Coachbuilders - Italy: Books - History and Models (1/2)

Encyclopaedia Britalicar: The Story of British Cars & Italian Design

Celebrating the rich, deep partnership between the British car industry and Italian design, this book is packed with coachbuilt cars, design classics and concept cars from the 1920s to the current day. The story starts with the early days of coachbuilt cars on separate chassis from illustrious marques like Bentley, Frazer Nash and Rolls-Royce, which were bodied by such Italian coachbuilders as Pinin Farina, Viotti and Zagato.
After World War Two came the golden era of coachbuilt cars, with Italian companies creating some of the world's most beautiful shapes of all time on chassis from the likes of Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, Bristol, Jaguar, Jowett, MG, Riley and Rover.

Then came the era when Italian carrozzerie morphed into design houses, penning shapes for mass-produced cars like the BMC 1100/1300 and Triumph Herald, and crafting what are widely recognised to be some of the world's most beautiful cars, such as the Aston Martin DB4, AC 428 and Lotus Esprit.
Finally came the era of the 'concept car', with incredible show designs based on British marques such as Jaguars by Bertone, the BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica by Pininfarina and Lotus by Italdesign.
This book reveals the full stories behind the intense, diverse, sometimes surprising and always fascinating links between British cars and Italian design: the characters, the deals, the designs and above all the cars themselves.

British marques included: AC, Armstrong-Siddeley, Aston Martin, Austin, Austin-Healey, Bentley, BL/BLMC/BMC, Bristol, Daimler, DeLorean, Elva, Ferguson, Ford, Frazer Nash, Frisky, Gordon-Keeble, Healey, Hillman, Innocenti, Jaguar, Jensen, Jowett, Lea-Francis, Lola, Lotus, MG, Mini, Morris, Panther, Reliant, Riley, Rolls-Royce, Rover, Singer, Sunbeam, Standard, Triumph, TVR, Vauxhall, Vanden Plas, Wolseley

Italian coachbuilders included: Allemano, Ares, Bertone, Biemme, Boano, Boneschi, Boniolo, Breuer, Casale, Castagna, Cattelan, CECOMP, Coggiola, Drogo, F&F, Fiore, Fissore, Ford Centro Stile, Francis Lombardi, Frua, FT, Garavini, Ghia, Ghia-Aigle, I.DE.A, Indestor, Italdesign, Italsuisse, Michelotti, Monviso, Motto, Opac, OSI, Pilato, Pinin Farina/Pininfarina, Schiaretti, Sibona-Basano, Sports Cars, Stabilimenti Farina, Tjaarda, Touring, Vignale, Viotti, Zagato

Paolo Martin: Visions in Design

NEW

The world of automotive design knows the name of Paolo Martin, who is, no doubt, one of Italy's design greats. Not only has he designed some of the most important milestone cars from the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Fiat 130 Coupé, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo and the Ferrari Modulo, but he has also been the creative mind behind several landmark motorcycle and scooter designs for Benelli, Gilera, Moto Guzzi and Piaggio, as well as several beautiful boats, industrial products, and even a typewriter.
One of Italy's most prolific designers, Paolo Martin writes about his life, his designs, his thinking, and his design philosophy in "Paolo Martin: Visions in Design".

Features:

• One of the world's leading and highly influential automobile designers since the last half century
• First time a book that features all designs by Martin; including cars, two-wheelers, boats, industrial designs, and household products
• Features the design process and thinking behind cars like the Fiat 130 Coupe, the Peugeot 104, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo, and the Rolls-Royce Camargue
• Including several legendary concept cars such as the Pininfarina Dino Berlinetta Competition, the BMC 1800 Aerodynamica and the Ferrari Modulo
• Also, motorcycles and scooters such as the Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans, the Benelli 350 Sport and the 750/6 and the Gilera GSA 50

Tom Tjaarda - Master of Proportions

A design hero for all generations of automotive enthusiasts, American legend Tom Tjaarda's name and fame has been synonymous with the De Tomaso, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, Innocenti and Lancia marques.
Among his many designs are the Pantera, Deauville, Longchamp, the Fiat 124 Spider, the Ferrari 365 California and the Ford Fiesta.

Brought up in Detroit when the American Dream was beating out its rock 'n' roll rhythm, Tjaarda came to live and work in Europe while the cultural revolution was in full swing. He had a ringside seat at the heart of automotive styling activities in the Mecca of vehicle design, Turin, during the most exciting times.

Though Tom Tjaarda may not have been as prolific as others, the American's influence and importance in the history of automotive design, specifically in the second half of the 20th century, is almost unbeaten. With his charming, accessible personality and good humor, he remains one of the most popular design legends of all times.

"Tom Tjaarda: Master of Proportions" is a comprehensive appraisal of the life of a design giant, and features all his automotive, as well as his non-automotive, designs.

Ghia - Masterpieces of Style

Tracing the history of Ghia brings to light models of particularly evocative appeal such as the Fiat 508 Sport Spider (1934), various Alfa Romeo 6C 2500s and the 1900 SS Abarth (1954), not to mention a number of unusual Ferraris from the same decade.
A decade that was of fundamental importance to Ghia that, one after the other, produced a series of opulent cars inspired by the styling canons in vogue in the United States in that period, but also styling exercises such as the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (1955).

The Sixties were no less prolific, with further "classics" such as the Fiat 2300 S (1960), the De Tomaso Mangusta and Pantera (1966 and 1970) and the immortal Ghibli from 1966.
As was the case for other Italian coachbuilders, there followed a period of crisis that saw the Ghia marque change hands on a number of occasions before being acquired by Ford.

Carrozzeria Coriasco

In Italy "Coriasco" is the name given to every light compact truck. Apart from thousands of his most famous Fiat 600 and 850-based commercial vehicles, this coachbuilder also made many more special bodies, from coaches to ambulances, from advertising vehicles to giardinettas, elaborata and even a few sports cars.
This book tells the full history of Carrozzeria Coriasco, illustrating it with a wide selection of pictures, often never published before.

Carrozzeria Allemano Torino

A story, that of Serafino Allemano, which developed fully in the first 15 to 20 years of the immediate post-World War II period, when the most established names of the time, such as Pininfarina or Bertone, were the spearhead of Italian coachbuilding.

Thanks to the collaboration with Giovanni Michelotti and an executive quality of yesteryear, Carrozzeria Allemano was able to secure a leading position in the history of Italian Style; a prestigious atelier from which cars such as the Coupé FIAT 1100 TV, the Maserati 5000 GT, and all the Abarth granturismos of the early 1960s emerged.

They are just some of the many testimonies of the great esteem in which Allemano was held by the most prestigious national and international car manufacturers, one of which, the Japanese Prince, allowed Allemano to achieve a record: to have opened up new opportunities for Italian creativity in the land of the Rising Sun.

La carrosserie italienne, du style au design

L'art de la carrosserie semble naturellement associé à l'Italie. Avec les autres arts appliqués, la carrosserie a réagi aux avatars de l'histoire en croisant parfois les courants artistiques. Nous avons joué avec ces incidences plus ou moins fortuites.
De temps à autre, des dialogues se sont instaurés entre le design et les arts plastiques, de loin en loin, des résonances ont été perceptibles dans l'architecture ou le cinéma.

Ce large panorama embrasse les différentes facettes de la carrosserie italienne, du style au design. L'activité industrielle, avec les productions de série assurées par les constructeurs eux-mêmes ou conçues par des consultants extérieurs. Les carrossiers qui ont réalisé les productions hors série de façon artisanale ou sur une échelle plus industrielle. Les designers et stylistes qui chez les carrossiers ont imaginé des pièces uniques, carrosseries spéciales ou concept-cars.
Cette répartition montre la diversité de la carrosserie italienne, ses flirts avec les arts majeurs et sa place dans la naissance du design industriel.