The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
When it first came on the market in 1933, this sports version of the Balilla (the nickname of the 508) mounted a more powerful (30 bph) variant of its side-valve engine and a 3-speed gearbox.
This arrangement was eventually exchanged for a 4-speed transmission with overhead valve timing that added another 6 bhp. The original two-seater bodywork by Ghia had elongated mudguards. The Coppa d’Oro version (so named after the 508 won this cup in the 1934 Giro d’Italia Race) was fitted with single, motorcycle-type mudguards. In 1967 Vignale unveiled the Fiat 500 Gamine which styling was inspired by the Fiat 508 S Balilla Coppa d’Oro.
The story of Carrozzeria Vignale represents one of the many somewhat forgotten success stories born against the backdrop of an Italy that was torn apart by the Second World War and which, starting from the end of the 1950s, was able to recover enough to know a real miracle. economical just a few years later.
The beginning In tracing the genealogy of coachbuilding firms, it turns out that they originated in the early years of the last century as…
Mario Revelli di Beaumont, of ancient Piedmontese noble origins, was born in Rome on June 25th 1907 from Abiel Bethel, a well-known weapons designer, and by Lucia Bonomi.
