Encyclopaedia Britalicar: The Story of British Cars & Italian Design

This book explores the fascinating relationship between the British car industry and Italian design, featuring coachbuilt cars, design classics, and concept cars from the 1920s to the present day. It highlights the collaboration between British and Italian coachbuilders, showcasing the beautiful shapes created for iconic British marques such as Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Lotus. The book also reveals the stories behind the collaborations and the individuals involved, providing a unique insight into the world of automotive design.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 304 pages
\n Publication date: 30 July 2021
\n Publisher: Quiller Print
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Celebrating the rich, deep partnership between the British car industry and Italian design, this book is packed with coachbuilt cars, design classics, and concept cars from the 1920s to the current day. The story starts with the early days of coachbuilt cars on separate chassis from illustrious marques like Bentley, Frazer Nash, and Rolls-Royce, which were bodied by such Italian coachbuilders as Pinin Farina, Viotti, and Zagato. After World War Two came the golden era of coachbuilt cars, with Italian companies creating some of the world's most beautiful shapes of all time on chassis from the likes of Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, Bristol, Jaguar, Jowett, MG, Riley, and Rover. Then came the era when Italian carrozzerie morphed into design houses, penning shapes for mass-produced cars like the BMC 1100/1300 and Triumph Herald, and crafting what are widely recognized to be some of the world's most beautiful cars, such as the Aston Martin DB4, AC 428, and Lotus Esprit. Finally came the era of the 'concept car, with incredible show designs based on British marques such as Jaguars by Bertone, the BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica by Pininfarina, and Lotus by Italdesign. This book reveals the full stories behind the intense, diverse, sometimes surprising, and always fascinating links between British cars and Italian design: the characters, the deals, the designs, and above all the cars themselves. Over 40 British marques are included, from AC to Wolseley, and from major names like Jaguar down to smaller operations such as Jensen, TVR, Elva, and Gordon-Keeble. These are matched by more than 40 Italian carrozzerie, from Allemano to Zagato. As well as major collaborations – such as Pininfarina and BMC, Michelotti and Triumph, Touring and Aston Martin – myriad never-before-told stories of small operators really make this book a must-read for anyone with an interest in the history of automotive design.

\n Weight: 1742g\n
Dimension: 253 x 291 x 27 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780992665135\n \n