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The wicker car

The Steeple Times
The whicker car – 1970 Fiat 850 Spiaggetta by Michelotti – £47,000 to £63,000 ($69,000 to $92,000 or €60,000 to €80,000) – RM Sotheby’s – Monaco auction – 14th May 2016 – Count Augusta – AugustaWestland – Seaside estate or yacht tender car

Eccentric Fiat 850 Spiaggetta car with wicker interior to be auctioned

 

Originally owned by the Augusta family – of helicopter manufacturing fame – a truly eccentric Fiat is to be auctioned in Monaco on the 14th May with an estimate of £47,000 to £63,000 ($69,000 to $92,000 or €60,000 to €80,000).

 

The wicker car – The 1970 Fiat 850 Spiaggetta by Michelotti that will be offered by RM Sotheby’s in Monaco on the 14th May

 

The pure white 1970 Fiat 850 Spiaggetta by Michelotti offered is one of just eighty made and it comes complete with a wicker interior with durable red cloth cushions and matching red carpeting. Its internal doors are described as being as “reminiscent of a rowboat” and are timbered and the vehicle, amazingly, is said to be capable of driving “comfortably at 60mph” despite its flimsy appearance.

 

The interior of the car is especially eccentric and features garden chair type seating and rowboat style woodwork
The pinched inner tail and circular lamps later provided inspiration for those on the Ferrari Mondial
The wicker car with its roof removed

 

Fitted with “luxury features” of a stereo and heater, other examples of the car were owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Dutch royal family. They were typically used as tenders for yachts and on seaside estates and auctioneers RM Sotheby’s describe the example they offer as: “The perfect automobile for the man or woman who really does have everything”.

 

Update: 15th May 2016: Sold close to lower estimate for £48,600 ($69,700 or €61,600).

 

 

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