In 1956 a company dedicated to performing plastic glasses founded by Wilhelm Anger Werker created the brand CARRERA to market a line of sunglasses inspired by the Pan-American car race. A rally-type cars sports event organized annually through Mexico. Since its inception, the contest attracted the interest and participation of all major brands of European sports cars such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lancia, Talbot, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo and Pegaso. A tuff competition the German pilot Alfred Neubauer even considered as a mixture of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, the Grand Prix of Tripoli and the Nürburgring racetrack.
In 1974, the brand became the name of the company and was renamed CARRERA International based in Traun, Austria. Sunglasses and automobiles complemented each other; the proof was the line CARRERA Porsche Design. A collaborative work with car designer Ferdinand Alexander. Since the 80s, sponsored many sporting events such as the America’s Cup, the Olympic Winter Games of 1988, and the Formula 1. In 1996, Safilo Group Spa bought Carrera International and now the headquarters are in Padova, Italy.
A recreation of the golden age of Formula 1 is the movie called RUSH directed by Ron Howard and awarded with two Oscars. A film that was released in 2013 and tells the rivalry kept by two Formula 1 drivers, Britain’s James Hunt and Niki Lauda of Austria, especially in the automotive season of1976, in which the latter suffered a serious accident that nearly cost him his life. In the film several models of the brand are shown such as the CARRERA 80 (Niki Lauda) CARRERA SPEEDWAY (James Hunt) or CARRERA 16 (Marlene Lauda).
From its origins to the present CARRERA reflects in its sunglasses the sporting, passionate and exciting style experienced by car races. That has led them to create new models inspired by this theme such as the line CARRERA Champion sunglasses created in 2008 which has been one of the best-selling models since.
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