| Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Isotta Fraschini |
| Production | 1919–1924 1,380 produced (all Tipo 8 variants) [1] |
| Assembly | Milan, Italy |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Luxury car |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | ohv 5,902 cc (360.2 cu in) straight-8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed manual 4-speed manual in late models [2] |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A |
The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 is an Italian luxury car made by Italian manufacturer Isotta Fraschini between 1919 and 1924.
The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 is an automobile introduced in 1919 by Isotta Fraschini, a company which underwent a complete change after World War I. Until that time building a wide variety of models, the company adopted a single-series policy. Like many high end vehicles of the day, the car came from Isotta Fraschini as a chassis only. Bodies were typically from Italy's top-tier coachbuilders, Carrozzeria Castagna and Cesare Sala, but other European and American coachbuilding firms lent their hands to the task of supplying bodies. It was the first serial produced car in the world to be equipped with a straight-8 engine. [3] With this car the company gained great name and success as a luxury car manufacturer. The main rival of the car was Rolls-Royce. [1] The Tipo 8 was offered only with bare chassis and engine for the coachbuilders. [4]
The Tipo 8's 5.9-liter overhead valve, overhead cam, was the first inline 8 engine offered in a production car. Initially producing 80 bhp (60 kW) and soon raised to 90 bhp (67 kW). [1] There was no exterior intake manifold, instead the twin carburetors attached directly to the block. Transmissions were three-speed manual. The car had top speed of around 85 mph (137 km/h) to 90 mph (140 km/h).
The Tipo 8 and its revolutionary straight-8 engine were the basis for its successors, the Tipo 8A and Tipo 8B.
The straight-eight engine or inline-eight engine is an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine with all eight cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The type has been produced in side-valve, IOE, overhead-valve, sleeve-valve, and overhead-cam configurations.
Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq London's subsidiary Automobiles Talbot France in 1936.
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Isotta Fraschini is an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 1955 it was merged with engine manufacturer Breda Motori and renamed F.A. Isotta Fraschini e Motori Breda.
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The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A is a luxury car made by the Italian manufacturer Isotta Fraschini from 1924 until 1931. It was the successor to the Tipo 8 model, with a new 7.3-litre straight-eight engine to replace the 5.9-litre unit used in the previous model. This new engine could produce 115–160 metric horsepower (85–118 kW). This was the most powerful mass-produced straight-8 engine in the world at that time. The Tipo 8A was offered only with bare chassis and engine for the coachbuilders.
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