The former Hollywood limo manufacturer aiming to star in the WEC

By:

Gary Watkins

Aug 14, 2023, 12:49 PM

An Isotta Fraschini-branded Hypercar will race in the WEC next year. The ambition for this revival of a historic name is to be nothing less than a credible player, as evidenced by its respected network of technical partners

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A new name will join the Hypercar grid in the World Endurance Championship next year, and you probably hadn’t even heard of it until quite recently. Unless, that is, you are a cinema aficionado.

There hasn’t been an Isotta Fraschini road car built since the early 1950s, but its luxury limousines were once commonplace in Hollywood, on screen and off. One featured in the 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard and they were also the transport of choice of the likes of silent movie star Rudolph Valentino in the 1920s.

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Gary Watkins

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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.