Vintage ratchet ID help needed

[Ditchdigger]

I was looking for some info in an old Fiat factory service manual and noticed a ratchet that kept popping up in the pictures. Now for some reason I have to have one. I guess I have heard worse reasons for wanting tools, but this still seems silly.

All the pictures would have been taken in Italy around 1967 so I am thinking it is most likely going to be a european manufacturer. The rats are slightly different but the only markings that I can make out are simply Chrome Vanadium.

Sorry for the **** pics.

 

[kxxr]

It looks similar to the Herbrand S10 pictured on Alloy Artifacts. It's European cousin?
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/herbrand-van-chrome-p3.html#sockets
Also, according to AA, Bonney registered 'Chrome Vanadium' as a trademark, though it appeared on many manufacturers tools before and after that I think. Sometime in the 60s, Bonney and Herbrand were part of one company.
There were/are plenty of Italian and other European manufacturers of hand tools, but Fiat had as good a foot hold in the US in the late 60s early 70s as they ever did (that's a guess).
Even if the manual is a Fiat service manual, it could have been created in the U.S. rather than photographed / translated to English and then sent to the U.S. Are you pretty sure of the origin of the manual?
Try looking around on ebay.it?
Let us know how the search goes.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I actually saw one of those ratchets at the flea market a couple of months ago, it was Italian made (marked Italy). I didn't get it but later wished I had.

Charles

 

[lbgradwell]

The selector does look similar to Herbrand, and it has been observed that Hazet used a selector that was very, very similar to those round Herbrand switches in Germany; I don't think we ever found conclusive evidence (or the specifics) of any relationship between Hazet & Herbrand, but if it existed there I suppose it might very well have done so with other brands too.

This is strictly a WAG, but given that FIAT is Italian, you might want to consider USAG as a possibility. They certainly made round-head ratchets and used the "Chrome-Vanadium" verbiage so..?

 

[kxxr]

The Italian company Beta Utensili was in operation in the 60s and had an affiliation with racing as did/does USAG. A bit of Beta history here:
http://www.beta-tools.com/beta/gruppo_beta/history_en.html
I wonder who sponsored Fiat racing teams in 1967; might be a clue there...
I haven't had any luck finding another ratchet picture that looks like that one.

 

[Ditchdigger]

Thanks for the help gents. It does sure look a lot like the Herbrand but it is clearly a round head ratchet. I did spend a few hours looking at ebay.it and came up empty.

 

[Bull]

The selector does look similar to Herbrand, and it has been observed that Hazet used a selector that was very, very similar to those round Herbrand switches in Germany; I don't think we ever found conclusive evidence (or the specifics) of any relationship between Hazet & Herbrand, but if it existed there I suppose it might very well have done so with other brands too.

This is strictly a WAG, but given that FIAT is Italian, you might want to consider USAG as a possibility. They certainly made round-head ratchets and used the "Chrome-Vanadium" verbiage so..?

Let's go one step further. I have seen ratchets marked "Hazet" that were 100% identical in appearance to Herbrand ratchets that I have owned. The Fremont era models with the pear heads and push button selectors. A member on here (airbuff) sold one on eBay within the last year. I wanted it, but it went for big money. I've seen at least once more since then.