Isotta-Fraschini is an Italian manufacturing company which produces marine engines and other goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer, while later it turned to the production of marine and aircraft engines as well as other goods.
The firm was named for its founders, Cesare Isotta and Oreste Fraschini, as Società Milanese Automobili Isotta, Fraschini & C., on January 27, 1900. The motto was, "Import, sell, repair cars". Prior to establishing their own company in 1904, Isotta and Fraschini assembled Renaults.
The first automobile bearing this marque featured a four-cylinder engine with an output of 24 hp. The car, driven by Vincenzo Fraschini, appeared in several races. In 1905, Isotta-Fraschini gained notoriety in the Coppa Florio, where they entered aTipo D with an enormous 17.2 liter 100 horsepower (75 kW) engine. For a short time in 1907, Isotta-Fraschini merged with Lorraine-Dietrich. The firm started out making race cars using this same 100 horsepower (75 kW) engine, establishing the company's reputation and gave its name considerable cachet. It was also one of the first cars with four-wheel brakes, following their invention by the Arrol-Johnson Company of Scotland in 1909. They were also among the early pioneers of OHC, with an engine designed by Giustino Cattaneo. In 1924, the Type D was one of the first European cars with an eight-cylinder engine (following the first production straight eight by Rolls-Royce in 1905).
With the growth of the wealthy middle class in North America in the 1920s, Isotta Fraschini marketed deluxe limousines to the new American aristocracy. Early film stars Clara Bow and Rodolfo Valentino drove Isotta Fraschinis. A 1929 Tipo 8A Castagna Transformable is featured in the famous 1950's film Sunset Boulevard and another appears in the 1934 film, "Death Takes a Holiday" with Fredric March.