I wouldn’t normally write about the humble Fiat 500 on these pages, but a very rare and equally special exception is about to go to auction.
Built in 1958, it’s called the Fiat 500 Spiaggina Boano. Believed to be one of only two ever built, it was first owned by Gianni Agnelli, the former Fiat president, Italian industrial titan and style icon. So it’s safe to say, this is no common-or-garden Fiat 500.
Described by the RM Sotheby’s auction house as being in highly original but unrestored condition, the car is described as having “unrepeatable provenance”. It once appeared in Vogue magazine, the auction listing says, and sparked a trend for beach cars built to capture “la dolce vita”.
Thought to be the only surviving example, it is a truly unique car and features coachwork designed by Carrozzeria Ghia’s Mario Boano, hence the model name. It is based on the floor pan and mechanical components of the regular Fiat Nuova 500, Sotheby’s says, then upgraded with lashings of wood trim, woven front seats and a plush rear passenger bench.
When new, the car was reportedly used by Agnelli and his driver Bernardino Aiassa for entertaining friends and dignitaries at the Fiat president’s Villa Leopolda resistance in France.
Sotheby’s says how the car was given to Aiassa in 1973 and was then sold to Mario Rosso a year later. It was recently rediscovered by a Turin, Italy-based collector and exhibited at the Concorso d-Eleganza Villa d-Este, an exclusive car show and concours on the shore of Lake Como, in 2018.
As for the price? RM Sotheby’s estimates the unique little Fiat could achieve between €270,000 and €290,000 (approximately $290,000 to $315,000) when it is offered in Paris on 31 January.