AutoCult Fiat 2100 Berlina Speciale (1959) (Italy)

About the Original:

From a usual Fiat to a state car

The sounding lettering “Special” or “Speciale” added to the usual type designation of the Fiat 2100 marked the leap from a conventional car to a classy luxury sedan.

Main difference was the newly designed front end with its thick, horizontal-running chrome bars, which span over the whole width of the car’s front. A chromed bumper marked the lower end and above two twin headlights characterized the distinctive face of the car. Anyone who bought the 2100 Special and went for the whitewall tires, which were available at extra charge, together with the nobly appearing dark blue metallic varnish, could travel and feel like a aristocrat behind his steering wheel. The feeling of sitting in real luxury-class sedan began already with starting the engine. The six-cylinder in-line engine with 86 hp whirred with a low vibration but was able to accelerate the 1.5-ton-heavy car up to a high speed of 150 km/h. The visual upgrade helped to provide the Fiat 2100 with the addition “Special” in its type designation a place in the exclusive circle of state cars. One of the most famous owners of such a car was the Vatican City. Nevertheless the nobler version of the Fiat 2100 could not gain great popularity.

In the end exactly 1,174 copies of the “Special sedan”, whose car body was made at the in-house coach-building department named “Carozzerie Speciali Fiat”, left the factory of Fiat. The car body of the Special was exactly 16 centimeters longer than the version of the conventional Fiat 2100.