AutoCult Fiat 1500 Barchetta Kompressor (1943) (Italy)

About the Original:

The mysterious Italian

In recent times an exceptional car of Fiat mystifies those who are interested in car history. The car in question is a streamlined racecar.

Even experts have doubts whether the car was manufactured at the Fiat factory since strangely even the company does not know anything about the car. There are no historical and contemporary pictures existing and even written traditions about the car within the considerable literature of Fiat are not to be found. But the use of such a racecar surely should have left its marks in the reporting at that time. And this poses the next question - When? This prima facie simple question turns out to be a further problem! Experts doubt the stated year of manufacture 1943, as wartime events left no time for building such a classy racecar! The years 1946/ 47 and also 1948 are probably more realistic. Due to the lack of new technology the engineers used a prewar chassis and also the mounted six-cylinder engine with supercharger probably had its origin in the second half of the 1930s. It is possible that the body was newly crafted out of different, already existing aluminum parts, for example aircraft parts. But all that is and will be conjecture. With all the secrets, which grow around this car, it has to be considered as well that the car also might has been built right before World War II in 1938 or in the beginning of 1939. Especially visual aspects of the body and the whole design vocabulary of the car rather reflect the state of the prewar-art.

Be that as it might – the historians still have some work to do.