Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 Landau Farina

Vehicle Overview

The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 Landau, chassis 1032, bodied in 1927 by Stabilimenti Farina, was an automobile steeped in nobility, artistry, and quiet rebellion. Commissioned by Francesco “Franz” Conelli de’ Prosperi, the car was more than transportation—it was a personal crest in motion, carrying the lineage of Piedmontese grandeur and the soul of a man torn between aristocracy and adrenaline. Franz Conelli was the eldest son of Carlo, a diplomat from one of Piemonte’s noble families, and Anna Bracorens de Savoiroux. The Conellis were known not just for their name, but for their holdings: a celebrated palace in Turin and vast Sardinian estates. Among their ancestors was a 19th-century Italian senator—a legacy of influence that echoed in corridors of both politics and privilege. Franz, raised with four sisters and a younger brother, Carlo Alberto—better known as Caberto—was heir to both tradition and expectation. Yet Franz chose water and wheels over courtly comforts. A talented motorboat racer, he made his debut in the 1912 and 1913 *oupe des Nations off the coast of Monaco, piloting the Fiat-engined “Sciata*” a sleek machine built by Cantieri Taroni. After surviving the turmoil of the Great War, he returned to racing on Lake Garda in 1920, then shifted to automobiles. In 1922, at the wheel of a Ballot, he conquered the Parma–Poggio di Berceto hillclimb and later placed second at the Gran Premio d’Autunno in Monza, just behind André Dubonnet. Franz was more than just a racer—he was a patron of innovation. In 1924, alongside Caberto, he helped finance a 1.5-litre voiturette project for Itala, designed by Giulio Cesare Cappa, one of Italy’s great automotive minds. But by 1925, Franz quietly stepped back from the circuits, turning his focus to the stewardship of his family’s legacy. The Isotta Fraschini he commissioned in 1927 was a fitting swan song: elegant, understated, but unmistakably powerful—just like the man himself. It whispered of regattas and roaring engines, of Turin salons and Sardinian sun, a life lived fast, but never without grace.