Among the items found in a car’s history, I can’t remember ever reading “former clown car” on a vehicle’s resume. But that’s precisely what this 1957 Fiat Autobianchi here on eBay was used for, and truth be told, it does look like an ideal candidate for such a role. Although some Fiat enthusiasts may cringe, can you imagine 14 clowns crammed into this thing at the rodeo?
Given how fragile these cars can be, I’m actually surprised it has held up as well as it has considering it was likely beaten to heck every night. The motor is still with the Fiat and said to turn by hand, and I’m guessing it powered up when it was in use at the local rodeo. I’m surprised to see it located in California and not Texas, personally.
Regardless of location, it seems to be largely rust free with most of its damage purely cosmetic flaws related to being used as a clown car! It does look like the doors want to fall off of their hinges and the hood and trunk panels will need some serious work to function correctly again, but I doubt anyone is going to be restoring this battered Fiat.
There’s no interior, which makes senses if you wanted to cram as many clowns as possible into the cabin and drive around to the delight of rodeo attendees. Can you imagine how slowly this Fiat must have crawled through the mud with all that weight? I hope the previous owner never sees what happened to their pride and joy – unless the owner was a rodeo clown by profession and decided this was a fitting retirement! What do you think will happen next?
Not much there, sadly, but I bet the engine/transmission/transaxle would be worth the price of admission
I think I saw this car in person once – I went and had a tetanus shot afterward – good thing I knew an E.R. nurse in Yreka!
OMG !!! … This poor creature should be cast in a episode of the “Walking Dead”.
Looks lime one of the doors already fell off its hinges.
So sad to see souless cars still wandering around….quite possibly waiting for dead clowns or cheering crowds to re-appear ! Wait , maybe some rancher will lasso this baby up and put it out in his pasture for the cattle to brush up against! Hopefully someone will step forth and save this dwarf and bring out the sunshine once again!
A good paint job and it could be a good static display. Not worth fixing.
That’s my DREAM car…………
-Said no one ever.
watch your freaking mouth pal, I’ve been searching for this majestic vehicle for YEARS and I will NOT be disrespected like this
All, right it’s my turn to be “that guy”- this is an Autobianchi, not a Fiat or Fiat-Autobianchi. These cars were based on Fiats, but Autobianchi was its own brand. It’s sort of like calling a Firebird a Camaro or a Camaro-Firebird.
Pumpkin Center actually is a “town”,,, i.e., wide spot in the road just south of Bakersfield.
Here is what it looked like when new
Looks like the inspiration ofor what so many animators drew in the cartoons,,,
Could be this ones California Cousin, Even tho this one’s a Vespa.
I bought a Subaru 360 once that was advertised as a former clown car. The owner was a horse jockey and 5′ 2″ and about 120lb. The car had a cut down Boss 302 wing and was painted with Zolotone spatter paint then clear coated!
I believe, the official name is an Autobianchi Bianchina Trasformabile. This was the smallest Fiat engine at 15 hp. ( but updated in 1959 to, are you sitting down? 17 hp) Clowns have a pretty creepy reputation lately, although, I’ve always thought clowns were creepy. Might want to leave that out of the sale description. Personally, I’d dig a hole, bury this half way in the ground, and plant flowers around it.