It’s one of the world’s most sought-after pieces of swag.
For the past half century, the Pirelli tire company calendar has featured images of top models in exotic locations, often without much clothing, taken by the best photographers in the business, including Annie Leibovitz and Karl Lagerfeld.
Printed in limited quantities and given as gifts, they are not for sale, though many are later traded like pieces of art.
But rather than create a new calendar to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2014, Pirelli dug into its archives and pulled out one from 1986 that never saw the light of day. For that year’s calendar, the Pirelli commissioned competing shoots by Bert Stern and Helmut Newton, ultimately choosing Stern’s for publication.
Newton’s photos survived the years, however, and have now been assembled for the 2014 production. Featuring lovely ladies and the company’s products (the latter, ironically, not always present in the calendar’s photos) shot on location in Monte Carlo and the Chianti region of Tuscany, the authentically retro images are far less explicit than many that have come since, but no less eye-catching.
Click through the slideshow at the top for a taste of La Dolce Speeda.