This company was founded in 1906 and would be an independent make till 1969 when it become part of Fiat’s Automotive Empire. It was founded by an automotive engineer and an ex-fiat race car driver. One of its founders and name sake would die in 1937 from a heart attack and the company would be run by his wife and son. In 1938 after negotiations they persuaded famous engineer Vittorio Jano to join the company.  They would be the makers of many firsts in Europe such as a full electrical system and starter in 1913 and a 5 speed manual transmission in 1948. Always marketed as an upscale mode of transportation it would compete directly with Ferrari and Maserati. Other innovations would include the “monocoque type body in 1922 and the first production V6 in 1950. After being gobbled up by Fiat in 1969 alot of the independant spirit and innovation would leave the company. Still they would at time march to different drummer than parent company Fiat creating some of the more charming and crisp driving cars of the 1970′ and 1980′s. The featured 1981 car is based on a sedan. Its factory custom body was made by a famous Italian coach builder. It unique “Targa Roof” could be folded into eight different configurations. Powered by a fuel injected 2.0 liter four cylinder engine it had dual overhead cams. Due to cleaver engineering it had an almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution, years before Porsche had it with the 944. Only 791 were built.“What Auto is This??”