Fiat's forgotten fastback

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Among Italian car manufacturers, Fiat are not known to be the greatest risk-takers. In the 1930s and '40s, however, they were treading a singular path in the world of aerodynamics far removed from the experiments of Kamm and von Koenig-Fachsenfeld. What's more, Fiat actually put their experiments into production.

The prewar 508C and immediately post-war 1100S MM were, in their own way, very important cars. While the Italian coachbuilders of the day busied themselves with ever more dramatic coachwork designed to turn heads at concours, Fiat created a truly beautiful example of form following function, and created a car civilised enough for grand touring and able enough to win races. Sadly, today these astonishing cars are almost completely unknown outside their native country. Fiat fuoriserie historian Alessandro Sannia has tried to address the balance with an English-language history of the cars, which is published in the latest issue of The Automobile, which is out now. The sensational photographs are by Nick Clements.

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