During the online auction Open Roads, The European Summer Auction proposed by RM Sotheby's from July 14 to 22, this stunning 1954 Fiat 8V Coupé is up for auction.
The current bid is currently of € 600,000 for an estimate price of € 1,200,000. Quite pricey for this beauty but there are some reasons as you'll find out in the rest of this post.
The Fiat 8V or Otto Vu (in Italian) was presented during the 1952 Geneva Motor Show and produced only 2 years until 1954. Only 114 examples were produced, first reason for this price, rarity.
The car was designed by Fabio Luigi Rapi, Fiat’s chief designer and former of Zagato but different coachworks have been produced :
🚗 34 by Fiat's Reparto Carrozzerie Special (Special Bodies Department of Fiat),
🚗 29 examples by Luigi Rapi for the Second series,
🚗 30 by the Italian coachbuilder Zagato known as Elaborata Zagato,
🚗 some examples done by Ghia,
🚗 and even a cabriolet version, 3 examples of Demon Rouge done by Vignale.
I'm sure you're wondering 🤔 why the car is called Fiat 8V and not V8. Fiat believed that Ford had exclusive rights to the name V8. But no...
As you see the design
it's the second reason...
With its lightweight and aerodynamic coachwork, the Fiat 8V was the star of the Salon in Geneva but the commercial success wasn't there. But on the racetrack, it was a different story with important successes at the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio and the victory of the Italian Championship in 1954 in the 2.0-litre class.
My favorite version of the Fiat 8V was presented in 1954 during the Turin Salon, Zagato introduced a coupé version in order to benefit of the fame gained on race events. 26 examples were hand built. Last year during an auction sale, an example was sold for € 1,771,250.
Pure beauty, non ?
1955 Fiat 8V Coupé by Zagato (source RM Sotheby's)
But let's rather go back to the example currently sold by RM Sotheby's, it's not bad either :
The Fiat 8V was created to competition use from the very start. It was equipped with 2 litre Tipo 104 aluminium developped by Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile engineer and designer. Completed with 2 Weber DCF3 carburetors, the Fiat 8V produces about 110 hp. Here's the third reason, a mechanic made for competition,
The lightweight body was mounted on a traditional tubular steel
chassis with independent suspension. This example was restored in 2017 and the gearbox changed by a synchromesh 8V gearbox to make the car easier to drive (although nothing prevents you from putting the original gearbox back on as it's included in the price).
Last reason but not least, the interior is just gorgeous with these gauges and upholstery :
