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Italian car brands: The definitive list of Italian car logos
Italian car brands are often associated with luxury and class. Representing some of the most sought-after vehicles in the world, Italian car logos have captured the hearts of endless passionate drivers. Today, it’s difficult to find someone who isn’t familiar with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Italian cars fall into a wide range of categories, from everyday mass market vehicles like Fiat, to stunning high-performance supercars like Mazzanti.
Even if you’re not familiar with all of the Italian automakers on the list below, the chances are you know more than a couple iconic brands from Italy.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the top Italian car companies in the world, and their unforgettable logo designs.
Performance car brands from Italy (Supercars)
For our performance car brands section, we’re going to be looking at the Italian cars which typically fall into the “Supercar” ecosystem in Italy. Supercars are defined by access to some of the most advanced materials and equipment in the world.
Unlike most performance cars, supercar brands from Italy are based on professional racing models, but they’re designed to work in all environments – perfect for the rich and famous.
There are two major companies producing supercars in Italy today…
Pagani
An independent Italian car brand, Pagani was founded by Horacio Pagani, a man who had dreamt of supercars all of his life. By the age of 21, Horacio had already designed a car for the Formula 3 racing landscape.
The champion of the day, Juan Manuel Fangio was so impressed with Horacio’s work, he gave him recommendations to prestigious companies like Lamborghini.
During his time working with Lamborghini, Pagani founded his own research company, before finally constructing an automobile plant. The Pagani logo is a testament to the work Pagani put into his creations, featuring a design which looks as though it’s printed in lightweight metal.
Finding a lightweight alternative to plastic sportscar bodies was at the crux of Pagani’s research.
Mazzanti
Launched in 2002, Mazzanti isn’t the oldest of the Italian automakers we’ll be covering today, but the company does produce some of the most impeccable performance cars on the market.
Founded by Luca Mazzanti and Walter Faralli, the organization specializes in the development of hand-crafted supercars, using some of the finest materials available.
The Italian car logo associated with Mazzanti was created to represent the luxury and sophistication of the brand. The shape of a shield in gold depicts the name of the company in slanted, sans-serif letters.
There’s a stripe of blue to represent reliability, while the colors of the Italian flag are placed at the top of the shield to highlight the patriotism of the brand.
Luxury car brands from Italy
For most automobile fans, Italy is one of the first places they’ll think of when imagining “Luxury” vehicles. The hand-crafted and beautifully precise vehicles created by Italian automakers have taken the world by storm over the years.
Luxury cars in Italy are often designed to compete both on the standard road market, and in the racing landscape, thanks to their exceptional speed.
Ferrari
Few names or Italian car brand logos have quite the impact of Ferrari. Perhaps one of the most sought after car emblems in the world, the Ferrari logo has become a beacon of class and performance.
Ferrari, which launched initially in 1947, presents itself as a leader in ultra-reliable cars capable of performing in all kinds of sporting environments.
The first cars produced by Ferrari were typically dedicated to racing, but over the years, the company has produced more vehicles for the standard road-based market.
The Ferrari logo is an unforgettable rectangular design, featuring a bright yellow background, and a word mark in a serif font to highlight sophistication. The prancing horse on the Ferrari symbol represents strength and speed, while the Italian flag showcases heritage.
Learn more about the Ferrari logo here.
Lamborghini
Similar to Ferrari, Lamborghini has earned its space as one of the most famous car companies of all time. This super luxurious sports car brand first emerged in 1963, with the aim of creating super high-speed cars with exceptional designs.
The Lamborghini Company has spread all around the globe today, with factories around the world.
Lamborghini’s cars are all about power and performance, making the iconic emblem of this company all the more meaningful. The image features a golden and black shield, with a golden bull rushing towards the viewer in the center.
The Lamborghini logo also includes the wordmark for the brand, written in all capital sans-serif letters, in the same luxurious gold.
Learn more about the Lamborghini logo here.
Maserati
Another well-known company on our list of Italian cars, Maserati was founded by a set of brothers in 1914, both of which were passionate about cars. While the company started their own business in 1914, they didn’t release the first luxury sports car from Maserati until 12 years later.
Since then, the Maserati Company has gained attention all around the globe, with sensational vehicles created specifically for racing competitions. In the 1960s, the company started moving away from racing cars, and began focusing on luxury vehicles instead.
The Maserati logo features the three-pronged trident of Poseidon as a symbol of strength and power. The colors of blue and red convey ideas of passion, and reliability.
Learn more about the Maserati logo here.
Alfa Romeo
A sporting and luxury car manufacturer from Italy with a rich history, the Alfa Romeo brand was created in 1910, and actually has connections with both France and Italy. Over the years, Alfa Romeo has produced a huge selection of stunning vehicles for people from all backgrounds.
The Alfa Romeo Company logo is one of the more eye-catching designs in the world, as it depicts an interesting image of a large serpent consuming a man, alongside a red cross. The “Biscone” snake comes from the coat of arms for Milan, and the Visconti family.
While the Alfa Romeo brand image has changed a few times over the years, the company has consistently maintained its connection to this coat of arms.
Find out more about the Alfa Romeo logo here.
Lancia
Lancia is an Italian car manufacturer originally launched in 1906, more than 115 years ago. The company is best-known for its rallying heritage, and technical developments like the incredible unibody chassis of the Lambda in 1922.
While sales of Lancia vehicles haven’t always been strong, the company has made strides in recent years to transform its image, merging with Stellantis in recent years.
The Lancia brand logo features a blue and silver shield, with the “Lancia” name depicted in serif capital letters in the background. There’s also a circle surrounding the name to demonstrate unity and acceptance.
Sports car brands from Italy (racing)
Since most of the traditional sports car brands from Italy also fall into the “Luxury” segment for the country, there aren’t a great number of sports car companies to mention in this section.
For the purpose of this section, we’re going to be looking at a racing car company from Italy which may not fall under the standard “Luxury” definition.
Abarth
Abarth is one of the better-known racing and road car makers from the Italian landscape today. The company initially launched in 1949 and is now owned by the Stellantis corporation. Over the years, the organization has produced some of the most competitive racing cars the world has ever seen.
Abarth has a history of producing vehicles with unique tuning and exceptionally high speed. The company’s logo features a shield with a yellow and red background, divided diagonally across the middle. There’s a black scorpion in the midst of the logo, conveying the idea of danger.
The Abarth logo is also one of the many Italian car logos which features the Italian flag, as many manufacturers in this landscape prefer to draw attention to their heritage.
Covini Engineering
Created in 1978 by Ferruccio Covini, Covini Engineering is best-known for its incredible 6-wheeled sports car, the Covini C6W. This unique car has four wheels in the front of the car, and two in the back, designed to give it more traction and speed.
During its lifespan, the Covini Engineering brand has created a multitude of different racing and sports cars intended to transform the market with new and compelling materials and designs.
Mass market car brands from Italy
While there are definitely plenty of Italian car brand logos to mention in the luxury environment, and “Performance” car landscape, there aren’t as many names as possible to look at in the mass market space. Italian car companies seem to be more invested in the creation of extremely fast, competitive cars.
This isn’t to say there aren’t other vehicle manufacturers from Italy who haven’t looked at bringing cars to the masses, of course. There’s one particularly well-known company in the country which has captured the attention of buyers worldwide over the years.
Fiat
Fiat is easily one of the better-known mass market car brands in the world, best-known for the creation of smaller, more compact vehicles, designed to suit a wide range of budget requirements. The company is a subsidiary of the Stellantis corporation as of 2021.
Fiat Automobiles is currently the largest of all the Italian automakers and has remained one of the largest automobile manufacturers in Europe for over a century. Fiat also competes with the likes of Ford and General Motors for the position of one of the biggest companies worldwide.
The Fiat logo is a simple but effective emblem, designed to highlight the heritage of the company. The silver circle represents community and global reach, while the red section in the middle of the logo highlights the passion of the company.
The Fiat word mark is sleek, eye-catching and modern.
Pininfarina
Lesser-known than the likes of Fiat, but still a memorable Italian car brand, Pininfarinia SPA is an Italian car design company founded in 1930. The company is best-known for producing the vehicle designs for some of the most popular mass-market brands in the world.
Over the years, Pininfarina has produced designs for Maserati, Lancia, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and many others. The company has also begun to develop a presence in the Asian market in recent years too.
Today, the organization is still going strong.
The same logo for Pininfarina has been in use since 1930, combining a handwritten-style wordmark, with a beautiful emblem, of an “F” in a rectangle with a crown on top.
Bertone
Created in 1912, the Bertone Company, designed by Giovanni Bertone, is a long-standing automobile company specializing in the development of cars, coaches, and designs for new vehicles.
The organization has successfully created some of the most stunning redesigns of popular models for top car companies like Lambhorghini and Alfa Romeo.
The Bertone brand has styled cars for a range of mass-market companies too, such as BMW, and Fiat. This business has produced vehicles all around the world, and sold a number of cars throughout Europe.
The logo design features the name of the company with the Italian flag as an underline.
There’s also a unique “B” in the Bertone emblem, written in lowercase, and with angular lines, to create an idea of modernity.
Vehicle manufacturers from Italy
There are a number of vehicle manufacturers from Italy which produce more than just passenger or racing cars. Many of the brands we’ve already mentioned for our list of Italian cars also create trucks and larger vehicles, such as Fiat and Alfa Romeo.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the vehicle manufacturers located in Italy today…
Iveco
Otherwise known as the Iveco Group NV, the Iveco Company chose its name as an acronym for “Industrial Vehicles Corporation. This multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company creates and builds light, heavy, and medium commercial vehicles to ship around the world.
Iveco is best-known for it’s wide selection of vehicles capable of a range of tasks, from firefighting and military missions to civil defence.
The Iveco logo is one of the simpler Italian car logos we’ve looked at so far, featuring a simple sans-serif wordmark, with a blue dot separating the words “Iveco” and “Group”.
The design is modern and conveys a sense of sophistication.
Astra
Astra is an Italian company best-known for creating a huge range of military vehicles, heavy transport vehicles, and trucks. The company was founded in 1946 and has since become a part of the Iveco brand.
However, there are still people who know the Astra logo and brand today.
Astra was responsible for creating various kinds of commercial vehicles intended to suit different needs, which made it a perfect purchase for the Iveco Group later in life.
The logo featured the name of the company in bold sans-serif letters, depicted in green, perhaps to highlight the all-terrain nature of some of their vehicles.
Cizeta
A unique kind of car manufacturer from Italy, Cizeta Automobile is currently headquartered in Modena, and is responsible for creating hand-made custom cars for all kinds of purposes. The company is best-known for its production of specialist vehicles for rich customers.
The Cizeta logo is a yellow and purple design, depicting three large cats baring their teeth in the background. The name of the company is present on the badge, along with the “Automobili” definition.
Defunct car brands from Italy
Just like every other country in the world, Italy is home to a wide selection of brands which might have made a significant impact on the industry in their time, but eventually had to shut their doors.
Many of the vehicle companies below are still well-known amongst automobile collectors and enthusiasts around the world.
De Tomaso
Launched in 1959, De Tomaso was an automobile company founded by Alejandra de Tomaso (hence the name). The company was best-known for the production of various racing cars and prototypes, including a Formula One racing car for the 1970s Frank Williams team.
During the 70s, Ford acquired an 84% stake on De Tomaso, but eventually sold the stake back to the original automaker. The brand was later shut down in 2004 but purchased by the Ideal Team Ventures brand in 2014.
In 2019, a new version of the De Tomaso Company was introduced, with a unique logo featuring a stylized “T” on a blue and white background.
Innocenti
An Italian machinery works responsible for producing a host of automobiles, including Lambretta scooters. The company ran between the years of 1947 and 1997, before eventually shutting its doors after the branding was acquired by Fiat.
The Innocenti logo is an interesting image, featuring a stylized “I” with enhanced serifs which makes the letter look almost like a “Z”. The bold font demonstrates strength, while the circle surrounding the monogram indicates community and universal appeal.
Autobianchi
Created in 1955, and made defunct in 1995, the Auto Bianchi Company enjoyed a number of successful years before eventually shutting their doors. The Italian car brand was created jointly by Pirelli, Bianchi, and Fiat, and only produced a handful of cars during its life.
This company was best-known for creating small cars for the mass market arena. The logo for the Autobianchi Company showed a black triangle with a line through the middle, surrounded by an angular border.
The unique geometric image is ideal for a modern company experimenting with exciting new designs.
Bizzarrini
A well-known example of one of the many Italian car brand logos with wings, the Bizarrani Company was an Italian car company in the 1960s, founded by the former Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Iso engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini.
The company built a number of advanced sports and racing automobiles before eventually failing in 1969.
Although the Bizzarrini Company didn’t last for quite as long as some of the companies on this list, its creations were iconic enough to capture the attention of collectors worldwide.
The Bizarrini logo was equally eye-catching, featuring a bird on a red background, with a spiked golden circle around the badge.
The image was sharp, daring, and bold.
OSCA
Otherwise known as the Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili Company, OSCA was an Italian creator of sports and racing cars built in 1947. The company was extremely popular during its time, producing various vehicles for Grand Prix competitions.
OSCA’s first automobile was the MT4, which featured the iconic OSCA logo, a circle badge with the name of the company in a blue border. In the middle of the badge was a series of miniature flags placed on a coat of arms-style rectangle.
The design seems to convey concepts of heritage, history, and class.
Cisitalia
Another example of an Italian sports and racing car manufacturer which eventually went defunct, Cisitalia was a well-known company for almost 20 years. The company name comes from “Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia,” a group founded in 1946, and controlled by Piero Dusio.
The Cistalia logo was a unique shield-style image, with a prancing goat depicted in gold. The use of gold and blue coloring highlights the luxurious nature of the company, while the shield-style design conveys ideas of heritage and nobility.
Celebrating Italian car brands
Italian car brands are some of the most sought after and beloved in the world for a good reason. As you can see from our list of Italian automakers above, there have been plenty of well-known companies producing cars from Italy over the years.
When it comes to Italian car brand logos, there’s also a lot of variety to enjoy. Many of the designs above showcase the luxury and heritage of Italian automakers. However, there are some trends we’ve seen quite regularly throughout several logos, such as the use of the Italian flag.
Don’t forget, you can learn more about car logos and brands by checking out some of the other amazing guides on the Fabrik Logofile.
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—Top American car brands and their logos
—American car companies that went bust
—The conclusive guide to British car logos
—The essential list of Japanese car logos
—A decisive guide to car logos with circles
Fabrik: A branding agency for our times.
As Fabrik’s creative director, Stephen oversees complex branding programmes. He advises our clients on their tone of voice, creates logos and visual identities and crafts names for companies, products and services. Writing for Brand Fabrik Stephen reflects his love for logo design and visual identity.
