What makes wicker chairs so attractive?
The beach car is a type of vehicle that always seems to be a source of highs in terms of value. The Italian "carrozzerie" in particular eagerly converted examples of the Fiat500 or 600 into special open-top versions with wicker chairs and a sunroof that was not suitable for top speeds. Such cars sometimes fetched six-figure prices.
Several of these vehicles can be admired at the Auto e Moto d'Epoca, which is open until this Sunday evening (October 23, 2022). Savio, Sibona Basano and Francis Lombardi were the names of the coachbuilders to whom we owe these models.
What may make sense for a few hundred meters of beach driving from the jetty to the villa is likely to cause disc pain and bruises on the body of anyone who wants to drive a little further. As we all know, wicker chairs are not upholstered and are quite hard; they don't even tolerate water particularly well. Practicality is different, but this doesn't seem to bother those who spend the equivalent of ten well-preserved Jaguar XJ6 4.0s on these cars today ...
P.S. For those who didn't have time to make the trip to Padua, we've put together a picture story to give you some first impressionsof the Italian classic car fair Auto e Moto d'Epoca ...
