Italians were among the pioneers in the motor industry, making significant contributions throughout the history of the automobile. It has been said that the automobile was born in Germany, had its adolescence in France and reached adulthood in the United States. Similarly, Italy's contributions in terms of design, style, elegance and technical innovation are recognized all over the world. This was true yesterday as it is today, and as it will be tomorrow

This volume traces through more than 150 years of Italian automotive history. A history made, above all, by men who have put creativity, hard work, inspiration, ingenuity, and tenacity to use in developing their ideas and in giving form to this revolutionary instrument of human mobility, a symbol of liberty that even today represents a factor of the progress and wealth of a country.

The evolution of this means of transport can be divided into multiple stages: from the first internal combustion engine to Carlo Menon's diminutive Rebus of the late 1800s; from the first races to the World War I period, on to the fantastic 1920s, when Italy was realizing four-wheeled masterpieces that were envied and demanded all around the world.

And then, the last conflict, the reconstruction, the economic boom, the mass motorization, the unforgettable "Dolce Vita," the dark years of the oil crisis, the international competition during the 1980s and 1990s, and the challenges of the new century: those of containing emissions, optimizing dimensions, reducing consumption.

All under the banner of "Made in Italy," unique and inimitable, with its creation of unforgettable models making automotive history and marking the social life of the nation: the Topolino, the 500, the Panda, the Lancia Lambda and Fulvia, the Alfa Romeo Duetto and Giulietta, the Ferrari Testarossa, and so on, up to the most recent creations of the Third Millennium.

But also automobiles to make people dream, exalted in this volume through spectacular images: the Ferrari 250 GTO, the Maserati 3500GT and Miura, the Lamborghini Countach and Diablo, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and Montreal, the Lancia B24 and Stratos, all the way up to the recent Dream Cars, like the Ferrari FF and F12 Berlinetta, or like the Quattroporte and the Gran Coupe, and the latest high-performance evolutions of the "Lambo": the Murcielago, the Gallardo, or the extreme Aventador.