Lancia Aurelia B20 GT: the car that invented the modern Grand Tourer Here’s the question almost nobody answers correctly. What was the first modern Grand Tourer in history? The category currently occupied by the Aston Martin DB12, the Bentley Continental, the Ferrari Roma, the Maserati GranTurismo. The big, fast, elegant car that can cross Europe … Read more
Vincenzo Lancia: the racing driver who became a manufacturer and refused to let his cars race Here’s a paradox that almost never gets told and that defines this man better than anything else. Vincenzo Lancia, before he turned thirty, was arguably the fastest racing driver in Italy. He drove for Fiat. He racked up podiums … Read more
Antonio Ascari: The European Champion the Sport Killed Before He Could Lift the Crown Let me start with the coincidence, because there isn’t another way to start. Two men dead at age 36. Both on the 26th day of the month. Both four days after surviving a serious accident. Both at the exit of a … Read more
Giuseppe Merosi: The Engineer Who Drew Alfa Before Jano, and Whom Nobody Mentions Ask any motoring enthusiast for the key engineer in Alfa Romeo’s history and they’ll say Vittorio Jano. Press them for the next generation and you’ll get Orazio Satta Puliga or Giuseppe Busso. Press harder, you might get Carlo Chiti of Autodelta. What … Read more
Vittorio Jano: the engineer who designed the engines that won for Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Ferrari, and whom almost nobody remembers Here’s a question. If you walked into Goodwood next summer, stopped any ten people in the paddock, and asked them to name the most influential engine designer in the history of Italian motorsport, what … Read more
Lancia: the brand that invented half the modern car and ended up selling Ypsilons in Italy There’s a question Chris Harris has asked, more than once, on camera. It goes something like this: which manufacturer, when you really dig into the history books, turns out to have invented more of the modern car than any … Read more
The Man Who Saved Alfa Without Loving Cars: Nicola Romeo Most car brands that survive a century get a fairy tale stitched onto their origin story. There’s always a founder with petrol in his veins, a workshop epiphany, a sketch on a napkin. Henry Ford watching the Model T roll out the door. Frederick Henry … Read more
