Coachbuilders - Italy: Books - History (2/2)

Touring : Masterpieces of Style

From the early 1930s until the mid-60s, Touring created true works of art. From the Milanese atelier that had in Felice Bianchi Anderloni his deus ex machina appeared a number of models that became authentic icons in the history of the automobile: that was the case with the admirable Flying Star, which was built on an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS rolling chassis and an Isotta Fraschini 8, as were many other Alfas constructed with open and closed bodies in the years that preceded the Second World War.

In that period, Touring brought to life its unforgettable Superleggera, cars of extraordinary fascination and elegance that were always the descendants of in-depth aerodynamic studies.
Their client list became longer from 1947, with other customers, including Ferrari and the iconic 166 barchetta, Maserati with the extraordinary 3500 GT, Aston Martin, Lancia and Lamborghini.
That brilliant trend came to a close in 1966, when Touring was forced to close, only to return 40 years later when the Touring Superleggera returned to spawn a new generation of one-offs.

This books tells the fascinating history of Touring, a name of absolute excellence among the creators of Italian car bodies, through a wealth of illustrations and brief texts.

Vignale : Masterpieces of Style

The Masterpieces of Style series dedicated to the greats of Italian coachbuilding - including Zagato, Pininfarina Touring and Giugiaro - could hardly not have a title devoted to the Turinese atelier founded in 1946 by Alfredo Vignale.

This book covers, model by model, the entire output of an illustrious marque that was at its peak in the Fifties and Sixties when, thanks above all to the extraordinary talent of Giovanni Michelotti, it produced numerous bodies for Ferrari chassis (such as the 166 and 212 Inter, the 250 and the 340 MM), along with diverse Fiats with special versions of the 500 and 600.

Not to forget the various Lancias such as the Appia and the Flavia Convertible and the prolific collaboration with Triumph.

Moretti - Motocicletti, automobili, carrozzerie

Moretti was a big name in Italian motoring history, his activities ranging over several fields for more than sixty years. Moretti built motorcycles and three-wheelers, then worked on electric vehicles during wartime before becoming an important car-manufacturer, the fourth biggest in Italy.

Finally, he was a major coachbuilder and originator of many famous models from the Grand Turismos to the small Midimaxi off-roaders.
This book, the result of a long and deep research, tells all the history of Moretti, illustrating it with a very big picture directory that cover all its production.

Carrozzeria Motto

Rocco Motto was the coachbuilder of several famous cars, often working behind the scenes and due to that was never as famous as he deserved.
Specializing in aluminium work, both before and after WWII he coachbuilt countless sports cars which were raced successfully across Europe and America.
In the 1950s he also built some wonderful granturismos before finally moving to the emerging touring caravan and motorhome industry.
This book tells the full history of Carrozzeria Motto, illustrating it with a wide selection of pictures, often never published before.

Carrozzeria Scioneri

Carrozzeria Scioneri is a great example of the best Italian automotive art. Established during wartime, making the little jobs available by then, specialized later in the "elaborata" cars with fashion visual-tuning, that were a huge commercial success, giving to almost everybody the opportunity of buying a special car, even if often just based on a cheap Fiat model.

Scioneri also made commercial vehicles and sports cars, but thanks to the "elaboratas" the company went ahead until the 90s.
This book, the result of a long and deep research, tells all the history of Carrozzeria Scioneri, illustrating it with a very big picture directory that cover all its production.

Vignale - Ferrari and all the others

Alfredo Vignale was one of the most illustrious names in the Italian art of the carrozzeria. In twenty years he built countless models, from the early Ferraris to series production of Lancia, Fiat and Maserati cars. Coachbuilder, industrialist, collaborator with brands like Cunningham, Opel, Daihatsu, Jensen, Tatra, he covered the whole arc of the Italian coachbuilding industry, from the post-war boom to the crisis years of the 1960s.
This books recounts his whole personal and professional history.

Carrozzeria Viotti

Carrozzeria Viotti has been one of the major representatives of the Italian art of making special car bodies. Founded in 1921, it always combined quality and excellence of craftsmanship with industrial working methods becoming, for a certain period, the largest Italian body-builder.

After the beginning as a luxury manufaturer of special bodies on Fiat, Lancia, Itala and Alfa Romeo chassis, it built standard serier and wonderful sport versions for the two bog Turinn-based firms; in the post-war years, invented the multi-purpose "Giardinetta" concept, helping the restart of Italian special bodies industry. Later it worked as a supplier for Lancia and built granturismos on Fiat chassis.

This book, the result of a long and deep research, tells all the history of Carrozzeria Viotti, illustrating it with a very big picture directory that cover all its production.