Fiat built cars for the masses, yet some very exclusive cars wore the same badge. The Fiat 8V, with only 114 made, sits at one end of the scale. At the other is a six-seat van built on the tiny Fiat 600.
The seven below are the Fiats that make people turn around in a parking lot. Each has a design story, a strange engine or a build count that explains why. Every figure comes from an auction house, a buyer’s guide, Fiat’s own heritage office or a specialist history.
1. 1952–1954 Fiat 8V
The Fiat 8V was a low-volume sports car from a maker better known for small sedans. Dante Giacosa developed its powertrain, a 2.0-litre all-aluminium Tipo 104 engine with eight cylinders, a forged crankshaft and a finned sump. Fiat’s chief designer, Fabio Rapi, drew 63 of the bodies himself, split across two series.
Production ended after just 114 cars, according to RM Sotheby’s lot essay for a 1954 Fiat 8V Coupé. That rarity shows up in the price. In fact, the same car sold for €905,000 at RM’s Paris sale in 2022, after racing at the Goodwood Revival in 2015.
2. 1956 Fiat 600 Multipla
The Multipla took the tiny rear-engined Fiat 600 and turned it into a people carrier. It made its debut at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1956, and it seated up to six in three rows. Dante Giacosa designed it at Centro Stile Fiat, so the same engineer links the 8V to this little van.
Power was modest. Stellantis Heritage lists a 633 cc four-cylinder with 21.5 hp at 4,600 rpm and a 90 km/h top speed. Then, with the 600 D update of 1960, a Taxi version arrived with a meter on the dash. Its black-over-bottle-green paint became a fixture of Italian cities during the economic boom.
3. 1961 Fiat 2300 S Coupé
This grand tourer started as a show car on Ghia’s stand at the 1960 Turin Motor Show. Fiat liked it enough to order a production version, and Ghia’s Sergio Sartorelli refined the design. Because Ghia could not build enough of them, the coachbuilder OSI handled assembly instead.
The S models got help from Abarth before they left the factory. Petrolicious reports that Abarth raised the compression, fitted a sharper camshaft and added two twin-choke Webers. As a result, the Lampredi-designed 2,279 cc six went from 117 hp to 150 hp, and every S also had four-wheel disc brakes.
4. 1966 Fiat Dino Spider
The Dino Spider exists because Ferrari needed help with racing paperwork. Ferrari wanted its 2.0-litre V6 approved for Formula 2, which required 500 engines a year. Since Maranello could not build that many, Fiat agreed to make the engines and a car to carry them.
Pininfarina shaped the Spider, which made its debut at the 1966 Turin show. According to RM Sotheby’s, the first V6 made 160 hp, while the 2.4-litre engine of 1969 made 180 hp. RM puts the 2400 Spider at about 425 cars. Meanwhile, a 1971 example sold for $335,000 at Monterey in 2025.
5. 1971–1977 Fiat 130 Coupé
Fiat’s big luxury coupé was built by Pininfarina rather than in Fiat’s own plant. Paolo Martin styled it, and he also worked on the Lancia Beta Montecarlo and the Rolls-Royce Camargue. The coupé appeared in spring 1971, two years after the 130 sedan.
It was full of clever touches. For example, the driver could pull a lever to open the passenger door, as The Truth About Cars notes. Power came from a 3.2-litre twin-cam V6 rated at 165 hp. Fiat built 4,294 coupés before production ended in 1977, and the model had no successor.
6. 1993–2000 Fiat Coupé
American designer Chris Bangle styled the Coupé at Fiat’s Centro Stile before he went on to lead design at BMW. Pininfarina built the car and designed its cabin, and its losing exterior proposal later became the Peugeot 406 Coupé.
Under the hood, the early 2.0 16v Turbo used the Lancia Delta Integrale’s engine and made 195 bhp. Later, the five-cylinder 20v Turbo raised that to 220 bhp and 149 mph. Classic & Sports Car’s buyer’s guide counts 72,762 built and warns that rust is becoming a serious issue on some cars.
7. 1995–2005 Fiat Barchetta
Barchetta means “little boat,” and the roadster arrived in 1995 on shortened Fiat Punto underpinnings. Coachbuilder Maggiora built the early cars and hand-finished each body for paint, though later cars were Fiat-built. Every one was left-hand drive, which is why so few appear on British roads.
Its 1.8-litre twin-cam made 131 PS and pushed the 1,056 kg car to 62 mph in 8.9 seconds. Goodwood’s classic insurance team says fewer than 60,000 were built. By its count, fewer than 400 remain on UK roads, and mint early cars now top £15,000.
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