The British apparel company Joules is amongst our favorite of the mainstream clothing brands. No, they don’t typically have a fixation on cars, but they do have a fixation on horses and specifically horsing events. Via sponsorship of Polo, dressage and the like though, we tend to find some of the coolest branded gear and have regularly featured their team or event gear adorned with great marques such as Audi, Mitsubishi and most-often Land Rover. Imagine our surprise then when we hit their website this week and found a nod to a vintage Alfa Romeo.

It seems that part of Joules’ own holiday celebration this year comes with the publishing of a yule-themed storybook. Dubbed A Christmas Tale, this picture book underlines the graphic theme of their holiday season website, is available for PDF download and can also be purchased online for a reasonable price and for the benefit of charity.

Why do we love the book? Well, we should start by underlining that it’s important not to oversell the car theme here. This isn’t a Dwight Knowlton racing tale, though we can’t help but love the simple prominent “product placement” of a little red car in the primarily pet-themed storyline.

Years ago, over drinks at an Audi event, noted Volkswagen Group designer Walter da Silva waxed on over martinis how the great automotive designs are immediately definable by very simple lines. That night, da Silva sketched the boat-tailed Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, its predecessor the Giulietta Spider and his own design of the first-generation Audi A5 as examples of what he meant by using very few simple lines.

While the artist of Joule’s story book is decidedly different in his or her style than was da Silva’s sketch that night, the simplified designs still make it unmistakable just what car inspired the art. In this case, it’s the early 1970s vintage Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint coupé. That car was one of Giorgietto Giugiaro’s first works, and has become highly sought-after amongst collectors as of late.

If you want to download or purchase Joules’ A Christmas Tale, you can do so at their website HERE.