If you think that the cars produced by Fiat are just small cars with a reasonable price, then prepare to change your mind. Yes, because in its 125-year history, Fiat has also been a brand winning in racesmanufacturer of luxury and sports cars and also a powerful model called 8V due to its powerful eight-cylinder engine.
Some of these Italian jewels have become collectible classics and are there Fiat millionairessold at the most important auctions in the world and kept in museums.
To demonstrate that even a Fiat can be a masterpiece of a car to be looked after with care and handed down to posterity, we have decided to offer you this list of Rarest and most expensive Fiats ever.
The list contains many confirmations and some surprises, from the aforementioned “Ottovù” to the very small “Cinquino”, passing through an equally popular 1100. Discover with us what these are ten works of art made in Turin, chosen from among the best known and best known. This does not mean that there are others of even higher value in private collections or in the most important museums.
Fiat Nuova 500 (1964) – 57,500 euros
Photo at: Bonhams
Fiat Nuova 500 (1964), the most expensive Cinquino ever
The best way to start the list of the most precious and rare Fiats is with the legendary “Cinquino”, also known as Fiat 500 or, in its official name, Fiat Nuova 500. One of the most iconic cars of the Italian company, the 500 would not be included in the brand’s Top 10 for economic value, but it is impossible not to mention the 500 which costs more.
It’s one Fiat 500 D from 1964, not even the rarest or most ancient of the Cinquino lineage, which in the course of athis Bonhams del 2021 in the Netherlands must have bewitched the new buyer who came to spend the beauty of 57.500 euro to have it. The little one in question is painted in Aquamarine Green and underwent a quality restoration in 2016 to present itself in excellent condition. It’s hard to believe, given the price.
Fiat 522 C Torpedo Sport Viotti (1931) – 524,115 euros
Fiat 522 C Torpedo Sport Viotti (1931), half a million euros for a classic
Continuing the escalation of rarity and increasingly higher prices we discover a pre-war car like the Fiat 522 C Torpedo Sport from 1931, another unique example with Viotti bodywork also exhibited at the 1932 Olympia Motor Show in London.
For Fiat it represented the return to sports cars, with a 2.5 liter inline 6-cylinder engine and 52 HP. Sold in May 2019 by Finarte per 524.115 eurothis Fiat belonged to Giulio Vignale (grandson of the coachbuilder Alfredo Vignale) who registered it in Italy in 1972 with the personalized plate “TOG00522”.
Fiat 1100C Spider Frua (1946) – 553,145 euros
Fiat 1100C Spider Frua (1946), a unique example worth over half a million euros
Unique example and first work of a famous coachbuilder. These are two factors that make it truly special Fiat 1100C Spider bodied by Pietro Frua in 1946 and second in category in the 1947 Villa d’Este Cup.
The first car created by Frua is an exercise in exceptional style based on the Italian sedan with a 1,098 cc four-cylinder engine and was thoroughly restored in 2016. It is now immaculate and shiny and in January 2019 it was sold tothis Bonhams for the equivalent of 553.145 euro.
Fiat Eden Roc Pinin Farina (1956) – 632,714 euros
Fiat Eden Roc Pinin Farina (1956), on the beach with the Agnelli family
There is also a “spiaggina” among the most expensive Fiats ever, but it is perhaps the most famous summer car from the Turin company. It’s there Fiat Eden Roc from 1956, made in two examples by Pinin Farina for the Agnelli family.
The base is the Fiat 600 Multipla, completely open bodywork, without doors, with a low windshield and mahogany and teak wood finishes in a luxury motorboat style. Sold in 2015 at auction Gooding & Company in California for the equivalent of 632.714 euro.
Fiat Tipo 6 Demi-Tonneau (1911) – 843,618 euros
Fiat Tipo 6 Demi-Tonneau (1911), more than a hundred years old and not hearing it
The return to the origins of the Fiat brand is represented by Fiat Tipo 6 Half-Tonneau four-seater from 1911, one of the most luxurious cars of its time, powered by a 9-litre, 75 HP four-cylinder engine and chain transmission.
It is one of 28 examples built, perfectly restored and sold in 2015 by Gooding & Company at Pebble Beach for the equivalent of 843,618 euros.
Fiat 8V Vignale (1954) – 2,170,230 euros
Fiat 8V Vignale (1954), one of nine built
The first of the Ottovùs present in this ranking is also the most expensive Fiat ever to change hands at an Italian auction, with a hammer price of 2.170.230 euro.
The reason lies both in the rarity of the model and in its special bodywork Fiat 8V Vignale from 1954, the only “coupé-corsa” of the nine Vignale coupés designed by Michelotti. Plus there is a long sporting history that includes the 1955 Mille Miglia and a total of 37 races. The car was sold in Italy by Finarte in 2018.
Fiat 8V Supersonic Ghia (1953) – 2.324.743 euro
Photo at: RM Sotheby’s
Fiat 8V Supersonic Ghia (1953), two million euros for the supersonic style
With the Fiat 8V Supersonic from 1953 we continue with the large group of the very precious “Ottovù”, specifically with a special Ghia bodywork designed by Giovanni Savonuzzi.
We are talking about one of the 14 examples built with aeronautical and futuristic shapes on the trellis frame and two-liter, 135 HP V8 engine. The specimen sold in 2023 by RM Sotheby’s for the equivalent of 2.324.743 euro It has been perfectly preserved by just four owners and received a meticulous restoration between 2011 and 2014.
Fiat 8V Berlinetta Zagato (1953) – 2,780,105 euros
Photo at: RM Sotheby’s
Fiat 8V Berlinetta Zagato (1953), racing engine and pure “Z” design
Alta Fiat millionaire, another Ottovù, but this time we’re talking about Fiat 8V Berlinetta Zagato from 1953, the work of the famous Milanese coachbuilder Zagato who built 26 of them with closed bodywork, with shapes that were always slightly different depending on the client’s tastes.
The engine is the 125 HP racing Type 104.004 with two four-barrel Weber carburettors which successfully participated in several rallies of the time before receiving a three-year restoration completed in 2009 in the Netherlands. RM Sotheby’s sold it in December 2023 in California for the equivalent of 2.780.105 euro.
Fiat Turbina (1954) – 6 million euros
Photo by: Stellantis
Fiat Turbina (1954), a look at the possible future of the sports car
Once the Fiats sold at auction are finished, two wonderful “custom-built” cars from the Lingotto remain to be evaluated, housed in museums, but extremely precious for their historical value. The first one we examine is the legendary Fiat Turbina from 1954, partly based on the 8V, but with a 300 HP gas turbine at the rear and a speed of around 250 km/h thanks also to the record Cd of 0,14.
The unique example remained a research prototype and is today an integral part of the Turin Automobile Museum. As happens with some works of art, it is not easy to define a price for the Fiat Turbina. If one day it were to be sold it could certainly aim for prices in the order of 6 million eurosprobably knows even more. Suffice it to say that a 1:5 scale model of the time is now worth almost 12,000 euros
Fiat Mefistofele (1924) – Over 10 million euros
Photo by: Stellantis
Fiat Mefistofele (1924), the one with the speed record of 234.98 km/h
At the top of the ranking we place an authentic piece of automotive history, the Fiat Mefistofele which in 1924 was the only Italian car to conquer the absolute land speed record: 234.98 km/h. The car was designed and driven by the Englishman Ernest Eldridge who built it starting from the chassis of a Fiat SB4 and adding the Fiat A.12 aeronautical engine with six cylinders in line, 21 liters of displacement and 320 HP.
The economic value of this piece, still able to “run” and kept in the Fiat Historic Center in Turin, is very difficult to define. The higher the historical value, but if you want to venture a price you can hypothesize a figure even higher than 10 million euros.
Source: it.motor1.com
