Fiat 850 Spider Monza by Francis Lombardi

Nod your head if this resonates: you know all manner of Italian automotive brand and personality, from Enzo Ferrari to Marcello Gandini, Carlo Abarth to brothers Maserati.

Then, improbably, an Iso crosses your feed. Perhaps you realize that what you thought was a Fiat X1/9 is, sometimes, a Bertone X1/9. Or that Urbanina and Intermeccanica existed at all.

There’s a moment where you can either feel defeated by not knowing (or wanting to know) about niche Italian cars, turn tail and head back into the Ferrari build configurator. 

Or, you push on and explore the world of weird Italian cars, much like you’d hope to explore the universe of Italian cooking.

If you think shopping for penne is tough at your local grocery store, know that some estimates put the total number of pasta varieties above 1,000, and I believe it.

When I say pasta, I’m not including the multitude of sauces or dishes it could appear in. 

Italian car brands? I shrug and would guess into the hundreds.

Francis Lombardi is among them.

Not ready to take the plunge? Here’s that Ferrari configurator: https://carconfigurator.ferrari.com/