June 26th, 2009 by admin

Isotta-Fraschini OC 5
Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8
Two of Isotta-Fraschini’s most admired products were the Tipo 8, launched in 1920 and its larger sister the Tipo 8A, launched in 1924. Both these cars were comparable with the most celebrated cars of their period such as Rolls-Royce, Hispano-Suiza and Duesenberg. Isotta-Fraschini was founded in 1900 under the name of Società Milanese d’Automobili Isotta-Fraschini & Compagnia by Cesare Isotta and Vincente, Oreste and Antonio Fraschini. Riccardo Bencetti, Paolo Meda and Ludovico Prinetti were also involved.

Isotta-Fraschini began by representing, in Italy, the Renault with the sigle-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine. Then it cautiously began to build its own cars using French single-cylinder Aster engines. Isotta-Fraschini’s designer was Giuseppe Stefanini who produced a large number of models. In 1905 Stefanini was succeeded by Giustano Cattaneo who was already known for working with Brixia-Zust. Cattaneo was to make Isotta-Fraschini one of the most advanced types of car and gave it a world class stature.
The OC5 and the Tipo 8 are held to be the most typical of Isotta-Fraschini’s vast ragne of products. In 1907 , Isotta-Fraschini approached the Sociéte Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements De Dietrich & Compagnie for help and it bought half their shares. The OC 5’ engine developed 36 bhp and it had a maximum speed of 47 mph. Apart from the single-cylinder with which it began production in 1902, Isotta-Fraschini used an unbroken series of 4-cylinder engines from 1904 until the appearance of the highly celebrated Tipo 8. The engine had overhead valves, developed 80 bhp, magneto ignition and a multi-plate clutch. As the Tipo 8 had a variety of bodywork an exact figure for its overall length cannot be given , but it was about 16 feet 6 inches (5 m). The Tipo itself was fast, with a maximum speed of 87 mph and the 8 A SS and the 8 B could reach speeds of 100 mph.