Isotta Fraschini, 1929, Tipo 8A

Isotta Fraschini "Tipo 8A", Castagna, 1929

The “Società Milanese d’Automobili Isotta Fraschini” was founded in Milan in 1900 by a group of enthusiasts and soon became one of the most prestigious Italian luxury car manufacturers.
The Tipo 8, presented in 1919, was one of the first production cars in the world fitted with an inline-8 engine.
The Tipo 8A, evolution of the Tipo 8, is a particularly luxurious model and about a third of the cars produced were shipped to the US, heading to a small amount of wealthy lucky owners.
The dimensions were monumental; the interior were sophisticated lounges, lavishly decorated with crystal, silver and briar and upholstered with elegant Damasque cloths.
The body type is a Laundalet Imperial “Trasformabile” (“convertible”), typical on most prestigious cars, with the rear opening roof and the two-tone paint.
The 8A is the car used by Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard”. Many people owned this iconic car like Billy Bis, the 70s comic hero of the magazine Intrepido.
But also Rodolfo Valentino, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Benito Mussolini, and other international characters you can read on the attached document.