1969 Fiat

turquoise

Possibly the most beautiful 4 seater coupe ever made!! 1969 Fiat by Vignale Samantha Coupe. Runner up in the 2012 Classic car of the year awards by Practical Classics and Classic car weekly. Designed by Alfredo Vignale, less than100 of these beautiful cars were ever made and only 27 in RHD. Under it's previous ownership the car has undergone a 17 year (yes 17 year) on/off restoration by RM Restorations in Colchester The finished product is absolutely adorable! When the car was first restored the owner decided to have the original 1608cc twin cam engine rebuilt and during the rebuild a larger 1995cc twin cam unit from a Fiat Argenta was fitted which remains in the car today but the original 1608cc engine comes with the car. The car has a large and comprehensive history and restoration file which makes fascinating reading. I believe this to be the only Vignale Samantha registered in the UK today (and perhaps the only surviving RHD model.) History of the Vignale Samantha. As well as the magnificent Vignale-penned Ferraris and Maseratis (among countless others), the Turin-based design house was often enlisted by Fiat for limited editions, prototypes and motor-show concepts. Alfredo Vignale personally drew the Samantha, as he wanted a luxury coupe for regular long trips. It is believed that the Samantha was named after one of his daughters. Based on the production 125S, the elegant coupe retained the same 1.6-litre 100HP engine but was cloaked in a beautiful, quintessentially 60s, coupe body. Inside, the Samantha is very well equipped for its time, with then-trick electric windows and an advanced sound system to make long journeys that little bit more comfortable. Some 100 cars were built in the late 60s and distributed around the world via independent specialists. The Legend We could thank Greek casino tycoon Frixos Demitriou for the RHD Samantha. It is reputed that in exchange for a gambling debt, he went to visit the Vignale factory and was offered 200 of the companies cars, configured in right hand drive, for resale in the UK. A mixture of Gamines, 850s, 124 Evelines and 125 Samanthas were subsequently built and shipped. But, in the end the venture failed and a fleet of unsold cars followed Demitriou back to Cyprus. In 1970 Demitriou died under bizarre circumstances when an army tank ran over his Vignale-Fiat while he was still inside!! The incident followed Alfredo Vignale's own unexplained passing, also in a Vignale-Fiat in 1969 just three days after he had sold the Vignale factory to De Tomaso (Ferrari's bitter rivals), for preparing their Ghia bodied Pantera for production. This stunningly beautiful car is a legend which will continue to fascinate those with a love of motoring history and folk-lore and is a thing of rare beauty which can only soar in value!!!