| Isotta Fraschini Tipo KM | |
| Manufacturer: | Isotta Fraschini |
| Assembly: | Milan, Italy |
| Production: | 1910-1914 |
| Class: | Luxury car |
| Engine: | 10.6-liter OHC I4 |
| Layout: | FR layout |
The Isotta Fraschini Tipo KM is a luxury car produced between 1910 and 1914 in Italy. Only 50 were built.[1] Many of those 50 examples were exported to the United States, where the company had a branch on New York's Broadway.
The KM was introduced in Paris in 1910. It was one of the most powerful cars at that time. It has a 10.6 litre engine, with power transferred via chain. It has brakes on all four wheels, and a system developed by Oreste Fraschini allows for using front or rear brakes individually.
There were two engine options -Italian 100/120 hp or American 140 hp, top speed 130 km/h or 160 km/h with the American option being more powerful.
The engine was an advanced single overhead camshaft four, benefiting company's experience in the new technology of aeroengine design and manufacture, with bi-block cylinders, four big valves per cylinder and lightweight construction. The engine of the Tipo KM, developed 1200NaN0 at 1600 rpm, had a bore and stroke of 130 x2 00mm (5.12x7.87 in), liberally-drilled pistons of the finest BND Derihon steel that weighed less than 32 ounces (907 grams) and tubular BND conrods 16inches long that tipped the scales at just 7 lb (3,1 kg).[2]
Pioneer motor racer Charles Jarrott named the 100-hp Isotta Fraschini as ‘tops’ of the pre-1914 sports cars. Performance was in keeping with the price demanded: in 1913 the famed racing driver Ray Gilhooley lapped the Indianapolis Brickyard oval in 1 minute 52 seconds, six seconds faster than the average of that year's “500” winner, at the wheel of a stock-bodied 1912 Tipo KM complete with windshield, spare tires and fenders, and with four passengers aboard.[2]