Despite the brand being founded at the tail-end of the 1800s, Fiat has only produced a single V8 engined model over the course of its entire history. And even the Italian marque’s sole V8 model wasn’t originally intended to be a V8, starting as a V6 and eventually gaining an extra pair of cylinders by the time the development process was complete, resulting in a 2.0L 70-degree V8 with an all-alloy construction.
Christened the “Tipo 104,” the 110hp engine was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show of ’52 inside Fiat’s new 8V Coupe. Constructed around a frame that was developed and built by competition division, Siata, the 8V Coupe was an incredibly advanced machine for its time, cloaked in wind-tunnel-tested (and unmistakably Italian) bodywork and boasting fully-independent suspension. Produced from ’52 through ’54, the 8V was limited to 114 examples in total across its entire three-year run, making surviving examples today extremely rare and consequently immensely valuable. Still fitted with its original eight-cylinder engine, one of those 114 specimens is now slated to cross the block at RM Sotheby’s Open Roads online car auction, where it’s expected to fetch between $1,373,000 and $1,602,000. For more information or to register to bid, you can check out the link below.
