Our Favorite Fiats
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
In this feature, we’ll focus on the Fiats at Italian Car Day at Brooklands.
fiat balilla
Kadoorie’s Perfecto Balilla
The little winglet on the rear of the coachwork and the superb finish to the car.
By Graham Gauld
To me the Fiat Balilla 508 has always been one of the most stylish small sports cars of the 1930s and it was certainly a very successful model for Fiat.
The model I want to talk about, however, is a particular “Coppa D’Oro” model owned by the Hong Kong-based businessman Sir Michael Kadoorie, owner of the Peninsula Hotel Group and, incidentally, the Quail Lodge Golf Club at Laguna Seca, California.
Fiat 508 Balilla Mille Miglia Berlinetta
The neatest, prettiest, most Italianate small displacement pre-war coupe ever made.
In one sense, the paltry 998 cc 36 hp Fiat Balilla Mille Miglia Berlinetta Coupe is much ado about very little. In another sense, it is the quintessential example of prewar Italian design in miniature and very nearly takes your breath away. And the name is no auction house hype; Mille Miglia Berlinetta it was from the day it rolled out of the factory in 1935.
If looks aren’t enough, consider that the ultra-rare MM Berlinetta may be one of the first true Grand Touring cars ever conceived, and most certainly one of the first small displacement GT cars ever built.
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