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Chassis:
Shown at the 1954 Geneva Motor Show, this Fiat 8V was fitted with the tenth Supersonic body built by Ghia. Following its show duties, the car was brought to the United States by Chrysler chairman K.T. Teller, who had a close association with Ghia. The car was then delivered to its first private owner, Lou 'The Speed King' Fageol. He was famous as a successful power-boat racer while his company also built several twin-engined cars. Fageol brought the car to the seventh Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance before making several modifications to it. Fortunately, these were not invasive and were later reversed by his son following Fageol's passing in 1961.
The family retained the car until 1968 and it has just two more owners before it joined the stable of a Mr Farber in 1979. At that time, the exotic Fiat engine had been replaced by a more readily available and easier to service Chevrolet small block. Farber was keen to have the car restored to its original configuration and spent many years researching it and eventually also managed to track down the original V8. The restoration finally started in 2007 and took a further eight years to complete. Shortly after, the rare Supersonic was acquired by the late Orin Smith, who showed it at Amelia Island in 2016 where it promptly received the People's Choice award. A year, it was consigned to the RM Sotheby's official Amelia Island sale.
Chassis details |
Manufactured in |
1953 |
Engine number |
104.000*000085 |
First owner |
Lou Fageol |
Appearances |
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Most recent auction(s) |
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