1939 Fiat 508C Balilla Convertible Saloon

Description

AMENDMENT
From a deceased estate; first owned by the Earl of Listowel; interesting history from new; current owner 29 years; unfinished project; Mille Miglia eligible; find another one! 

The Fiat 508 Balilla was in production from 1932 – 1939 but changed considerably over that time, morphing from a very traditional and upright pre-war car into a much more modern and streamlined machine with the arrival of the 508C in 1937. There were also some wonderful coachbuilt Sport Spider and Aerodinamica versions which have fetched £150k+ at auction in the past. In fact a 1934 508S Aerodinamica made over 184k Euros at the Artcurial Retromobile sale earlier this month.   

While the early cars made do with a 20bhp 995cc engine and a 3-speed gearbox, the 508C had a 32bhp 1,089cc four-cylinder unit mated to 4-speed transmission which gave it a top speed of 60mph. Unusual for a small car of the time was the independent front suspension which gave it fine ride and handling and made it popular among the racing fraternity, even competing in the Mille Miglia, an event for which the 508C is still eligible. Around 57,000 were built in total including Berlina, Spider, 2-door Cabriolet and 4-door Convertible Saloon versions and survivors are exceedingly rare today.

As the buff logbook confirms, this 508C Convertible 4-door pillarless Saloon was first registered in January 1939 and was originally owned by the 5^th Earl of Listowel who kept it at his London address in Dolphin Square SW1, an estate of upmarket apartments that was home to over 70 MPs and a dozen Lords in the late 1930s.  

Born in 1906, Listowel had a distinguished career in the House of Lords from 1932 onwards, serving in Winston Churchill’s wartime administration followed by a spell in the Colonial Office, becoming Secretary of State for India and Burma in the late-1940s and Governor-General of Ghana in the 1950s. He continued to hold senior roles in the Lords until his death in 1997 (Daily Telegraph obituary on file).

The Earl must have loved the Fiat because he kept it until 1952. The next owner was Stanley Holgate of Heston (now part of Hounslow) who was to keep it for the next 23 years. In 1975 it was acquired by Paul Chamberlain of Surrey who relates in a letter on file how he discovered it languishing in a railway arch in Wandsworth, by which time it was in a fairly poor state.

He carried out a rolling restoration with the aim of getting it ready to attend the Queen’s Jubilee Show at Ascot in 1977. He then used it on many Fiat Register events, scooping many awards. He also completed the French Fiat Register’s Champagne Rally in 1979, recalling that: “It was a super little car with amazing performance for an 1100cc engine and I had many enjoyable times with it”.

Six old MOTs imply that it covered some 9,400 miles between June 1976 and May 1987 and if the odometer is correct it has only covered around 50 miles since.

In June 1987 Chamberlain sold the Balilla to Barrie Smith of Devon, founder of the Chudleigh Motor Museum, where it was displayed until the museum closed down in the mid-1990s and the cars were sold at auction. The next owner was John Aspinall of Walsall who acquired the car from classic car dealer Malcolm Elder of Enstone in March 1995, the invoice stating that it was ‘Sold for restoration’ and cost £6,300. Aspinall bought various new parts for the car from Fiat specialist Ezio Casagrande of Switzerland, as detailed in a May 1996 invoice on file.

In September 1996 the Fiat appeared in a Sotheby’s auction in Hendon, the catalogue description calling it a "Balilla Pillarless Cabriolet" and stating that it was: “In sound unrestored condition… ripe for minor recommissioning… with a number of spare parts including a new brake master cylinder, wheel cylinders and brake pipes, new/old stock semaphore indicators and front and rear bumpers”.

Our vendor acquired the car at the auction and we imagine that it is in much the same condition now as it was then, although there is an invoice for a new set of tyres from Longstone in April 2002 and what looks like a rebuild of the rear axle and diff in April 2003 (although the axle appears to have been hastily re-fitted to the car back-to-front). There is also a stainless steel exhaust which looks virtually new, and the bumpers also look to be in decent shape. The prop shaft was located after we collected the car but should be here in time for the sale.

On offer here from a deceased estate and retaining its original (transferable) London-issue number plate FLB 268, this rare and well-historied Balilla is now in need of an enthusiastic new owner who can add their own chapter to its interesting life to date. On offer at no reserve, it should amply reward the remedial works required.

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]

AMENDMENT: Please note that the exhaust manifold is NOT present, as was previously stated. There may also be other parts missing - the rear lights for instance. What you see in the photos is what you get.