Lovers of classic films may remember the 1929 Isotta Fraschini 8A laudaulet which appeared in Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" in 1950. In a way, the car was one of the stars of the movie...
In it, fading silent film star Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson) and screen writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) are chauffeured around Hollywood by servant Max (Eric von Stroheim)* while they plan Norma's return to the big screen.
When Norma finally gets a call from the studio, she imagines this is the moment for her big comeback. But she is sadly mistaken; the film producers just want to borrow her Isotta for some scenes calling for a Roaring Twenties car.
The Isotta 8A and 8B were, like Norma Desmond, stars in the grand manner, with custom coachwork built to order on an imposing chassis powered by an overhead cam inline eight cylinder engine. Styles included the elegant Flying Star below, which was built by Superleggera Touring on the 8A and 8B chassis. This was in 1931; three years before the Mussolini government would force Isotta to abandon a potential manufacturing agreement with Ford, and turn its attention from car manufacturing to military contracts.
Like Norma Desmond, Isotta Fraschini wanted to recapture the glory days of the Twenties and early Thirties. During the war years, Isotta engineer Fabio Luigi Rapi encountered the advanced, rear engined lightweight V8s designed by Hans Ledwinka for the Czech Tatra firm (featured in our post "A Word or Two on VW" from Nov. 27, 2015). When Rapi announced plans for a design to relaunch Isotta's car business in the postwar period, the designation "8C" gave the impression that it might be, like many postwar cars, just a warmed-over version of the prewar 8B. Instead, it owed far more to the Tatra than to any previous Isotta. Maybe for this reason, it was also given the name "Monterosa." The first, somewhat clumsy prototype by Zagato featured side-mounted radiators to cool the rear-mounted V8…
Zagato's second prototype, with a conventional front-mounted radiator, was less slab-sided and more harmonious, and Isotta Fraschini announced its return to car manufacture with an exhibit at the Paris Show in October 1947...
But Superleggera Touring created the most balanced and coherent bodywork for the new chassis, in both coupe and sedan form. The roofline and subtly integrated fender forms reflect some of the work produced by Touring for Alfa Romeo during this era by designer Felice Bianchi Anderloni.
The front-mounted radiator, while a bit too square, combined with the balanced massing to give little hint of the engine location.
The 3.4 liter ohc V8, gearbox and differential were assembled of light alloy castings into a single unit which fit neatly behind the passenger cabin. Output was 125 hp.
But the dream of production faded when Isotta was denied production financing; no more than 6 prototypes had been built. The old firm declared bankruptcy in 1949, the year before "Sunset Boulevard." Ironically, the movie was so successful that it might have done for Isotta Fraschini what "Goldfinger" did a decade and a half later for Aston Martin.
*Footnote: Another irony is that Erich von Stroheim didn't know how to drive, and so in the driving scenes the grand old car suffered the indignity of being towed down the street.
Photo Credits:
Isotta Fraschini 8A: Paramount Pictures, reprinted on coachbuild.com
"Sunset Boulevard" Actors inside Isotta: Paramount Pictures on pinterest.com
Isotta 8A at movie studio: Paramount Pictures, reprinted on imcdb.org
Isotta 8A Flying Star: Superleggera Touring, reprinted in prewarcar.com
Isotta 8C Zagato prototype: Carrozzeria Zagato
Isotta 8C Zagato 2nd prototype: Carrozzeria Zagato
Isotta 8C Monterosa Touring coupe: classiccarcatalogue.com
Isotta 8C Touring sedan: autos.howstuffworks.com
Isotta 8C engine: woiweb.com
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