1930 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Special Sports Torpedo

The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 series engine was designed by chief engineer Giustino Cattaneo during World War I and introduced with the new Tipo 8 chassis in August 1919. The Tipo 8 was followed in 1925 by the Tipo 8A, with an engine enlarged to 7.3-liters, and this, in turn, was followed by the highly tuned 160 horsepower Tipo 8A SS.

This Isotta Fraschini is one of the rare SS (Super Spinto) models built for the more spirited high-speed driver. It is one of only two examples of the 8A SS with this Castagna-built dual cowl Torpedo coachwork known to exist today. The design received many plaudits at the 1933 Paris Auto Salon when it was displayed on the Castagna stand - and 50 years later, in 1983, this Isotta Fraschini was awarded Best in Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Eleven fine examples of the featured marque of Isotta Fraschini pulled onto the lawn of The Lodge at Pebble Beach in 1983, and this particular 1930 Isotta Fraschini, exhibited at that time by Dr. Irwin Ginsberg of Buffalo, New York, won that featured class and went on to earn Best of Show. The car's first owner was Mr. Penn of the Lucky Strike Company. Ginsberg purchased the car from his estate, and The General William Lyon Family purchased the car in June 1985. Manufactured in Milan from 1900 through 1950, Isotta Fraschini was a favorite with celebrities and royalty, but it was the introduction of the Tipo 8 that garnered the marque success in greater numbers. The 7.4-liter Tipo 8A, introduced in 1924, increased the engine's capacity to 120 bhp at 2,400 RPM, and it had a stouter chassis, larger brake drums with vacuum-servo assistance, and rode on larger section tires. Spinto and then Super Spinto versions with higher compression ratios and other tuning devices were introduced later. A short chassis 8A SS with sporting body could allegedly exceed 100 mph, and indeed on such car finished admirably, in sixth place, in the very first Mille Miglia.