Car Fact #89 — September 13, 2026

The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 featured a straight-eight engine so mechanically balanced that it could run smoothly at idle with a coin balanced on top of the cylinder head, yet this obsessive engineering pursuit of smoothness came at the cost of extreme mechanical complexity that made routine maintenance so difficult that owners often abandoned their cars rather than attempt repairs—transforming a technical achievement into a practical liability.