In 1951, Fiat’s great designer Dante Giocosa began work on a new high-performance sports car, the legendary 8V, or “Otto Vu” in Italian, a two-liter, V8-engined two-seater. Giacosa theorized that for a car to have the power and characteristics for which he was aiming, a tubular chassis would not be […]

Toyota’s 2000GT is widely acclaimed as the first Japanese car to be taken seriously by Western critics-the country’s first “supercar.” The model marked Japan’s rise away from dull derivative models toward the highly competitive position it enjoys today. The 2000GT was originally penned by Albrecht Goertz (creator of the BMW […]

The $169,000 achieved in Geneva for #99 represents an 82% appreciation in 48 months Just before the outbreak of WWII, the Maserati brothers sold their company to industrialist Adolfo Orsi. Not long after the war was over, they decided their real interests lay in racing, and together they formed OSCA-short […]

This car owes its name to Nuvolari’s heroic drive in the 1947 Mille Miglia, while its aggressive shape owes a great deal to pre-WWII aerodynamics Italian industrialist Piero Dusio built up the Consorzio Industriale Sportivo Italia into a successful conglomerate before WWII. He was also an uncommonly good amateur racing […]

Originally a bicycle manufacturer, and probably best known as a maker of fine racing motorcycles, Edoardo Bianchi built his first automobile in the early 1900s. A wide variety of models followed over the next 30 years, though by 1940 the firm was concentrating on motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Car manufacture […]

This car needs someone to sort it out and drive it. When these are right, they make superb vintage rally and tour mounts Vincenzo Lancia loved automobiles, driving and motoring competition. The delectable machines that flowed from the factory were the expression of his passion. There were many great designs […]

Positioning a V8 against the 6-cylinders of Ferrari, Porsche, and Maserati must have seemed like a good idea at the time {vsig}2006-7_1942{/vsig} The note from the previous owner that accompanied this 1977 Lamborghini Urraco to auction was brief and to the point. “There were only 520 P250s built. This is […]

In 1970, after just 7,136 km, this unique V12 Granturismo was bricked up in a garage on a busy street {vsig}2006-4_1924{/vsig} Lamborghini’s first model-the 350 GT-wowed the motoring press and public at its 1964 launch. Not content to rest on their laurels, Lamborghini’s engineers were already at work on the […]

Lack of records makes it very difficult to tell a factory Abarth from one built by Uncle Giorgio’s Garage (Note: In the auction catalog, there was an addendum that declared that this particular car was in fact a Fiat 750 rather than an 850. As its model year was appropriate […]