If there is one car brand that specializes in popular and affordable models, it is Fiat. However, in the heritage of the Italian firm which, on July 11, celebrated its 125th anniversary, exclusive creations panicked the counters during the auctions.
Fiat: 5 failures that marked the history of the Turin firm
Fiat 8V Vignale (1954)
In this top 5 let’s start with a coupe dating from 1954 bodied by Vignale. It is a Fiat type 8V (pronounced Ottovù) which during an auction held in Italy by Finarte in 2018 reached the impressive sum of 2,170,230 euros, the equivalent of 136 Fiat Pandas. entry level.
The car has a 2-liter V8 engine open at 70° with a power of 110 hp. The model in question, among the 9 made, was the only one that had a racing record. Including participation in the 1955 Mille Miglia.
Fiat 8V Ghia (1953)
Still on the same basis (Fiat 8V), this is an example dressed in a special body made by Ghia based on the design of Giovanni Savonuzzi. The model dates from 1953, bears the name Supersonic and was only produced in 14 units. The example you have before your eyes benefited from a careful restoration between 2011 and 2014 and was then sold in 2023 by RM Sotheby’s for the equivalent of €2,324,743.
Fiat 8V Zagato (1953)
Third Fiat Ottovù in this ranking, this creation is signed by the famous Milanese coachbuilder Zagato who assembled 26 coupe examples each with a unique dress whose curves varied according to the desires of the customers. This is powered by a strong 125 hp racing engine powered by a pair of four-barrel Weber carburetors.
It successfully participated in several rallies of the era before benefiting from a three-year restoration completed in 2009 in the Netherlands. This Fiat 8V Zagatto found a buyer in December 2023 following a sale organized in California by RM Sotheby’s for the equivalent of 2,780,105 euros.
Fiat Turbina: all it’s missing are wings…
In the 1950s, it was not just American brands that were thinking about the future of the automobile, drawing inspiration from aeronautics. This Fiat Turbina prototype envisaged a jet future with, at the rear of the machine, a gas turbine, with 300 hp. A propeller worthy of an airplane capable of catapulting the car to 250 km/h.
In particular by means of controlled weight and careful aerodynamics, as evidenced by the record cX of 0.14. A record which also only fell 30 years later, in 1984. Preserved in the reserves of the brand’s museum in Turin, this unique prototype is valued at 6 million euros.
The most evil of all Fiats
Let’s finish with a century-old model, the demonic Fiat Mephistofele which in 1924 established the absolute land speed record at 234.98 km/h. To achieve this spectacular speed, the Englishman Ernest Eldridge, who built it from the chassis of a Fiat SB4 and then drove it, did not go there with the back of a spoon. It housed a Fiat A.12 engine borrowed from an airplane under the hood. A six-cylinder unit measuring a whopping 21 liters with a power of 320 hp.
