Isotta-Fraschini, 8A in full flight

Here Crosby portrays one of Italy’s great cars, an Isotta-Fraschini open tourer of the early 1930s — probably a straight-8, 7.3-litre, 120 bhp Tipo 8A.  

This very famous Italian manufacturer started with the partnership of Cesare Isotta and Vincenzo Fraschini in 1899, importing French cars into Italy. But they soon set about building their own cars. The first true Isotta Fraschini appeared in 1903. Production of the cars was surprisingly low, fewer than 1,000 examples being built of the 8A. The factory in Milan was closed down in 1949.