Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B

Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B
Overview
Manufacturer	Isotta Fraschini
Production	1931-1934
Assembly	Milan, Italy
Body and chassis
Class	Luxury car
Layout	FR layout
Powertrain
Engine	7.4-liter OHV OHC straight-8
Transmission	3-speed manual 4-speed Wilson pre-selective manual
Dimensions
Curb weight	6000 lb.
Chronology
Predecessor	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A
Successor	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8C Monterosa

Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B "No Two Alike" American ad

The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B is an Italian luxury car made between 1931 to 1934.

History

In spring 1931 the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A was replaced by the Tipo 8B. The U.S. price for a bare Tipo 8B chassis was nearly $10,000 (about $144,750 in 2014 dollars, or over $1000 more than a 1931 V-16 Cadillac).^[1] Unfortunately, due to the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that caused the Great Depression in the United States, there was't much of a market for such a car. The pool of wealthy Americans who had been good customers for earlier Isotta Fraschinis had dried up. Count Lodovico Mazzotti, who took over after Isotta and Fraschini left the firm in 1922, had been negotiating a manufacturing deal in 1930-1931 with Henry Ford that could have saved the company's car production; however, Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party were in control of Italy's commerce and industry and, intent on keeping Isotta Fraschini focused on building aircraft engines for Italy's military and opposing foreign investment, prohibited all further talks with the Americans.

End of Car Production

Engineer Giustino Cattaneo, Isotta Fraschini's technical director since 1905 and the driving force behind the company becoming a world-class car manufacturer, resigned in 1933. Six months later, in the summer of 1934, the last Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B left the assembly line. It would be 13 years before the firm would attempt to put another car, the more modern Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8C Monterosa, into production.

Even before the depression, Isotta Fraschini only constructed about 100 cars a year. There is no certainty on the number of Tipo 8Bs built; 30 are confirmed,^[1] but some sources report that 82 were produced.^[2][3]

Drivetrain

The pistons, the connecting rods, and the engine block of the Tipo 8B's 7.4-liter overhead valve, overhead cam, inline 8 were made of a new nickel-steel alloy. Output increased to 160 bhp (120 kW) at 3000 rpm. Isotta Fraschini offered two transmissions, a three-speed manual transmission remained standard equipment, and a four-speed Wilson pre-selective manual transmission could now be ordered.

Legacy

8B owners included the Aga Khan III, William Randolph Hearst, Rudolph Valentino and Pope Pius XI. Today, only three 8Bs are known to exist. One is featured in the 1974 Denmark film "I Tyrens tegn" (Sign of the Taurus).

Sunset Boulevard

A landaulet example of the car is featured in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard as the car of lead character Norma Desmond, a forgotten silent movie star who in the film says "...we have a car. Not one of those cheap things made of chromium and spit but Isotta Fraschini. Have you ever heard of Isotta Fraschini? All hand-made. It cost me twenty eight thousand dollars." William Holden as Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenwriter said, telling the story, "The whole thing was upholstered in leopard skin and had one of those car phones. All gold-plated." The maroon 1931 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8B Viggo Jensen Cabriolet d'Orsay with maroon leather and ostrich skin upholstery and maroon soft top that appeared in the movie "Sunset Boulevard" went on to be the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Best of Show winner. The right-hand-drive car, which is chassis No. 869 and engine No. 821, was sold at auction to an American private collector for $1,382,500, the highest price of that sale.^[4]

Notes