Thursday, August 4, 2022

Some Customized Fiat 1400s: Monviso to Zagato

I last wrote about this topic here.   It concerns custom bodies by Italian carrozzieri on Fiat's first post- World War 2 model, the 1400 (Wikipedia entry here).

The 1400 was not long, having a wheelbase of 104.3 inches (2650 mm).  That was enough to allow the stylists opportunities to create pleasing designs.   For instance, the Cisitalia 202 that served as the basis for Pinin Farina's legendary postwar Italian-theme-setting design had a wheelbase of only 94.5 inches (2400 mm), so some interesting 1400 applications might be expected.

Below are some designs by Monviso, Pinin Farina, Savio, Stabilimenti Farina, Touring, Vignale and Zagato.  Photo quality varies, the poorest images were the best I could find of selected cars on Internet searches.  In some cases, dates shown are approximations.

Gallery

1950 Fiat 1400 unitized body structure
This is the four-door sedan body that had all the structural elements.

1950 Fiat 1400 Cabriolet
Cabriolets obviously lacked passenger greenhouse structuring, so probably retained the lower-body elements plus stiffening additions.  Cabriolets formed the basis for the fixed-top custom bodies pictured below.

1953 Fiat 1400 coupe by Monviso
A pleasant design, though the greenhouse seems tall for the early 1950s.  Note that the door is hinged on the B-pillar, unlike the stock cabriolet above.

1951 Fiat 1400 by Pinin Farina
Another design with minimal body sculpting.  Farina's greenhouse is much shorter than Monviso's -- perhaps too short (though the lower body is higher, resulting in similar overall height).

1953 Fiat 1400 Berlina by Pinin Farina
A later Farina interpretation with a taller greenhouse. The three-box (bustleback) format shortens the greenhouse, perhaps adding to the height effect.

1950 Fiat 1400 Landau by Savio
The aft end seems tapered, creating a sportier look.

1957 Fiat 1400 B Berlina by Savio
Much later than the other designs shown here.  Even though there are four doors, the body did not use all the unibody elements shown in the image at the top.  My guess is that this, too, is cabriolet-based.  Note that the doors are hinged on the B-pillar.  The passenger greenhouse, wheel openings and fenderline are American-inspired, though the "inverted frenching" of the headlight assemblies is not.

1951c Fiat 1400 Gentleman by Stabilimenti Farina
Stabilimenti Farina also made a cabriolet version of this design.  The coupe shown here is a fastback, unlike most others shown here.  The carrozzieri created their own grille designs in most cases.

1950 Fiat 1400 Berlinetta by Touring
A pleasing design seen from this perspective, though the grille with contrasting bar orientations seems too complicated.

1950 Fiat 1400 Berlinetta by Touring
The same design with what appears to be a stock 1950 Fiat 1400 grille.  Like the Savio design above, the aft is tapered.  The hoodline also falls off.  Those details combined with the curved fenderline result in a somewhat stumpy-looking car.

1950 Fiat 1400 Orchidea by Vignale
Another low greenhouse.  Here is a fastback with an interesting American-style backlight window treatment.  The front fender overlap of the rear fender near the C-pillar creates an unnecessarily busy feeling to that part of the design.

1951 Fiat 1400 Primula coupe by Vignale
A later, cleaner, more successful treatment of the fastback theme.

1951 Fiat 1400 Panoramica by Zagato
Very poor quality image.  In those days Zagato built a number of bodies with plexiglass inserts above the side windows and windshield.  The idea was to create better outside visibility, but the result was aesthetically clunky.

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