Long forgotten by most in America, the Fiat Strada – called the Fiat Ritmo in Europe – was delightfully strange and very familiar at the same time. Sometimes accused of being a copy of the…
Browsing Category Italian Cars
Last Call for the Maserati Brothers: OSCA 1600 GT2
There were seven Maserati Brothers in all – Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri (I), Alfieri (II), Mario, Ettore, and Ernesto. Carlo, the eldest, died in 1910 but worked for Fiat and Isotta-Fraschini. The third Brother, Alfieri (I)…
Maserati 228: Building a Better BiTurbo
It looks like a Maserati BiTurbo coupe and in a sense it is – but it’s not like other BiTurbos. It’s a Maserati 228 – also known as Tipo AM334. Until the 1990s and the…
Bella Berlina: Lancia Appia Series 2
As the pre-war Aprilia gave way to the 1950 Aurelia, so too eventually did the “junior” Lancia – the pre-war Ardea being replaced by the Appia in 1953. The Ardea may have looked old-fashioned, but…
De Tomaso and Dearborn: Pantera
Enzo Ferrari’s refusal to sell his company to Ford in 1963 led directly to the creation of the GT40 and Ford’s famous LeMans efforts. There were roadgoing GT40s, sort of, but they weren’t something an…
Arachnophobia: Fiat 850 Spider
Fiat intentionally designed the 850 Spider to be a “first” sports car for buyers who wanted something cooler than a 600 or 850 sedan, but were still on a tight budget. Being tiny and cheap…
Raising Arese: Alfa-Romeo Milano
The Alfa-Romeo 75 was the House of Arese’s replacement for the first “Nuova Giulietta,” which ran from 1977 to 1985, but Americans had never seen the wedge-shaped Giuletta, or the AlfaSud, or the Alfa Six,…
The First Italian Supercar: the F.I.A.T. 60HP
It would be unusual for Fiat to take aim at Mercedes with a supercar today, but 1905 was a very different time. The mighty Fiat 60HP was aimed directly at Daimler and was one of…
Born on the Neckar: NSU-Fiat 500 Weinsberg
NSU-Fiats were German versions of regular Fiats, but occasionally they produced something truly unique. The 500 Weinsberg was cooked up at Heilbronn as a luxurious and bespoke Nuova 500.
Twilight of the Big Alfas: Alfa-Romeo 2600 Spider
It’s an Alfa-Romeo and it’s a Spider, but possibly not the one you’re used to seeing. The 1962-65 Alfa 2600 Spider was Alfa’s senior droptop in the 1960s, part of the flagship 106-series 2600 range….
Innocenti Mini: The Italian Jobs
The Minis blasting through Turin’s streets in The Italian Job were from BMC (who reportedly supplied only the bare minimum, so the production had to buy more) and shipped in from the U.K.; but Italy…
Totally Rad: 1987 Ferrari Testarossa
When you see a Ferrari Testarossa, you can almost hear Jan Hammer, although Prince’s “Lets go Crazy” would be appropriate too, since it peaked around the time the Testarossa first appeared at the 1984 Paris show.