Itala Tipo 50 History

When peacetime production resumed after the First World War, Itala returned with the Tipo 50 25/35 HP — a conservative but solid machine designed by engineer Alberto Orasi. Its 2,813 cc side-valve four-cylinder with a fixed head and monobloc casting was a clean, purpose-built design rather than a direct copy of a pre-war model.

The Tipo 50 ran a 3,185 mm wheelbase, weighed around 1,050 kg bare, and reached a maximum speed of approximately 80 km/h. Its list price of 38,000 lire in 1922 placed it firmly in the middle of the Italian luxury market. Production ran from 1919 to 1926 with coachwork supplied by a range of Italian carrozzerie including Garavini.

The Tipo 50 was a commercial moderate success but could not compensate for the heavy losses Itala had incurred building aero engines during the war — a venture that permanently damaged the company's balance sheet and set it on the path toward insolvency.