“The most beautiful and important car is the one that I must still build”. The words of Enzo Ferrari when talking about the cars produced by his company bearing his name. Translating this celebrated affirmation into the world of publishing, we would say, “The most beautiful and important book is the one we must still publish”.
Such is the philosophy that has driven and animated Giorgio Nada Editore in over 30 years of activity. From the pioneering books of its debut which, even then, were written by the great journalists of the sector – but also including eager enthusiasts – to the most recent publications, the spirit and the goal of our company have always remained the same: to introduce and popularise the story of the car, the motorcycle and, more in general, engine-powered means of transport as a whole.
A story, or rather many stories, that create culture and that recount the technology and techniques of industry, of sporting feats, but most of all of men – well or less well known – all able to realise their dreams and nurture their passion. A story that we hope to be able to tell for many more years to come.
History
1962
In 1962, in the heart of Milan, in Via Ulrico Hoepli, the "first" Libreria dell'Automobile opened, at the time owned by the ACI, the Automobile Club of Italy. In 1970, the shop moved to the centre of Milan at 43 Corso Venezia, in the historic building of the Automobile Club of Italy, a stone’s throw from Piazza San Babila and Duomo, the city’s famous cathedral.
1973
It was in 1973 that Giorgio Nada acquired this small bookshop - already known to the enthusiasts of cars and engines - which imports, acquires and sells Italian and foreign volumes on the world of four and two wheels. In the years in which motoring and motor sport publishing was taking its first steps forward and specialist publications were anything but numerous, the Libreria dell’Automobile soon became a point of reference for all lovers of the sector.
1977
Selling books is great, but publishing them under one’s own name is even more so. It was in 1977 when a book appeared on the market that was destined, paradoxically, to become the biggest success of the future publishing house.
The volume was entitled “Moto Guzzi” and it was by Mario Colombo, the great historian and enthusiast of the Mandello del Lario marque. Next to the author’s name on the frontispiece was written “Edizioni La Libreria dell’Automobile”.
1978-1986
The Edizioni La Libreria dell’Automobile became a reality and, at a rhythm of one or two new publications a year, actually created its own catalogue in which monographs devoted to car manufacturers or single prestigious models alternated with others about motorcycles.
A top level stable of authors was immediately established: Michele Marchianò, Angelo Tito Anselmi, Antoine Prunet, Mario Colombo, Roberto Patrignani, Brizio Pignacca, Gianni Cancellieri, Ferruccio Bernabò, Pino Allievi, Gianni Rogliatti and Griffith Borgeson are some of the names among those that began to appear with ever increasing frequency on the covers of the books published by the renowned Milanese book shop.
1987
It was at the end of 1987 when Giorgio Nada saw the need to separate the activities of the Libreria dell’Automobile from that of purely publishing. So the publishing house was born. On the covers and frontispieces of subsequent books, the logo of the Libreria dell’Automobile made way for the armillary sphere and the words Giorgio Nada Editore, the four letters of the surname all in capitals, placed between two thin horizontal lines that mark its boundaries.
1988-1994
Among the titles that made their debut carrying the new logo on their front covers were “Ferrari L’Unico”, written by Gino Rancati a few months after the death of the Grand Old Man in August 1988. But in the pages of the first slender catalogues of the new marque could also be found a luxurious book on Rolls Royce, a monumental work on OSCA, others about Jaguar and Lamborghini, but also works on prestigious body stylists like Zagato, Fissore and Boneschi.
More brief and lively works were devoted to single cars in the series “Le Vetture che hanno fatto la storia” , (“The Cars that Created History”) which have now been completely updated. At the end of the 80s, Giorgio Nada Editore also became the publishers , until the middle of the following decade, of the “Manovella e ruote a raggi”, (“Starting Handle and Spoked Wheels”), the official information organ of the ASI.
1995-2000
The second half of the 90s proved to be no less significant; it was a period that saw the marque active in a number of major editorial undertakings. At the end of 1996, there appeared a monumental work in two volumes devoted to the production cars of Alfa Romeo, specifying every model from 1910 onwards. The books were written by two great connoisseurs of the company from Arese, Maurizio Tabucchi and Stefano d’Amico. A year later, another important name from the world of journalism, Gianni Cancellieri, took on the responsibility for a volume that was no less pretentious: “Ferrari 1947-1997. Il libro ufficiale”, (“Ferrari 1947-1997. The Official Book”), created together with Karl Ludvigsen.
The partner in that operation was Ferrari itself. The Maranello company entrusted Giorgio Nada Editore with this important book project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its legend. And the third millennium dawned with a recurrence of such a publishing event: the 70 years of Pininfarina, told and illustrated in an official volume that dealt with “art, style and industry”.
2001-2010
To accompany such major works there came a book on the story of Abarth and its creator, another celebrating the 90th anniversary of Carrozzeria Bertone, both by Luciano Greggio – the catalogue rapidly diversified, exploring motoring sectors never before examined until that time.
And to those classic titles on cars, motorcycles plus the unfailing “Formula 1. Analisi tecnica” (Formula 1. Technical analysis”) compiled each year since 1998 by Giorgio Piola, was added a new series entitled “ Vite da Corsa” (“Racing Lives”) supervised by Gianni Cancellieri, written by Cesare De Agostini and devoted to the deeds of great motor racing champions of the past. New books also appeared on tractors written by authoritative author William Dozza. On the two-wheel front came a large illustrated volume on the Vespa - to be updated over the years - and the illustrated encyclopaedia of the motorcycle, both by Giorgio Sarti that became two editorial events of major importance in those years.
In 2004 there appeared a “compendium” devoted to the history of Ferrari which, one after the other, projecting almost all Maranello’s production. The title of the book is “Ferrari All the cars”, similar publications appearing later on Porsche, Alfa Romeo and Maserati.During the first decade of the third millennium, the publisher celebrated a number of important anniversaries with its books, which appeared consecutively during this period. The year 2006 was marked by the publication of the official book to commemorate the Targa Florio’s centenary, which was first run in 1906. And in 2007 out came a book entitled “Ferrari 60”, a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Prancing Horse.
During the first decade of 2008, the publisher and the organisers of the Superbike World Championship formed a partnership, and from this new association came the official annual of the championship reserved to the derivatives of the series. Two years later in 2010, Alfa Romeo celebrated its first 100 years and that was marked by a unique book of absolute prestige. The volume was entitled “Alfa Romeo: the Official Centenary Book” and was published in both Italian and English. It was a significant work in respect of both its content and dimensions and was written by highly prestigious contributors Luca Goldoni, Luciano Greggio, Gianni Cancellieri and Cesare De Agostini. Just 999 copies of the book were published in each of the two languages, all numbered by hand; they immediately became collector’s items.
But the first decade of the new millennium was marked by another event of special importance: Giorgio Nada Editore and Giunti of Florence, publishers of a long and consolidated tradition – the latter established in the late 19th century and today one of the most prominent Italian groups – brought to life a new publishing and commercial partnership with an agreement signed at the end of 2006.
2011-2017
In 2011, it was time to celebrate another anniversary, that of the Federazione Motociclistica Italiana (FMI), which commemorated its 100th anniversary by asking Giorgio Nada Editore to create a celebratory book, to which some of the most prestigious names of two-wheel journalism contributed. Meanwhile, the company’s publishing catalogue was enriched by a number of new series: on the one hand, there was a series of titles with powerfully prevalent text on the great races, like the Tourist Trophy, Dakar, Le Mans and the World Rally Championship. Then there were others on great champions like Miki Biasion as well as Giacomo Agostini at the TT. Mainly as a result of Giorgio Nada Editore acquiring importance new photographic collections, a series of large format illustrated books was published on the really great champions such as Agostini, Ayrton Senna and Gilles Villeneuve, plus some of the top races, like Mille Miglia, the Grand Prix of Italy at Monza and the unforgettable 1000 Km of Monza, which was held for many years at the world famous Autodrome.
Another centenary- this time of Maserati – was commemorated by a significant book in 201 3. It was written by a number of important motoring journalists, took a year to produce and was introduced at Maserati’s headquarters in December of that year. Twelve months later, it was the turn of Momo’s and its 50th, which was celebrated with the publication of a book created for the noted components marque.
The publishing event of 2015 was an updated catalogue of the Alfa Romeo Museum’s exhibits at Arese, near Milan, which was introduced in June of the same year.Later, along came a monograph on Leonardo Fioravanti appeared, an encyclopaedic book that covered all the great Italian body stylists by Elvio Deganello, plus a series of monographs on the Italian body designers, including Bertone, Touring, Zagato and Pininfarina. All of them testified to a renewed interest in Italian car design and covered the period from the beginning to today.
2016 also saw the publication of a really monumental work on Enzo Ferrari: it was the definitive biography of the man and the Maranello constructor, comprising 1,168 pages and taking Luca Dal Monte almost a decade to research and write.In 2017, there are two important anniversaries to commemorate: they are Ferrari’s 70th, as the Maranello constructor was founded in 1947, and the 90th of the Mille Miglia, an event that first took place in 1927. Two anniversaries to which Giorgio Nada Editore is to devote the titles, “Ferrari: the Golden Years” and “Mille Miglia Portraits”. Of the same year is also the book "Ferrari 70" that, after the success of the first edition, will be updated some years later.
2018-2019
In 2018-2019, the company continued with its series of large-format illustrated books – at a time when the market was still attracted to this type of product – with the publication of titles such as “Porsche. Gli anni d’oro” (The Golden Years), “Michael Schumacher. A Life in pictures, a book by Pino Allievi, as well as expanding the “Masterpieces of Style” series, originally published exclusively in English and devoted to the great coachbuilders of yesterday and today, with new monographs on Pininfarina, Touring, Giugiaro and Vignale. 2019 also saw the publication of “Senna Inedito”, richly illustrated and penned by several of the most prestigious names in motorsport, a volume that won the prestigious Sportel Award in Monte Carlo in October.
On a completely different front, in the same period, Giorgio Nada Editore also returned to publishing calendars – an area the firm had already explored at the beginning of its story – making use primarily of its invaluable photographic archives.
2020
Pininfarina once again placed its trust in the publishing house, commissioning it to create the commemorative book marking the 90th anniversary of the historic Italian marque, one of the most admired throughout the world. This was a source of pride for everyone involved, especially for publisher Giorgio Nada, who, sadly, was not to see this precious volume published, after Covid-19, in its most virulent phase, claimed his life in early May.
This was an immensely difficult time, but as soon as the first lockdown was over, we necessarily had to look to the future, as our publisher would have done and wanted.
In the second half of that tumultuous year, further illustrated books appeared, some of which had been in the pipeline for some time, such as “Formula 1 Portraits. The Sixties”, by Gianni Cancellieri, a retrospective volume covering the entire history of the “Lancia Aurelia”, and a monumental volume, “Classe 500. La regina del Motomondiale” (Class 500. The Queen of the World Championship), by Luigi Rivola.
Others were the fruit of new project, first and foremost “Ferrari 1000 GP, The official book” – a high-profile box set of two volumes commissioned by Ferrari to celebrate the 1,000 Grands Prix contested by the Prancing Horse in Formula 1 between 1950 and 2020.
2021-2022
Stefano Nada – who in the meantime had taken over the reins of the publishing house – continued in his father's footsteps, promoting other illustrated books such as “Formula 1 70”, “Campionato Italiano Rally”, a volume dedicated to the “Italian Rally Championship”, “Moto Guzzi 100 Anni”, in the year in which the Mandello-based company celebrated its centenary, and “Brembo 60. 1961-1921 The beauty of innovation”, the official book marking Brembo’s 60th anniversary. Partly due to the long wave of Covid, he also felt the need to shift the focus of production towards more popular, less sector-specific publications, capable of attracting a new and different clientele at a time when specialisation was, in some ways, just marking time.
In terms of illustrated books, the first titles to appear – “Lamborghini Countach” and “F40” – inaugurated a new series dedicated to Supercars, while the book “Lancia Rally Group B”, opened a trilogy dedicated to Lanciaes epic motorsport era.
In the field of two-wheelers, it was time for a generalist title on the superbikes of the 1970s and a monograph devoted to a timeless Italian legend such as the Ciao Piaggio.
All this without losing sight of titles produced on behalf of other important clients, such as the official books for the 50th anniversary of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and the 70th anniversary of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
And speaking of Ferrari, in 2022, “Ferrari Rex” – in the meantime reprinted in a shortened version – that attracted the attention of Apple TV, which acquired the rights to create a series for its platform.
From 2023 to today
This two-year period saw the birth of the new "Gli Assi" series, with more widely popular themes such as Valentino Rossi, Formula 1 and even Car Care... conceived with a very competitive price range, while the Storytellers series continued with the completion of the trilogy on Formula 1 in the 1970s – “Belli e Dannati” (The Beautiful and Damned) – by Luca dal Monte.
The most recent years have also seen exponential growth in text-based books dedicated to Formula 1 and rally drivers, or to specific topics such as the book “Nero Alfa” – a collection of news stories featuring Alfa Romeo cars – demonstrating a shift towards a broader audience for the Giorgio Nada Editore titles. Similarly, while the Tutto series of books once focused on a few prestigious car manufacturers – Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche and Alfa Romeo – the titles in this series of authentic vademecums now cover a wide range of topics, such as “Tutto Senna”, “Tutto Formula 1”, “Tutti i piloti Ferrari” (All Ferrari Drivers) and “Tutto Lamborghini”, to remain in the realm of four wheels, and then moving on to “Tutte le moto italiane” (All Italian Motorcycles). All this... it has to be said, while continuing to offer space for some of the publisher’s classic themes such as the Vespa, the scooter par excellence, with the publication in 2024 of “Vespa. Illustrated guide to the identification”. New volumes have also expanded the “illustrated classics” series with “Porsche 75. Settantacinque vetture che hanno fatto la storia” and “Giordani. The pedal car legend”, in a bilingual edition, both published in 2023.
In recent years, Giorgio Nada Editore has continued to publish major commissioned works, such as “Giorgetto & Fabrizio Giugiaro”, an updated re-edition of the Masterpieces of Style title, which became the official book of the prestigious Turin-based coachbuilder. The same applies to the titles “MV Agusta Motorcycle Art. The New Era”, the official volume published in 2024, “Pininfarina 95. Timeless beauty”, a book created in 2025 in collaboration with Pininfarina to celebrate their 95 years of history, and “Carabinieri e Alfa Romeo. Al servizio del Paese”, a book produced in close collaboration with Giunti Editore, commissioned by the Carabinieri High Command to celebrate the long partnership between these two important organisations.
And the story continues...
Not only books
In the course of its long life, Giorgio Nada Editore has also published various magazines for important clubs active in the world of vintage motor racing. As well as “Manovella e ruote a raggi”, the official information organ of the ASI, over the years the Nada marque has appeared on periodicals such as “EB Bugatti”, the official Bugatti magazine, “Zagato Oltre”, (“Beyond Zagato”), the official organ of information of the prestigious Milanese body stylist, some numbers of “Rivista Maserati” (“Maserati Magazine”), “Club”, the official publication of the Ferrari Club Italia, and, until 2008, “Porsche Club Magazine” (the official publication of the Porsche Club Italia).
Until 2008, the publishing company has been active in the model sector with the half-yearly “Miniauto & Collectors”. At the moment, Giorgio Nada is also the publisher of “La Libreria dell’Automopbile Magazine”, a six-monthly periodical containing information on current and vintage cars, over 90,000 copies of which are distributed free to that number of client-readers as well as at the principal fairs of the sector.
Photographic archive
Giorgio Nada Editore has conducted a careful and targeted acquisition of documentary and illustrative material since it was established, to expand the patrimony of the publishing house itself, always on the look out for other editorial activities.
That was the purpose, for example, of acquiring the editions of “Autocritica”, a Roman publisher founded by Valerio Moretti and Gianni Bulgari, who have brought to life titles such as “Quando corre Nuvolari”, (“When Nuvolari Races”) “Carlo Chiti: sinfonia ruggente” (“Carlo Chiti: Roaring Symphony”) and “La Scommessa di Gianni Lancia” (“The Gamble of Gianni Lancia”). Other significant acquisitions have also contributed to further expanding this source over time. The first was the photographic archive of Style Auto, the most important pictures of which go back to 1989, when that publisher bought the Archivio Novafoto-Sorlini. A collection comprising official pictures of the Mille Miglia by the race’s own photographer Alberto Sorlini, who immortalised each of the celebrated post war Brescian marathons from 1947 to 1957. To help complete this patrimony was the purchase in recent years of important archives devoted to the world of motor racing. This policy has, therefore, led to the constitution of a considerable photographic and documentary archive, which currently comprises about 300,000 images. You can see a preview of a specific section.
How to acquire these pictures
While awaiting the moment when this immense patrimony is available on line, today Giorgio Nada Editore offers its clients and enthusiasts the opportunity of acquiring images for private, editorial or publicity use. For information and prices, contact: archiviofoto@giorgionadaeditore.it.