Description
Vignale was one of the most important Italian coachbuilders. Described as 'the man who sculpted steel', his success was due in no small part to the designer Michelotti, who worked with him until 1961. Appreciated by the VIP clientele who had unique examples of Ferraris made, at the beginning of the 1950s, Vignale widened its sights to include the more popular cars to create special and unique versions in the 'Vignale' style. So it was that after the release of one of the cars destined for the middle class, the New Fiat 1100 103, Vignale also offered its own proposal on the saloon trim, which could only be called 'Elite', which well identified the target clientele for which this car was intended. Again designed by the inexhaustible Michelotti, whom we recognise by the distinctive rear end (not the one on the TV, mind you), the car has some unique features such as : The prominent front mask, with two fog lights incorporated, which takes us back to more prestigious cars (Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale ed.). The rear tail with a wave above the rear fin line reminiscent of the trim on some American cars. The car-specific aluminium side trim. The larger rear window. In the boot we find the spare wheel under the carpet and the fuel filler no longer outside but inside the boot. The rear backrest folds down to give more space in case one needed to load special objects. Michelotti is said to have had paintings or works of art in mind (ed.) Naturally, the livery of the two-tone metallics immediately personalised these designs, separating them from the traditional production cars. In this case, the first owner was a textile entrepreneur from Biella (then part of the province of Vercelli), who at the age of 35 wanted to distinguish himself with an agile but unique 'elite' car.
It seems that he fell in love at the 1956 Turin Motor Show, held in the spring from 21 April to 2 May, and the decision was almost extemporaneous, so much so that a car was chosen that was part of the last 1636 chassis of the 1100 103 (including the Bauletto and TV first series) and registered on 5 June 1956 (chassis 255, 364). In fact, from chassis 257, 000 the second series of the 103 called 103 E went into production. The car is a matching number, largely preserved with original plates and documents. The car bears the numbers applied to it by the production of Michael Mann's film 'Ferrari', presented at the Venice Film Festival 2023 and in cinemas from 14 December 2023. The production numbers of this Elite Vignale are not known. What we do know is that you are unlikely to find another one, at a gathering, like this one. A car for many, but not for all... Exactly 'Elite'. From our research there are only two Vignale Elites circulating in Italy. There is another one, called Elaborazione Vignale, but as Elite only two, circulating. The tried and tested thing about this car is that after almost 70 years the car doesn't have a creak, perfect suspension, no differential noise and you don't notice that you get up to 110 km/ h, with ease, We've just redone the brakes and it's really nice to drive.
