The Fiat 1100 was the Swiss army knife of the automotive world. It was cheap transportation for thousands of people in berlina form; it was sportily elegant when clothed by a coachbuilder; it raced; it rallied; and it hauled… stuff! Today’s example is a 1955 Industriale dropside pickup, giving a ride to a Vespa scooter in coordinating livery. This pair will be auctioned at Gooding Christie’s Retromobile Auction on January 29th in Paris, France. The estimate is €20,000 – €30,000. There is no reserve, however, leaving open the possibility that someone may go home with a bargain. Thanks to Araknid78 for finding this charming couple for our scrutiny!
The heart of Fiat’s 1100 is its tiny four-cylinder OHV engine. Born with about 35 hp, later versions squeezed 50 hp from these tiny chambers, thanks to a twin-choke Weber and increased compression ratio. The gearbox remained a four-speed manual throughout the 1100’s production run (this one a column-shift), which extended from 1953 through 1969 in Europe and until 2000 in India under license. This example was registered from new in Modena by a farmer’s family. Sold to a collector in 1992, the little truck was lucky enough to become the subject of an intensive, twenty-year restoration that culminated in 2012. Staged with a non-registered Vespa, the truck was sold in 2021 by RM Sotheby’s for €22,000. Once in new hands, the truck received mechanical attention to refresh its running condition.
Like most vintage Italian machinery, the interior is at once stylish and simple. The hinged seat backs, the metal dash with its minimal instrumentation, and the two-tone paint blend perfectly with the tobacco upholstery. I think that’s the spare tire peeking out from behind the passenger’s seat.
The dropside was made for only two years in small quantities by request only. Also on the rare side are Fiat’s wooden box pickups. Fixed-side, all-steel pickups are more common. While convertible coachbuilt 1100s will sell well into six figures, these pickups are the bargains of the model range; we saw a few with asking prices in the four-figure area. As charming as these two are, I would be hard-pressed to find them jobs around the farm. I can’t imagine throwing gravel in the back, or even hay. Maybe puttering around on weekends from coffee shop to post office?
I wonder if they brought back the old Ranger/S10/ Dakota with a bed like this, would there be much demand?
Maybe.. if the tailgate didn’t block the taillights and license plate….
Expanded metal panels over the lights?
Remember the old VW’s had holes for the rear lights in the tailgates???
Hmm…. Make the tailgate removable and stow it in a pocket on one of the side pieces….
Or make it fold inward and stow under a hinged panel..
Gonna need ratchet straps…
Sign me up! I was in Italy back in the 1990’s for some deployments while in the Air Force. The trucks they made are so much more utilitarian than the US trucks. In many ways, they were large versions of the kei trucks of Japan.
I drove either a Fiat, or a Alfa Romeo. Both were olive drab, 5 cyl turbo diesel front wheel drive 4 door, 6 seat stadium seating 5 on the tree(!) fold down flat beds. I was seriously impressed with them.
Nice write-up Michelle. And Thanks for the Acknowledgment. I wouldn’t mind adding this little gem to my stable
Very cool little truck that I had never seen before. (Or maybe I did in pictures from India where it was so overloaded that you couldn’t see what was underneath.) Anyway, thanks for the write up Michelle!
Time to start researching what it would cost to get it here I think it would be a fun little rig to have my problem is I would use it as a truck so it wouldn’t be museum quality.
I had a ’61 sedan version of this that had a fold-down back seat so the total bed was ’bout five feet long. It was a neat car, fun to drive and was good for just about 85 MPH.
Oh, for those of you down on anything but a floor shifter, let me tell you that its column-shifted 4-speed would give your on-the-floor desire a run for the money. Back in the ’50s sport car mags spoke of Brit shifters “falling readily to hand.” Great. But you still had to take your hand off the wheel to switch cogs and this thing obviates that need. Flick, flick, with both paws on the round thing. Yee HA!
Yes, I like a column shift too! Have a few, and the easy reach to get the shift done is great. I’m not too swift at finding reverse on the column shift cars, but everything else is at least as good as floor-shift.