Fiat 524 Cabrio | Vintage
Today is very cold and the sky is clear as we reach the location where we’re about to meet a prewar Italian cabriolet with plenty of class, equipped with a six cylinder engine, very rare, exclusive, very difficult to find even at elegance concourse or at the most important events dedicated to cars of such prestige. We do not know how many of this model have been registered in Italy since it is a high-end vehicle and built in the years following the collapse of the Wall Street Stock Exchange, however we know that there are currently only 2 restored and marching specimens in Italy, with slight differences between themselves.
Words by Remigio Camilla / Photos by Giorgia Rossi
The car of this article belongs to the FIAT 524 series, the last of a dynasty of models that did not have a proper name, but were characterized by a numerical abbreviation, the constant of which was the initial number 5. FIAT had built them from the early 1920s until 1934, all high-end cars representing elegance and prestige, with which the automaker intended to face the competition of luxury cars of the most famous Italian and foreign brands of the era. Specifically, the 524 was produced between 1931 and 1934 through the preparation of two different types of chassis, one with a long wheelbase marked with the initials 524 L, which gave rise to the sedan limousine models and the other with the initials 524 C a short wheelbase, which gave rise to the Spyder Cabriolet model. The engine delivered 55 hp and had a displacement of 2,516 cubic centimeters, rear wheel drive, 4-speed gearbox plus reverse, with the third and fourth synchronized, top speed at around 100 Kph. The 524 replaced the previous 525 model at the top of the FIAT range with the addition of some simplifications useful to contain the purchase price, but originates more from the 522 model, from which it inherits the mechanics, the hydraulic braking system on all four wheels, some bodywork components and the new rectangular logo with a red background with the abbreviation FIAT, so much so that it is not often considered a real model in its own right, but more a luxury version of the 522. The 524 Spyder/Cabriolet was produced in a small number, apparently 100, but there are no certain data as it was a model destined almost exclusively for export.
The history of the 524 Spyder Cabriolet here with us today immediately appears fascinating and interesting, beginning with the year in which it was built, 1932 in the Lingotto plants, in the “FIAT Carrozzerie Speciali” department. Registered in Rome, its first owner seems to have been an employee of the Italian embassy in Cordoba who used it for many years before handing it over. The car changes hands to several owners, ending its career in a foreign land in Buenos Aires. Here fortunately it is found and recovered still in good condition by an import/export trader from the same city of the current owner. In 1991 the car returned to its country of origin and in the same year restoration began on a meticulous and careful work which lasted for five years.
The historical and technical documentation that the new owner manages to recover through the FIAT Historical Register is truly abundant and of considerable interest. Many the photographs that portray the 524 Spyder exhibited at various Auto Salons of that time, in Italy and abroad, up to its participation at the Concours d’Elegance the famous Villa d’Este in September 1932, where it is visible in plenty of photographs. These pics are immediately fundamental to confirm the absolute originality of the entire bodywork, of all the elements that compose it, of every detail including the interior as well as the shape and color of the hood. On its return to Italy – despite being complete – it no longer presented its original color as it was probably repainted in black over the years. Therefore the photos proved to be extremely useful in order to be able to discover and demonstrate – especially during the ASI and FIAT Register homologation phase – the chromatic and decorative apparatus with which this model was fitted, such as the chromatic diversification between the car body and the mudguards, the colored and threaded strip that runs longitudinally along the bodywork following its line and reproposing in the center of the front and rear hood. The same colors and threads are reproduced in the current full-metal wheel rims that conform to the originals, as those mounted on the car when returning to Italy, although beautiful, did not respect the specification of the time.
Particularly important was the observation that the chassis number 524C-001190 and the Type 122 engine were the original ones. Still through the FIAT Historical Register, the current owner manages to obtain a copy of the numerous executive technical drawings of the bodywork, the doors, the concealed rear seat, the front seats, the folding structure of the canvas roof and the relative cover with hooks. Furthermore, the executive drawings of the curved wooden structure on which the sheet metal that constitutes the bodywork is fixed, with all the details, the sections of the wood, the joints, the fixing, have been very useful in order to reconstruct those parts in deteriorated wood, especially in the rear and doors. Other drawings refer to the chassis, the body profile, the bumper with its joints, the curvature of the fenders, the internal floor, in short, a real well of information for the purpose of a philological restoration. Many of these drawings are in 1:1 scale with the sizing and related handwritten indications and wordings.
The body shape of the 524 Spyder is perfectly in line with the style and fashion of the 1930s, appearing with only two seats, characterized by an important engine hood, a contained cabin and a tail that quickly descends following in parallel the line of the rear fenders, but it can take on a roadster shape by folding the windscreen on the front hood and, if necessary, transforming it into a convertible by raising the door that encloses the cockpit seat in the tail section. The latter can be reached by climbing on the two special aluminum “mushrooms” placed on the rear fender, in a ladder style – again for this detail there are the original drawings in 1:1 scale that have allowed a perfect reconstruction. This type of seat, in jargon, is called the place of the mother-in-law, because separated from the front seats, uncomfortable to reach and to sit on, it can also be used as a trunk by removing the removable sofa. Precisely this detail of the bodywork had been modified over time, reversing the opening direction of the door and eliminating the seat. It had been hinged at the top and opened like a normal trunk lid, because transformed as such.
Part of the rich documentation recovered is a precious brochure of the time written in French, in addition to the 524 sedan model, it reports the spyder cabriolet model, describing some of its interesting accessories. The chromed profiles of the side windows fold down on the door when they are lowered to protect the housing, two spare wheels – one on each side – protected by light waterproof fabric, folding luggage brackets, chromed hubcaps and footboard profiles, automatic wiper, rear view mirror, ashtray. All accessories present on the car of our review, but also many others, one of which in particular immediately attracts my attention, a small flap located on the left side and behind the door, of which I cannot understand its purpose. The owner promptly opens it from inside the cockpit, explaining that it is used to transversely thread golf clubs. Immediately I can’t help but think of the elegance and huge refinement of the 30s and how this car does represents a splendid example, conceived to fulfill these functions, to be driven “en plein air” by those who were lucky enough to get one. The image that immediately transmits to me is the famous self-portrait of Tamara De Lempicka at the wheel of a green Bugatti, a bright leather helmet over her blond hair and firm hands on the steering wheel wearing deer gloves.
In the center of the steering wheel, in addition to the horn, there are two levers, the first is the classic control for the throttle common to many cars of this time, the other serves as a mechanical switch for the headlights. The instrument panel in polished steel, in perfect Art Deco style embellished with an elegant, thin, light raised frame, presents a truly complete equipment in tune with the class of the car. Starting from the right we find the oil pressure indicator, the clock, in the top center the fuel gauge with FIAT logo below, on the left symmetrical to the clock we find the odometer with speed indicator and the ammeter. In the lower right part a lever controls the economizer which mechanically acts on the fuel flow entering the carburetor, in the center two pull knobs are the starter and the hand throttle, on the left the key that also acts as a switch for the headlights.
During the photoshoot, the owner Mr. Flavio tells us about the second specimen existing in Italy, but with slight differences compared to his 524, of which the most important are the left-hand drive and the descending side windows framed by an aluminum and polished profile, compared to his right-hand drive, whose side windows are fitted with laterally chromed steel parts which raise and contain the glass when you lift it. When you lower it, the two profiles fold up, securing the glass itself in the door and concealing it completely, exactly as described in the aforementioned French brochure. According to the story, this interesting refinement seems to be a patent of Count Mario Revelli of Beaumont, who in those years was also lending his work to the FIAT Carrozzerie Speciali Department and probably also intervening on other details of the body of the 524 Spyder Cabriolet, as on the slender line of the front fenders that give the car lightness, despite its grandeur. But there’s more, as our interlocutor says that the second specimen was found in Uruguay, he also knows its current owner and has photos of the recovery and boarding of the car for the return to Italy.
A few days after the shooting and before writing the article, an unexpected turn of events or better of luck occurs as I meet the second 524 spyder at the beginning of February in Turin during the Automotoretrò exhibition at the Fiat Register pavillion. The circle closes, I can see in first person the differences described to me a few days before. Everything coincides, the steering wheel on the left side, the frames of the side windows missing the descending profiles, but at this point I immediately go to look for another detail, the little door for the golf clubs, which on this model is located on the right and not on the left, making me understand that it didn’t have a fixed position, but was always placed on the opposite side of the driver. I tried to give me some explanation, but without results, only hypotheses and at the moment I have not found someone who can give me a proper clarification. At this point I thought that in order to understand the logic of the positioning of the flap, perhaps I would need to drive a FIAT 524 Spyder and play golf, feeling the same joy and pleasure as Mr. Flavio when he drives his one.