Giovanni Michelotti was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland after the merger of Leyland and BMC.
Pietro Frua was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s.
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. Many iconic car models, such as the Ferrari 250 GT, Jaguar E-Type, and Aston Martin DB5, are considered classic examples of gran turismo cars.
Zagato is a coachbuilding company. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy.
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe. The former company Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale was an Italian automobile coachbuilder established in 1948 at Via Cigliano, Turin, by Alfredo Vignale (1913–69). After its founder's death in 1969, Carrozzeria Vignale was acquired by De Tomaso. The studio ceased operation in 1973, but ownership of the name was taken over by Ford Motor Company.
Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is an Italian automobile coachbuilder. Originally established in Milan in 1925, Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera construction methods. The business folded in 1966. In 2006 its brands and trademarks were purchased and a new firm was established nearby to provide automotive design, engineering, coachbuilding, homologation services, non-automotive industrial design, and restoration of historic vehicles.
The Ferrari 166 S was a sports racing car built by Ferrari between 1948 and 1953, an evolution of its Colombo V12-powered 125 S racer. It was adapted into a sports car for the street in the form of the 166 Inter.
The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are characterized by their use of a 3.0 L (2,953 cc) Colombo V12 engine designed by Gioacchino Colombo. They were replaced by the 275 and 330 series cars.
The Maserati Coupé and Spyder are a series of grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater convertible models, respectively. The design of both models was based on the preceding 3200 GT, which was not sold in the US. Due to the confusing nature of the names "Maserati Coupé" and "Maserati Spyder" the Coupé and Spyder are both commonly referred to as the 4200 GT, which is an evolution of the prior model name and a reference to the increase in engine displacement from 3.2 L (3,217 cc) to 4.2 L (4,244 cc).
The Maserati 3500 GT and the Maserati 3500 GT Spyder are 2-door coupé and convertible grand tourers made by Italian car manufacturer Maserati between 1957 and 1964. It was a seminal vehicle for Maserati as the company's first successful attempt at the Gran Turismo market and series production.
The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race, and sports cars produced between 1927 and 1954 by Alfa Romeo; the "6C" name refers to the six cylinders of the car's straight-six engine. Bodies for these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring Superleggera, Castagna, and Pinin Farina. Beginning in 1933 there was also a 6C version with an Alfa factory body, built in Portello. In the early 1920s Vittorio Jano received a commission to create a lightweight, high performance vehicle to replace the Giuseppe Merosi designed RL and RM models. The car was introduced in April 1925 at the Salone dell' Automobile di Milano as the 6C 1500. It was based on Alfa's P2 Grand Prix car, using a single overhead cam 1,487 cc in-line six-cylinder engine, producing 44 horsepower. In 1928 the 1500 Sport was presented, which was the first Alfa Romeo road car with double overhead camshafts.
The Turin Motor Show was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1938 having shared it with Milan and Rome until that time. From 1972, the show was held biannually and in 1984, it moved into Fiat's shuttered Lingotto factory.
Aldo Brovarone was an Italian automobile designer and the chief stylist with Carrozzeria Pininfarina (1974-1988) – widely known for a prominent range of work including the Dino 206 GT, Lancia Gamma Coupé and the Peugeot 504 (sedan).
The Fiat-Abarth 750 is a compact sporting series of automobiles manufactured by the Italian manufacturing firm Abarth & C. of Turin, Italy in the 1950s and 1960s. The cars used the floorpan and often the bodywork of the Fiat 600 but were fitted with Abarth's modified engines. Abarth also offered a number of bodyworks by other designers for the 750 and its derivatives, most famously Zagato but also Allemano and others.
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este is a Concours d'Elegance event in Italy for classic and vintage cars. It takes place annually near the Villa d'Este hotel in Cernobbio, on the western shore of Lake Como in northern Italy. Since 2011, the event has taken place in the second half of May.
The Fiat Pininfarina Cabriolet was a two-door, two passenger, front engine rear drive convertible manufactured by Pinin Farina, and marketed by Fiat across two generations, superseding the Fiat 1200 Spider.
The Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder is a prestige sports car developed by the Italian car manufacturer Ferrari. It is presented by the brand as Ferrari 250 Gran Turismo Spyder California or simply Ferrari 250 California. Its name is sometimes incorrectly written Spider instead of 'Spyder' which indicates it is similar to a convertible. It was designed by Pinin Farina and bodied by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Starring in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it became one of the most popular Ferraris.
The Ferrari 250 GT Coupé represented a series of road-going, grand touring cars produced by Ferrari between 1954 and 1960. Presented at the 1954 Paris Motor Show, the 250 Europa GT was the first in the GT-lineage. The design by Pinin Farina was seen as a more civilised version of their sporty Berlinetta 250 MM. Series built cars were an answer to the wealthy clientele demands of a sporty and luxurious Ferrari Gran Turismo, that is also easier to use daily.
The Maserati 150 GT was a prototype sports car produced by Maserati in 1957. Derived from the four-cylinder Maserati 150S race car, it was a singular road-going example, and was given spyder bodywork.
The OSCA MT4, also spelled the O.S.C.A. MT4 or Osca MT4, is an Italian sports car prototype, designed, developed, and made by Officine Specializzata Costruzioni Automobili, between 1948 and 1956, but was raced and used in active competition until 1966.
