1949 Fiat 1500 6C Barchetta Mille Miglia eligible

1949 Fiat 1500 6C Sport Barchetta — Bodied by Lanzarone, Stanguellini-Prepared

Post-war Italy produced a whole class of cars that never appeared in any catalogue: one-off specials built by small shops for drivers who wanted to race. This Fiat 1500 6C Sport is one of them, commissioned by Giovanni Casales, a Sicilian gentleman driver who contested the Targa

Florio several times at the wheel of a Cisitalia. It was built as his back-up machine for that race and never ultimately competed — the reason it survives today without the accident damage, replaced sections and post-shunt rebuilds that complicate so many cars of the era. It spent most

of its life in Palermo before moving north to Tuscany.

The chassis is the work of CAMEN — Costruzione Auto e Motori Esposito Napoli — a respected Neapolitan constructor, combining a Fiat 1500 front section with part of a Lancia Aprilia rear frame. Over it sits a hand-formed barchetta body by Lanzarone in aero-grade aluminum just 1. 8mm thick, over an internal chrome-alloy structure. Power comes from the six-cylinder engine carrying Stanguellini preparation, a name that still commands attention wherever small-displacement Italian racing machinery is discussed, good for roughly 160 km/ h. A Nardi

Moretti gear shifter is among the details rarely seen on a Fiat of this type.

Discovered in 1988 as a genuine barn find — largely abandoned under a shelter, wearing pale yellow over its original red — the car passed to a single custodian who held it for close to three decades. Rather than rush the work, he waited until it could be done properly, then entrusted it

to five or six of Italy's finest artisan houses. The restoration was completed in December 2017:

● Mechanical work by the Falanga workshop in Sicily, including remade pistons and

internal components

● Chassis straightened; the body, stored on a wooden frame, had survived undamaged

● The boot lid was the only missing panel and was fabricated new

● Seats re-trimmed in period-correct Vipla; the cork-rimmed wheel restored by the owner,

a carpenter by trade

● Original 1950s Pirelli Stella Bianca tyres still fitted

The finish is a two-tone dark red and brown — a combination the coachbuilder initially resisted,

and which the owner secured only by agreeing to pay for a complete repaint if it disappointed. It

did not, and the car draws a crowd at every event it attends. Its period, provenance and

preparation open doors to the Mille Miglia Storica and the wider European rally and concours

calendar, and its concours credentials are already established: it was invited to the Poltu Quatu

Classic Concorso di Eleganza in Sardinia immediately following its restoration.

It comes with:

● Photos of its discovery and of the restoration

● Purchase documents from the owner

● A photocopy of the original period documents, including the Italian registration booklet

with pages from the province of Palermo

● Photos of events and newspaper articles

● A sworn appraisal by a court-appointed expert (CTU) certifying its value both as found

and in its current state

● CSAI–FIVA passport and CRS

Please note mileage in ad is not correct. Reading is low after restoration.

The car is located in Italy, is eligible for the Mille Miglia, and is offered at €400, 000