

The year was 1978, and Oronzio De Nora was 79 years old. The time had come for him to leave the company's helm to his son Niccolò, who would have soon been taking over the management of the commercial, production, and financial areas. Niccolò De Nora had to first and foremost develop the new membrane cells and give further impetus to Permelec and DSA® anodes. Niccolò De Nora formed a team of collaborators to help him to manage the present and plan for the immediate future. He was not a technician, engineer, or chemist but he loved the company and had unique human qualities and a great personality. He also had grit, enthusiasm and a desire to get things done. In this way, he immediately revealed himself to be a very down-to-earth manager. From his father, Oronzio, he had learned the difference between order and organization, that subtle division according to which organization is but a procedure, necessary but instrumental. In contrast, order is a mental quality, a gift that only a few people possess. On the technical side, Niccolò De Nora made a partnership agreement in 1980 with Dow Chemical, a prominent American company with which he planned to develop new membrane cells for chlor-alkali. Monopolar and bipolar electrolyzers were born from this agreement. The first experimental membrane cells were installed at Caffaro in Brescia, Dow in Freeport and Atochem in Lavera, France. Large plants would later be built worldwide, but the first major industrial-scale contract was made in Italy with Enichem. After months of gruelling negotiations, Niccolò De Nora as leader, took on the task of managing the negotiations with Enichem and finally signed a significant contract for the company. The future of the De Nora Group was now in his hands.

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