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Beginning with Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo at the dawn of the 20th century, and continuing with Ferrari and Lamborghini after World War II, Italian cars have always projected a strong sense of style, accompanied by either not enough or an...
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Beginning with Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo at the dawn of the 20th century, and continuing with Ferrari and Lamborghini after World War II, Italian cars have always projected a strong sense of style, accompanied by either not enough or an abundance of power under the hood. The Italian automotive industry may not have started with Giovanni Agnelli, who co-founded Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino (the initials in Fiat) in 1899, but Agnelli is easily its most recognized early figure. The first Fiats were designed by Aristide Faccioli. Of these, the earliest 4- and 6-horsepower buggies were essentially motorized sofas on wheels, with retractable covers that resembled the tops of Victorian Era baby carriages. Subsequent Fiats manufactured before World War I were more substantial, featuring two rows of seats, a proper roof, and enough horsepower to transport a family. Things got more interesting in the 1920 when Fiat released a number of 500-series cars, including the 12-cyclinder 520, which was designed to give British luxury car manufacturers like Bentley and Rolls-R0yce a run for their money. During the 1930s, Fiat outsourced the production of many of its automobiles to Poland, Germany, and France, including the 508 Balilla and the 518 Ardita. A key exception was the Fiat 500 Topolino, whose name, translated as "little mouse," befitted its diminutive size. Subsequent 500s and 600s produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s were even smaller. At the other end of the style-power spectrum are Ferrari and Lamborghini, which were founded in 1947 and 1963, respectively. While Enzo Ferrari made sports cars for the public to fund his passion for building race cars, Ferruccio Lamborghini was initially focused on grand-touring cars, as seen in the 350 GT and 400 GT, manufactured from 1964 to 1968. Those vehicles were hardly slouches when it came to speed, each capable of reaching in excess of 150 miles per hour, but they were left in the dust by the Miura of...
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