This summer, Autoworld went all-in on Italian cars by honouring Abarth’s 75th anniversary and Fiat’s 125th anniversary. We have already covered the Abarth vehicles. Now it’s time to line up our favourite Fiat specimens exhibited upstairs on the gallery of the Museum.
For this anniversary, Autoworld presents a unique collection of over 30 Fiats that have built up the reputation of Italy’s prime car manufacturer. These included pre-war milestones and mainstream models that motorised Italy.
The curators paid particular attention to the scenography, ensuring that visitors are fully immersed in an Italian atmosphere of piazzas, pavement cafes, to immerse ourselves in the dolce vita feeling.
The exhibition did its best to illustrate the tumultuous history of Fiat (like for the Abarth article), but we will not walk that road this time.
There would be too much to cover, from takeovers and intrigue through groundbreaking models and innovations to every possible category of cars. Instead, this article will go through our personal favourites from the expo.
1954 Fiat 1900B Granluce
With this model, Fiat aimed to challenge the prestige segment dominated by brands like Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Maserati. The Granluce was Fiat’s top-of-the-line two-door hardtop coupe version.
1968 Fiat 850 coupé Serie 2
The Fiat 850 was a small rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupé marketed from 1964 to 1973 that underwent many changes. New engine, revamped design and a few small production series from noted coachbuilders, this coupé had it all.
1983 Fiat X1/9
Fiat’s only mid-engined car is a true design icon and looks fabulous even by today’s standards. Its only weakness was the “Sport” 1300 engine from the 128, which provided highly dubious dynamics. This was later remedied by a larger 1.5-litre engine and even an Abarth version.
1970 Fiat Shelette
This little weirdo was courtesy of legendary Italian star designer Giovanni Michelotti, who already presented a similar beach car on a Daf 32 basis for the Dutch royal family. The Shellette was loosely based on a Fiat 850 platform. The name Shellette refers to Philip Schell, a yacht builder who initiated the project to modernise the old Jolly cars.
1974 Fiat 130 coupé
In 1972, Fiat unveiled the elegant four-seater coupé version of the 130, the top of its model range. It had a newly developed V-6 engine and bodywork designed and built by Pininfarina.
1968 Fiat Dino Spyder
Fiat’s most high-end production car of all time was presented at the 1966 Turin Car Show. This halo car also served homologation purposes, as the Fiat Dino shared Ferrari’s brand new Dino engine with Lancia (for its Stratos) and Ferrari (though at first Enzo denied his family name from such cheap cars). Ferrari had to sell an unusually high number of vehicles with this engine, and sharing the tech helped to bear the development costs.
Pininfarina designed and manufactured the Cabrio, while the Dino Coupe was assembled at Bertone’s facilities.
1954 Fiat 8V Rapi
Did we just say the Dino was Fiat’s most high-end car ever? Oops, we might have to revisit that statement… While the Dino outperformed the 8V in every aspect, it was a true competitor to the prestige supercars of the ’50s, without help from Ferrari.
At the 1952 Geneva Show, Fiat announced a high-performance two-seater aerodynamic coupé, the 8V (Ottovu in Italian). It was the first Fiat with independent suspension front and rear. The engine came in two forms: a 115 bhp version revving up to 6,000 rpm and a more powerful variant producing 127 bhp at 6,600 rpm.
The 8 V distinguished itself in motorsport events and clinched the 1954 Italian sports car championship. This car is the factory body named after its designer, Luigi Rapi. Many other versions exist with bodies by the most famous coachbuilders of that era.
1948 Fiat 1100S Mille Miglia
The 1100 S sports coupe is an Art Deco masterpiece, and its design puts it above all the more capable cars on our list. The styling recalled the pre-war aerodynamic 2-seater coupes, but tech alone would not cut it, as it descended from the pre-war 508 C MM.
Fiat’s engineers worked hard to peak the engine at over 51 HP, bringing notable racing successes. It debuted in the 1948 Mille Miglia, finishing second, third, and fourth overall. Over 400 examples were produced, and we also spotted a green one at this year’s Bonhams Paris Auction.
