Isotta Fraschini — the Milan straight-eight luxury cars, 1900 to 1949

Isotta Fraschini at a glance

From importer to car maker

Before the company existed, its founders were already in the car business. In 1899 they imported Mors and Renault cars and Aster engines into Italy. On 27 January 1900 they founded Società Milanese Automobili Isotta, Fraschini & C. in Milan, with the stated purpose to "import, sell, repair cars".

The firm began making its own cars in 1904. A year later, at the Coppa Florio, it entered a Tipo D with a 17.2-litre engine of 75 kW (100 hp). In 1907 the company briefly merged with Lorraine-Dietrich of France. In 1908 Vincenzo Trucco won the Targa Florio in an Isotta Fraschini Type I.

The engineer Giustino Cattaneo made the company a technical leader. Isotta Fraschini was among the earliest users of the overhead camshaft, with an engine designed by Cattaneo. After the Scottish firm Arrol-Johnston invented four-wheel brakes in 1909, Isotta Fraschini was among the first to sell cars with them. Output was still small: 300 cars in 1911 and 475 in 1912.

The Tipo 8: the first production straight-eight

After the First World War the company concentrated on one large luxury chassis. The Tipo 8 was introduced at the 1919 Paris Motor Show, and customer deliveries began in 1920. It was the first production car with a straight-eight engine, a 5,902 cc overhead-valve unit. Power was 60 kW (80 bhp) at first and soon 67 kW (90 bhp), enough for about 137 to 140 km/h.

Two developments followed:

Isotta Fraschini sold its cars as a bare chassis and engine, and the bodies came from coachbuilders such as Castagna of Milan, Carrosserie Worblaufen of Switzerland, Floyd-Derham and Lancefield.

Hollywood and the American market

In the 1920s the company aimed its ultra-luxury limousines at wealthy North American buyers. Early film stars such as Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino drove Isotta Fraschinis. The Tipo 8A cost more than a Duesenberg Model J.

The best-known example is a film car. In "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), Norma Desmond's car is a 1929 Tipo 8A landaulet limousine with a coupé de ville body by Castagna. The Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile in Turin says the "Sunset car" has been on display there since 1972, while a different claim links the film car, number 1587, to the American collector Tom Monaghan.

The Depression and the end of car production

The 1929 Wall Street crash and the Great Depression left few buyers for such an expensive car, especially among the wealthy American buyers who had been its main customers. The Tipo 8B of 1931 had more power, but demand in Europe was also small.

Politics made things harder. A possible manufacturing deal with Henry Ford in 1930–1931 was blocked, because Mussolini's National Fascist Party wanted the company to focus on military aero engines and opposed foreign investment. Cattaneo resigned in 1933, and the last Tipo 8B left the line in the summer of 1934. From then on Isotta Fraschini built aircraft, marine and industrial engines.

Monterosa and a long afterlife

After the Second World War the company tried once more. The Tipo 8C Monterosa was developed from 1943 and officially presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1947. It had a rear-mounted, water-cooled 3,400 cc V8 designed by Aurelio Lampredi, with 92 kW (125 PS), and a body by Vieri Rapi. Only three to six cars were built, and the Monterosa never reached series production. In 1949 the original company went into liquidation, though the name stayed on the company register.

The engine business carried on. In 1955 the firm merged with Breda as F.A. Isotta Fraschini e Motori Breda, built a diesel engine factory in Bari in the 1960s and became Isotta Fraschini Motori S.p.A., part of the Fincantieri group, in the 1980s. In the 1990s the trademark was split, and Giuliano Malvino's firm built the T8 concept car of 1996 and the T12 of 1998. Neither reached production, and the firm went bankrupt in 1999.

In 2022 Isotta Fraschini Milano Fabbrica Automobili was established in Milan. Its Tipo 6 LMH Competizione hypercar was unveiled in March 2023 and raced in five rounds of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, finishing three. Its best result was 14th place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team withdrew before the Lone Star Le Mans race.

The Isotta Fraschini models listed on 1cars are in the Isotta Fraschini catalogue, and the founding car of the straight-eight era has its own page on the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 and its straight-eight. Its American rival is covered on the Duesenberg Model J and SJ page. More cars of the era are in the classic cars section.

Isotta Fraschini timeline

Landmark Isotta Fraschini models