In 1900 Cesare Isotta teamed up with the brothers Oreste and Vincenzo Fraschini to make cars similar to Renault. To promote their products, they launched an ambitious racing program using a large 4-cylinder overhead camshaft engine. From 1905 Isotta-Fraschini produced only 4-cylinder engines, with extremely variable displacements, from 1500 to 11600cc, famous for their exceptional quality. The best period for the brand was the twenties, with a luxurious eight-cylinder in-line, with famous customers such as Rodolfo Valentino. The type 8A range was produced from 1924 to 1931 with sedan, torpedo and convertible bodies.
Rio, based in Cernobbio, Italy, was founded by Reno, Nilo and Diego Tattarletti in 1962. The 1:43 scale die-cast Rio models were among the first model cars designed as collector's items. Initially all Rio models reproduced cars from the pioneering era up to the 1940s, but from the mid-1980s post-war cars were also added to the range. In 2004 Rio was taken over by M4, the manufacturer of the Art Model and Best models. In the following years, re-editions and variations on the models that had been in production for many decades were introduced.