Photo: Piotr Degler / Degler Design
Depending on who you ask, coffee table books are either wise purchases or impulse buys that will, at best, become decorative pieces no one ever touches. “Made in Italy” is an automotive-centered coffee table book but, as photographer Piotr Degler is quick to point out, this is no regular car book.
If there was a record for the longest gestation period for one such book, “Made in Italy” would take top prize: Spain-born photographer Piotr Degler, of Degler Design, worked for more than a decade on it. The same goes for the overall cost, with Degler estimating he spent €112,000 (almost $130,000 at the current exchange rate) on the project.
More importantly though, “Made in Italy” is a car book like no other due to the material included inside. It’s a “visual experience” and a walk-through Italian automotive history, from old to new. It’s a “visual experience,” one that aims not to be exhaustive or linear as regards the machines shown, but evocative of emotion in the viewer. “The goal was not to show the most important or significant models, something you could easily find on the internet, but to create visual pleasure through quality and exclusive photography,” Degler says on the official website.
Throughout the 10 years he worked on the book, Degler, who arrived in Turin after college and eventually became a car designer at Bertone, before turning to automotive photography, has interviewed the biggest names in the industry, visited Italy’s museum, and spoken to countless private collectors. Eleven legends are included in the book, under a special chapter aptly called “The Maestros:” Giampaolo Dallara, Leonardo Fioravanti, Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Flavio Manzoni, Paolo Martin, Horacio Pagani, Paolo Pininfarina, Ercole Spada, Alfredo Stola and Andrea Zagato. Some of them you will also recognize in the promotional video below.
As for the beauties shown in photographs, they include the 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero, a 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo, a 2016 Pagani Huayra Futura, a 1963 Alfa Romeo TZ, a 1947 Ferrari 159S, the 2003 Lancia Fulvia Concept, a 1982 Lancia LC1, the 1985-1986 Lancia Delta S4 and the 2010 Alfa Romeo “2uettottanta.” Degler says 80% of the cars in the book have never been photographed before, and for that reason alone, it’s a collectible for any (coffee-table-owning) car enthusiast.
Degler tried to launch the book on Kickstarter but eventually moved it to the official website. Pre-orders are underway as of the time of press, with prices starting at €95 ($108) for the book and €10,000 ($11,300) for the special, 10-unit limited series package that includes a work of art carrying the signature of one of the Maestros.
“I wanted to create something each car-, photography- or design-enthusiast could proudly display in his living room, sharing it with friends and enjoying it from time to time,” Degler says.
More importantly though, “Made in Italy” is a car book like no other due to the material included inside. It’s a “visual experience” and a walk-through Italian automotive history, from old to new. It’s a “visual experience,” one that aims not to be exhaustive or linear as regards the machines shown, but evocative of emotion in the viewer. “The goal was not to show the most important or significant models, something you could easily find on the internet, but to create visual pleasure through quality and exclusive photography,” Degler says on the official website.
Throughout the 10 years he worked on the book, Degler, who arrived in Turin after college and eventually became a car designer at Bertone, before turning to automotive photography, has interviewed the biggest names in the industry, visited Italy’s museum, and spoken to countless private collectors. Eleven legends are included in the book, under a special chapter aptly called “The Maestros:” Giampaolo Dallara, Leonardo Fioravanti, Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Flavio Manzoni, Paolo Martin, Horacio Pagani, Paolo Pininfarina, Ercole Spada, Alfredo Stola and Andrea Zagato. Some of them you will also recognize in the promotional video below.
As for the beauties shown in photographs, they include the 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero, a 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo, a 2016 Pagani Huayra Futura, a 1963 Alfa Romeo TZ, a 1947 Ferrari 159S, the 2003 Lancia Fulvia Concept, a 1982 Lancia LC1, the 1985-1986 Lancia Delta S4 and the 2010 Alfa Romeo “2uettottanta.” Degler says 80% of the cars in the book have never been photographed before, and for that reason alone, it’s a collectible for any (coffee-table-owning) car enthusiast.
Degler tried to launch the book on Kickstarter but eventually moved it to the official website. Pre-orders are underway as of the time of press, with prices starting at €95 ($108) for the book and €10,000 ($11,300) for the special, 10-unit limited series package that includes a work of art carrying the signature of one of the Maestros.
“I wanted to create something each car-, photography- or design-enthusiast could proudly display in his living room, sharing it with friends and enjoying it from time to time,” Degler says.
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