Happy Holidays

It's a little late for Merry Christmas so let's just go with a blanket merry happy holidays.

And now for a non-sequitur piece of humour.

Lost In The Shuffle: Trucks

Sports cars, motor cycles, bicycles, planes and even boats get a lot of luck here but trucks not so much despite its own long and rich history on the Italian engineering landscape.

Not surprisingly, the principal manufacturer of trucks in Italy is Fiat (including this one) but there are others including Astra, Tortonesi and Officine Meccaniche and believe it or not Alfa-Romeo with the 430 pictured below:



Alfa-Romeo also built a maxi-yacht.

Lancia is another car maker (they of rally racing fame) who manufactured trucks (and buses and jollybuses). Their first was the Jota in 1915. Lancia dabbled in military vehicles, tractors, boats and concept bikes. One of their chasis was the Esagamma last built in 1973:



For its part, Iveco (owned - including Astra mentioned above - by CNH with headquarters in the UK and Holland) based in Turin is an innovative major manufacture of engines. 

A Bizzarrini Masterpiece: 5300 GT Strada

Giotto Bizzarrini designed this beaut. You can pick one up for about 538 000 EUROS (or about  $800 000 CDN).

Check out the Lancia's in the video. Such a severely under rated car: And criminally under appreciated for their innovations.

Italian Civil Engineering Tested By Venice

Genius went into building Venice and it will take genius to save it.

Although, a good start would be to stop allowing Cruise ships into the Lagoon.

Forgotten People: Michele Besso

Albert Einstein's closest friend and confidante was a compatriot and Swiss/Italian engineer named Michele Besso.

Besso was the only person Einstein worked with when  made his famous discovery.  Besso stood alongside as a capable and competent sounding board for Einstein as he developed the Theory of Relativity. As such, he represented a tremendous help to Einstein. They died one month apart with Einstein passing after.

Fiat Chrysler And Peugeot Merge

Fiat Chrysler merges with Peugeot forming the 4th largest company in the world.

But what does it mean for Italian brands under the Fiat banner - Maserati and Alfa Romeo - in North America?

Time will tell.

Hope those customers who purchased the Stelvio or Giulia don't get, well, screwed.

I myself wanted to join the ranks with an Italian car but feared exactly this possibility of 'cut and run'.

Dario Pegoretti's Art Form

Inside the Bottega of bicycle creativity. 

It's been rumoured the Pinarello Miguel Indurain rode to five Tour de France titles was actually made by Pegoretti.

Shorter Pegoretti:

Am I artist? Maybe. Maybe not? Who knows? Boh.

Lol.

/Begins welding. Splashes paint. 

Italians are mad geniuses. 

Ford V. Ferrari: Lemans

With Ford V. Ferrari out here's a story between the two rivals from the 1965 LeMans race.

Giovanni Michelotti And The Triumph Spitfire

Among the greatest and most prolific car designers in history, Michelotti is the mind behind the legendary Triumph Spitfire which he considered his favourite creation.

And with good reason. The British classic is among the most beloved cars in the canon of world cars.

Michelotti left a massive mark adding to the immeasurable and influential depth of contributions by Italian designers on the auto industry.

Canadian Urban Museum Of Italian Cars

Let's keep this car theme going.

Nice collection of Italian cars held by an Italo-Canadian.

The Timeless Beauty Of Alfa Romeo

A pair of lovely Alfa Romeo cars.





It's a shame a company with such a stunning legacy can't get their sales up in North America.

Part 2 Of Lamborghini Engine Rebuild

She's a beaut I tell ya.

I always get a kick watching English mechanics and engineers work on Italian cars and openly speak about the thought process as they try and figure out the logic of it all.

Removing A Lamborghini Espada V-12 Engine

That's some engine.

Love the styling and design on that car.

Great Italian Ship Engines

Found this website about all things Italy. I was just looking around for themes on motors and engines and stumbled on an article discussing Grandi Motori Trieste building the biggest diesel engine for ships in the world.

A kindred spirit!

The search continues for Italian engineering and scientific prowess.

Olive Mills Help Produce Great Olive Oil

During my quest researching olive mills from Italy, I recently read a story about a Canadian couple producing the first olive oil from Canada. It's a pretty neat story and will be sure to seek it out and give it a taste.

In the meantime, I noticed they purchased an Italian olive mill Pieralisi (and Italian olive varieties) to launch their business. Pieralisi was founded in 1888 and has been an innovator in the industry ever since.

This is the part of the equation never mentioned whenever the discussion of olive oils productions comes up. While Italy is part of several olive producing nations like Spain (the biggest producer), Greece and Turkey, Italy is a leader on the technology and innovation side which translates into world class olive oil. The equipment and technique that goes with it matters.

Another producer is Oliomio.



Image: Pieralisi olive mills.