Cars - Italy: Books - History, Models and Construction

Berlinetta `60s : Exceptional Italian Coupes of the 1960s

Following his portraits of the coupes of the 1950s published in 2017, Xavier de Nombel turns his cameras to the 'Sixties to bring us the most beautiful Berlinettas produced during that decade, which he has tracked down all over the world.
From the fiery little Osca to the revolutionary Carabo, employing stunning photography, he presents his personal vision of a period in which styling gave way to design.

Around his personal favourites, Christian Descombes relates the upheavals which Italian coachbuilding went through as it evolved from craftsmanship to industrial production, leaving behind its clientele of well-off enthusiasts to offer its expertise to the major international car makers.

Giorgetto Giugiaro, undoubtedly one of the leading players in this period, shares a remarkable account from inside, bringing to light the expressions of Italian automotive design since the post-war years.

ASA - L'epopea della «Ferrarina»

Known among enthusiasts as the "Ferrarina" or little Ferrari, because its chassis and mechanics were actually produced by Ferrari, the ASA 1000 was the top model of a small Milan manufacturer, whose story has never been recounted until now.

The short but intense life of ASA began with its establishment in 1962 and is told through the few models it produced (including the coupé and roadster bodied by Bertone, the GTC version and the 1965 411, which appeared two years before the company went out of business), with documents, testimonies of the period's protagonists as well as rare and unpublished illustrations.

Text in Italian.

Dallara - From Emilia to the conquest of the world / Dall'Emilia alla conquista del mondo

Before he was thirty, the engineer Giampaolo Dallara designed the Lamborghini Miura, a supercar that came from another planet, and one that caused its entire global competition to age overnight.
More recently, his cars have won nineteen editions of the Indianapolis 500, historically the most important race in the world. And then another surprise, the presentation of the Dallara Stradale, a fascinating 400 hp supercar produced in series in the multi-faceted factory of Varano de' Melegari, in the province of Parma.

These three commitments alone would be sufficient for a vast book on the activity of Giampaolo Dallara, who however has never ceased to broaden his own interests, based on the passion for motor sport and the evolution of technology.
In 320 pages the book describes how this extraordinary character, of great technical ability and of equally remarkable human depth, has evolved from his first job in Ferrari's racing department, to the growth that led him to become the most important manufacturer of racing cars in the world, starting from a small 'factory', which over the years has been transformed into a company with over 700 employees.

Intermeccanica - The Story of the Prancing Bull (Second Edition)

This book is the definitive biography of Frank Reisner and his incredible sports car company, Intermeccanica - responsible for some of the most beautiful sports cars ever built.
Frank Reisner, a Hungarian-born Canadian educated chemical engineer, turned a youthful passion for cars into one of the most famous small production sports car building companies in the world.

From modest beginnings based in the automotive mecca of Turin, Italy throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Intermeccanica conceived, designed and produced a dozen different models that shook the motoring world and went on to find homes in museums and collections from Europe to the United States to Japan.

Most notable of these models are the Apollo, the Italia and the Indra. From there, it was on to California, where Reisner revolutionised the Porsche replicar market with his groundbreaking fibreglass Speedster design, followed by the Roadster RS, which the company continues to produce at its Vancouver, BC, Canada headquarters.

Along the way, Reisner and Intermeccanica dealt with, and in one case sued, the largest automotive manufacturers in the world, all the while maintaining an independent streak and maverick spirit that would come to define the man and his company.

Le ambulanze italiane

Richly illustrated history by rare images of rescue vehicles, from the late nineteenth century to the eighties. 218 photographs that tell the changes in the style and layout of ambulances, both for civil and military use.
From horse-drawn and even hand-drawn carriages to modern "Life-Cars", passing through the creations of the most important Italian coachbuilders.
Some color images show the recently restored vintage ambulances preserved at the Misericordia di Prato.

Text in Italian.