The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
Carrozzeria Zagato got in total 32 chassis (according to other sources 30) of the Fiat 8V, from which at least one Spider was built.
This Fiat 8V Spider Zagato has the chassis number 000005. The car was originally built as a coupé by Fiat in 1952 and sold to the industrialist Franco Auricchio from Cremona. He left the coupé to the racing drivers Vincenzo Auricchio and Piero Bozzinio for the Mille Miglia 1952, in which they finished 5th in the class up to 2000 cc. He later passed the car on to racing driver Ovidio Capelli, who sent the coupe to Zagato to have a lightweight Barchetta built. The vehicle was badly damaged in an accident in a race in Sardinia. In this condition he sold the racing car to the Leto di Priolo brothers. They sent the car back to Zagato, who built a new and different Spider body. This racing car, known also as the 8VZ Spider, was used by Massimo Leto di Priolo in the Grand Prix of Sweden on August 7, 1955 in the GT class up to 2 liters. Leto di Priolo achieved 2nd place with the vehicle. The Fiat 8V Spider Zagato is now part of a private collection.
In March 1952, Fiat surprised the world at the Geneva Motor Show with the Fiat 8V. A two-seater sports car that was also designed as a racing car. What was surprising was that Fiat had not shown any interest in re-entering the racing scene up to this point.
