The Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye Spider was a comprehensively re-developed version of the famous little Italian roadster designed to race in the Group 4 division of the World Rally Championship. Abarth is an Italian tuning house known for sometimes outlandish cars, built with an almost Machiavellian eye for performance above all else. Fiat took over…
This feature was written by James Hilton, the proprietor of Death Machines of London. When possible we like to give custom builders the opportunity to tell the story of their bike, to give an insight into their thought process and methodology. – Designed in memory of Giovanni Ravelli: WW1 fighter pilot, motorcycle racer, and one of…
A Brief Early History of Alfa Romeo Despite its reputation for being quintessentially Italian, Alfa Romeo was actually founded by a Frenchman named Alexandre Darracq. At one point just after the turn of the 20th century, Darracq’s companies were building 10% of all cars being manufactured in the world – not bad for a guy…
The FIAT S61 was astonishingly advanced for its time, it was designed and built in 1908 with a 10 litre (589 cubic inch), 4-cylinder engine, a single overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder, 4 spark plugs per cylinder, and approximately 130 bhp. Just five were built in 1908 for the FIAT Racing Team, and some…
The new Dainese Rapida72 is a leather motorcycle jacket designed in the style of the two-piece leathers worn by moto racers in the 1970s. The “72” in the name is a reference to 1972 – the year the Italian company was founded by the then 20 year old Lino Dainese in Molvena. Dainese have introduced…
I have a bit of a soft spot for the Intermeccanica Italia Spyder. It has just the right blend of heritage and mongrel DNA, with a fascinating past and styling that doesn’t look a whisker out of place next to its considerably more expensive Italian brethren. THE STORY OF INTERMECCANICA Intermeccanica was founded by a…
This article was written by the talented team at Ellaspede. Often the case with stock motorcycles, the best examples of each are usually those released in the final year of the model’s run. John’s 1974 Ducati 450 Desmo Mk 3 is one such example. With the superb 450 Desmo single engine, classic Italian looks and…
The MV Agusta 750S America is a motorcycle that was built to fulfill a request from Chris Garville and Jim Cotherman of Commerce Overseas Corporation – the primary US importer of MV Augusta motorcycles in the 1970s.
The Piaggio Ape was designed on the platform of the iconic Vespa scooter – “Vespa” meaning “wasp” in Italian, a reference to the side profile of the scooter with its bulbous rear, narrow waist, and handlebars that some say look like antenna. The Humble Vespa In many respects, the Vespa was to the post-WWII Italians…
There are few cars more handsome than the Dino. Along with classics like the E-Type it’s one of the most commonly referenced vehicles when you ask people to name the most beautiful car of all time. And for good reason. Of all the Dinos that were built, the “Chairs & Flares” variants are amongst the most…
The Lamborghini LM 002 was the first production 4×4 built by the Italian supercar (and tractor) builder, it was based on their 1977 Cheetah 4×4 prototype which had been intended for military use – with a rear mounted Chrysler V8. It’s not known how well-formed the plan was for a Lamborghini-badged military vehicle, although it’s clear that enough progress was made that the Cheetah was demonstrated for the US military.
The Espada was developed as an ideal Italian grand touring car with 4 seats and performance to match or exceed most of the sports cars of the time. The unusual body of the Espada was penned by the great Marcello Gandini, the same man who designed the Lamborghini Countach and later the Lamborghini Diablo.
