Fragrance house

Isotta Fraschini

Founded in Milan in 1900 as Isotta Fraschini & C. by Cesare Isotta and brothers Vincenzo, Oreste, and Antonio Fraschini, Isotta Fraschini began by importing, repairing, and assembling foreign vehicles before turning to in-house components and adopting the name Isotta Fraschini S.p.A. Milano in 1904. The Tipo 8, introduced in 1919, was the first production road car fitted with an inline-eight engine; its Tipo 8A and 8B versions became the marque’s defining luxury automobiles of the 1920s and 1930s. The Great Depression brought falling demand, and automobile production ended during the 1930s as the company concentrated on aircraft engines. After the war, its attempted conversion to civilian production failed, followed by liquidation and a 1955 merger with Breda Motori. Reorganized as Isotta Fraschini Motori, the surviving industrial business became part of Fincantieri in the late 1980s and is now a subsidiary focused on energy generators and marine, industrial, and military propulsion. Separately, a Milan-based company revived the automotive marque with the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione in February 2023, presenting it as a return to car manufacture and endurance racing.