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Heavenly Body
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1930 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Flying Star Roadster. Photo: Casey Annis
Roadcar Articles

Heavenly Body

 John Nikas

Billed as “The Aristocrat of the Automobiles,” the vehicles produced by the Fabbrica Automobili Isotta Fraschini were owned by some of the most exclusive clientele ever boasted by one marque: movie stars like Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino, athletes like Jack Dempsey, magnates like William Randolph Hearst and all manner of royalty including a King and Queen, an Empress, scores of princes and princesses, several maharajahs, countless dukes, duchesses, barons, counts and viscounts, the Aga Khan, Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI.

An Isotta Fraschini was the favored carriage of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and was among the first manufacturers to adapt four-wheel brakes (1910) and straight-eight power (1920) along with other technical advancements.  Notwithstanding these achievements, the marque failed, like so many others, to weather the Great Depression and survives now as a purveyor of luxury goods and builder of marine engines. For a time, however, Isotta Fraschini was the undisputed jewel in the luxury automobile crown, beset amongst other gems from Hispano-Suiza, Mercedes-Benz, Minerva and Rolls-Royce.

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John Nikas
Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.
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