The mighty
Itala, another brand that was once glorious. The Fabbrica Automobili Itala was founded in Turin in 1904 by Matteo Ceirano. He aspired to greater things, luxury, racing – and as early as 1907, Itala became world famous when Count Borghese and his co-driver Ettore Guizzardi won the Peking to Paris endurance race. But it was also an example of really good publicity: Luigi Barzini, a reporter from the Corriere della Sera, also drove the Itala, reporting live from the race, so to speak, and publishing a book a year later that was translated into many languages. The Italians drove an Itala 35/45, 7.4-litre displacement, 45 hp.
But today we want to present a completely different monster, the 120 HP. This was a racing car, four cylinders, 14.4 litres displacement, an impressive 120 hp. The first owner was probably the Frenchman Henri Fournier, but not much is known about its racing history. However, we do know that Henry Segrave, who later became famous as a record-breaker, bought the Itala in 1916 when he was just 20 years old. He used the 1907 racing car as a daily driver, as the British like to say. A year later, however, he sold the car after it had crashed into and destroyed a taxi in London. So the Itala came to Australia, to the O’Reilly family, who kept it until 1960. Tony Hulman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum was able to buy the vehicle in 1965, after which it was restored with some imagination. And will now be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in Miami in 2025, with an expected $2-3 million.
Before the First World War, Itala was one of the most popular brands among European royalty. After that, things initially improved, and in 1923 the Italians were able to sell more than 1,000 vehicles. However, that was also the peak, and in 1929 the brand was sold to a truck manufacturer. In 1934, Fiat bought what was left of the company. We have more beautiful pre-war classics in our archives.
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