Information
- Eligible for the Mille Miglia: Fiat 1500 ran the Mille Miglia before the war and immediately after the war
- As a prewar car, it has the advantage of having a front position in the starting grid
- Stunning and highly detailed Touring design: a “miniature Alfa 6C.”
- One of fewer than a dozen still in existence
- Famous first owner: the gentleman driver Franco Spotorno, Mille Miglia driver and founder of an important
- Fiat dealershipOnly four owners since new and with its first Milano plate
- Thoroughly restored and mechanically perfect
Documents
Registration and Italian plates.
Eligibility
Registration and Italian plates.
Eligibility
- Mille Miglia. Eligible: One of a kind! Fiat 1500 ran the Mille Miglia before the war and immediately after the war. As a prewar car, it has the advantage of having a front position in the starting grid
- Giro di Sicilia. Eligible.
- Targa Florio. Eligible.
- Goodwood Revival. Eligible.
- Le Mans Classic. On average, eligible.
- Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti. Eligible.
- Vernasca Silver Flag. Eligible.
- California Mille: Eligible.
- Nürburgring Classic. Eligible.
- Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Eligible.
- Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Eligible.
- Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille.Eligible.
- Concorso d’eleganza Villa D’Este. Eligible.
Provenance
The model
The Fiat 1500 was a six-cylinder car produced by Fiat from 1935 to 1950. It was one of the first cars tested in a wind tunnel. The sleek style allowed an aerodynamic efficiency unique in a touring car and disproved the idea that aerodynamic vehicles would not sell well. An improved, second series model was introduced in 1939 distinguished, as it was Fiat's custom at the time, by a letter added to the model name: Fiat 1500 B. It had more powerful brakes and a handbrake acting on the transmission through a band brake instead than on the rear axle drum brakes as before. The 1500 B was otherwise virtually indistinguishable from the original model. The engine was 45 bhp, 1,493 ccs OHV straight six-cylinder engine, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with wishbones and coil springs, solid rear axle with hydraulic shock absorbers, a stabilising cross bar and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 2,800 mm. Between 1935 and 1948, Touring built the 6C Berlinetta Superleggera on FIAT 1500, FIAT 1500 B, C and D chassis. According to Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni and Angelo Tito Anselmi’s Touring Superleggera: Giant Among Italian Coachbuilders, several prototypes for the Fiat 1500 Touring Berlinetta were produced, but the limited run of cars produced resulted in combining the trim and design details of all of them. However, the basic shape remained the same: a fluid, elegant coupé, along with the lines of Touring Berlinetta’s grand design for the Alfa Romeo 6C. Carrozzeria Touring of Milan patented the Superleggera design using ultralight alloys and components with aluminium panels over a cage-like steel frame. It is not known the total number of models built in over ten years. Touring signed an exclusive agreement with FIAT and the Fiat Dealer of Milano (Franco Spotorno, that bought this car for personal use) according to which a small stock of chassis completed with mechanics could be set up with the customer's direct order and according to his preferences. Fewer than a dozen survived.
The car
The Fiat 1500 6C Berlinetta, chassis number 1500B033688, is a B model engine matching number with only four owners. This 1939 model features a “closed front” with large side slits for the flowing of the engine cooling air. This detail of the front and its air intakes was the object of continuous refinement in search of the best solution. The construction of the body is entirely aluminium with the side and rear glass in Plexiglas - invented in America a few years before. Among the characteristics of this model: the light alloy rims with a separable edge, a unique instrument panel created at the request of the customer, the velvet interiors Duca Visconti di Modrone. The first owner of this car, stated on a Reale Automobile Circolo d’Italia document, is Franco Spotorno. He was born in 1901 and from 1930 to 1938 ran several races with Fiat cars. In 1938, he ran the Mille Miglia together with Moscatelli with a Fiat 500 Testa Siata and finished 51st, second in its class. In 1938 Spotorno opened his first Fiat dealer.
Further research on this car is still underway. It is believed that the car was built in 1939 and registered at Reale Automobile Circolo d’Italia only on 2 March 1942 when was sold to the second owner by Franco Spotorno. The second owner was the Ditta Industrie Tessili G. Dellepiane which kept it during the war and until 1946, when it was sold to Aldo Asti, also in Milano. The car was remained unused after the war and was left as such until the mid-2000s when the fourth owner, the current one, decided to start a restoration to the highest standards. The philological restoration has kept the seats’ original plant hair and the original honeycomb radiator. The exceptional restoration was achieved with over 3000 hours of work documented by a thousand photographs. The only thing not restored is the original Milano plate! This “mini Alfa 6C” features an extremely rare and desirable Touring design, and as such, it holds a precious place in the history of Italian sporting coupés.
State of the Art: Thoroughly restored bodywork, interiors and mechanics respecting the original configuration.
The Fiat 1500 was a six-cylinder car produced by Fiat from 1935 to 1950. It was one of the first cars tested in a wind tunnel. The sleek style allowed an aerodynamic efficiency unique in a touring car and disproved the idea that aerodynamic vehicles would not sell well. An improved, second series model was introduced in 1939 distinguished, as it was Fiat's custom at the time, by a letter added to the model name: Fiat 1500 B. It had more powerful brakes and a handbrake acting on the transmission through a band brake instead than on the rear axle drum brakes as before. The 1500 B was otherwise virtually indistinguishable from the original model. The engine was 45 bhp, 1,493 ccs OHV straight six-cylinder engine, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with wishbones and coil springs, solid rear axle with hydraulic shock absorbers, a stabilising cross bar and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 2,800 mm. Between 1935 and 1948, Touring built the 6C Berlinetta Superleggera on FIAT 1500, FIAT 1500 B, C and D chassis. According to Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni and Angelo Tito Anselmi’s Touring Superleggera: Giant Among Italian Coachbuilders, several prototypes for the Fiat 1500 Touring Berlinetta were produced, but the limited run of cars produced resulted in combining the trim and design details of all of them. However, the basic shape remained the same: a fluid, elegant coupé, along with the lines of Touring Berlinetta’s grand design for the Alfa Romeo 6C. Carrozzeria Touring of Milan patented the Superleggera design using ultralight alloys and components with aluminium panels over a cage-like steel frame. It is not known the total number of models built in over ten years. Touring signed an exclusive agreement with FIAT and the Fiat Dealer of Milano (Franco Spotorno, that bought this car for personal use) according to which a small stock of chassis completed with mechanics could be set up with the customer's direct order and according to his preferences. Fewer than a dozen survived.
The car
The Fiat 1500 6C Berlinetta, chassis number 1500B033688, is a B model engine matching number with only four owners. This 1939 model features a “closed front” with large side slits for the flowing of the engine cooling air. This detail of the front and its air intakes was the object of continuous refinement in search of the best solution. The construction of the body is entirely aluminium with the side and rear glass in Plexiglas - invented in America a few years before. Among the characteristics of this model: the light alloy rims with a separable edge, a unique instrument panel created at the request of the customer, the velvet interiors Duca Visconti di Modrone. The first owner of this car, stated on a Reale Automobile Circolo d’Italia document, is Franco Spotorno. He was born in 1901 and from 1930 to 1938 ran several races with Fiat cars. In 1938, he ran the Mille Miglia together with Moscatelli with a Fiat 500 Testa Siata and finished 51st, second in its class. In 1938 Spotorno opened his first Fiat dealer.
Further research on this car is still underway. It is believed that the car was built in 1939 and registered at Reale Automobile Circolo d’Italia only on 2 March 1942 when was sold to the second owner by Franco Spotorno. The second owner was the Ditta Industrie Tessili G. Dellepiane which kept it during the war and until 1946, when it was sold to Aldo Asti, also in Milano. The car was remained unused after the war and was left as such until the mid-2000s when the fourth owner, the current one, decided to start a restoration to the highest standards. The philological restoration has kept the seats’ original plant hair and the original honeycomb radiator. The exceptional restoration was achieved with over 3000 hours of work documented by a thousand photographs. The only thing not restored is the original Milano plate! This “mini Alfa 6C” features an extremely rare and desirable Touring design, and as such, it holds a precious place in the history of Italian sporting coupés.
State of the Art: Thoroughly restored bodywork, interiors and mechanics respecting the original configuration.
Exhibition
Literature
- Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni e Angelo Tito Anselmi, Touring Superleggera: Giant Among Classic Italian Coachbuilders. Edizioni di Autocritica, Italia 1983
- Giovanni Bianchi Anderloni, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, Fucina Editore, Italia 2016.
Specialist Notes
Contact
Condition report
To request a Condition Report, please contact automotive@finarte.it
The department will provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that what Finarte declares with respect to the state of conservation of the objects corresponds only to a qualified opinion and that we are not professional conservators or restorers.
We urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. We always suggest prospective buyers to inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition during the exhibition days as indicated in the catalog.