With a Fiat 500 Sport motor, it is one of the priciest and most exclusive small cars of its era.

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Autobianchi SpA

Origin: Milan, Italy

Production: 9,000

Motor: Fiat 2-cyl., 4-stroke

Displacement: 499.5 cc

Power: 25 hp

Length: 10 ft.

Identification No. 3435C

Founded in 1899 by Eduardo Bianchi, the Bianchi Company made vehicles for 56 years. These included full-size cars, tanks, and trucks with Mercedes engines. But the factory was destroyed during the war and he had been unable to recover. In 1955, Milanese industrialist Ferrucio Quintavalle organized a new company involving Bianchi, Fiat, and the Pirelli Tire Company, called Autobianchi SpA. Trucks would continue to be manufactured by the firm, and motorcycles would be manufactured by Eduardo Bianchi SpA.

Two years later, at the Milan show, the first car to carry the name Autobianchi arrived. The Bianchina Transformabile (Convertible) was one of the first adaptations of the 500 Nuova, using its chassis, engine, and transmission, but with a very attractively styled coupe body with a roll-back roof, reminiscent of the French Vespa 400.

In 1958, it was given a stronger engine and became available as a sedan, coupe, convertible, and station wagon. During this year, Giuseppe Bianchi, Eduardo’s son, sold the family holdings in Autobianchi to Fiat, and in 1963, Fiat gained full control. In 1960, just over 30,000 of these cars were built.

The 1960 Geneva show saw the debut of what was arguably the prettiest of all the models, the Bianchina Special Convertible. It was a little luxury car, with a luxury price, and it was immediately accepted by the fashionable jet setters as a second car or runabout. Designer Luigi Rapi drew a well-proportioned shape highlighted by a strong accent in the form of a side spear chrome molding. Interior fittings were more attractive. The indicators were fitted separately below the headlights, not on the bumper guards. The cooling slots on the side below the doors and the chrome borders below the body edge were eliminated. The windscreen was more angular. The model went through three series with minor alterations and improvements.

This Autobianchi Special Cabriolet is fitted with the Fiat 500 Sport motor introduced in 1959. This motor was bored out from 479 cubic centimeters to 499 cubic centimeters, and the compression ratio was increased from 7:1 to 8.6:1, giving a useful boost in horsepower from 21 SAE horsepower to 25 SAE horsepower. Top speed rose from the sedan’s 56 mph to 65 mph.

The cabriolet third series finished in 1968. The convertible (a coupe with roll-back roof) continued to be manufactured until 1970, while the sedan and station wagon ran until 1969. Notably, the special cabriolet, as demonstrated here, is rarer and, perhaps, even more attractive than the coupe.