1953 Fiat Other for sale
| 1953 Fiat Other | |
| Car Ad from: Hemmings View Original Ad | |
| Price: | Contact owner for Price |
| Contact: | View Original Ad from Hemmings |
| Location: | Emeryville, CA |
| Details: |
1953 Fiat 8V Elaborata by Zagato s/n 106.000022, Engine no. 104.000.000043 Grigio Fumo with Red Leather Fiat is one of Italyandrsquo;s oldest and greatest car manufacturers and, although remarkably successful in early motor racing, has made surprisingly few real sports cars. The Turin firm won the French Grand Prix in 1907 and again in 1922 when Nazzaro won the race at 79.10mph in the 2-liter Fiat. Yet the first notable sports car to emerge was, arguably, the 1933 Fiat 508 Balilla, following several class wins by various Fiats in the Mille Miglias of the late 1920s and early 30s. Fiat sprung something of a surprise at the 1952 Geneva Motor Show when they introduced their next competition car; the two liter vee-eight engined 8V. It was designed for motor racing and became very successful; its long and distinguished record including the 2 liter GT Championship of Italy in 1954. The light alloy V8 engine was novel in that the angle between cylinder banks was 70 degrees to keep the unit narrow, and the 8Vandrsquo;s chassis was of tubular steel: suspension was independent all round using components from other Fiat models. The Autocracy would comment this trim 2 liter two seater sports saloon attracts considerable attention even in its native Turin, which no doubt contains a higher proportion of artistic and well-balanced bodywork than most other cities. They finished their report stating that the 8V, is the type of car for which there is fairly limited demand, yet for the enthusiast requiring a fast 2 liter it would be difficult to find one which would provide better performance and road-holding and be more of a delight to drive. Dante Glacosa supervised the design and, because only 114 8Vandrsquo;s were constructed during the two year production period, they were mostly hand built. Similarly, the bodies were handcrafted at Fiat, Balbo, Pinnin Farina, Vignale, Ghia, or Zagato, and welded to the chassis frame. On many accounts the body shape was evolved in a wind tunnel. The 8V chassis and running gear were used by Fiat to take a gas turbine engine for research in 1954, a testament to their developmental efforts. Even among the rarity of the 8V, comparatively few cars featured these beautiful Elaborata bodies by the famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato. Responsible for some of the worldandrsquo;s most valuable post-WWII automobiles, Carrozzeria Zagato seems to have had the magic wand for creating timeless designs which effortlessly match form and functionality in the most elegant of shapes, and the Fiat Otto Vu Elaborata is no exception. Just five Elaboratas were created, all of them on chassis which originally featured more common Rappi bodies done in-house for Fiat. The company was in its relative incubation when the first designs where made and cars built, and similarly to Gabriel Voisin, Zagatos skills had been acquired while building fighter aircraft for the Italian Air Force. In transferring these principles to roadgoing machinery he created automobile bodies that were as light as they were beautiful. In the Zagato form, the 8V earned class wins at the 1955 Targa Florio and 1957 Mille Miglia, and claimed the 1956 Italian Sports Car Championship (2-Liter Class), a huge benchmark in the models competition pedigree. According to the research of Tony Adriaensens authoritative 2012 volume on the Otto Vu model, chassis number 106.000022 with engine 104.000.000043 is a matching numbers example which was sold new to Milanese owner on April 20, 1953, but shortly thereafter was sent to Carrozzeria Zagato where it the car received the iconic Double-Bubble aluminum bodywork, lightweight bumpers, Plexiglas side windows and other racing and weight saving features that only the Elaboratas had. Although this car carries the earliest chassis number of the 8V Zagato Elaboratas is not believed to have been the first completed of the only five done by Zagato. With its new |