Isotta Fraschini model 8B: cars beyond legend

This luxurious car, kept at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, is the “coupé de ville“, which appears in the well-known Billy Wilder film of 1950, played by Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim. This is a great movie from the American cinema, which won three Oscars and eight Nominations in 1951. The dramatic story is set in Los Angeles during the 30s, and precisely at the Sunset Boulevard, which became very famous after this movie.  The Isotta Fraschini model 8A was the most popular car among the rich and the celebrities during those years of the 20th century and it was sold especially in the United States. This is one of the reasons why the director chose it to reproduce the atmosphere of the “crazy“ years of the Hollywood’s divism on the set, where the main character, Norma Desmond, moves in a superb way. She is an ex star of the silent movies industry, now forgotten, through which Gloria Swanson interprets herself. Luxury cars and beautiful women have always been a winning couple. We would like to point out that the old Gabriele D’Annunzio bought the Isotta Fraschini, kept at the Vittoriale, to give a ride to his last lover. The body shop CASTAGNA, a Milanese company established in 1849 as a horse-drawn carriages maker for arisocratic and royal customers, cooperates from the beginning with the first  most prestigious car manufacturers. The Isotta Fraschini coupé de ville was one of its successes, and in 1919 it became the first italian body shop with an international relevance. With the shutdown of the prestigious car company, after the American market collapse in 1929, the CASTAGNA company was affected as well. In 1929 the Isotta Fraschini model 8A won the golden cup at the Grand Prize Villa d’Este. Today the Castagna body shop continues the prestigious craft tradition, customizing the standard cars for demanding customers, who want their cars to be elegant and unique as if they were high-end dresses.