1907 Itala Model 36/45 Grand Prix Racer

The Itala Company was founded in Turin, Italy, in 1904 by Matteo Ceirano and Guido Bigio. Itala cars were designed primarily for racing and boasted large-capacity engines. This Itala was found in the late 1940s by Group Captain Rexford-Welch in Oxfordshire, England, where it had been resting in a field for many years. He towed it back to his house in London and began a long restoration before exhibiting it at events in the 1950s. Rexford-Welch used the car until the mid-1960s, when it was laid back to rest in his garage. The car was resurrected again by David Ayre in early 2000. Ayre fully restored the chassis and paired it with a new body based on Prince Itala, successfully completing the 2007 Centenary Peking to Paris rally in 35 days - half the time that Borghese had taken back in 1907.