Back to back: 1938 Fiat or 1938 Bentley?

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Oh yes: they are miles and miles apart. But with both cars dating back to 1938 we thought it nice to see if a very Italian and Touring bodied Fiat 1500 Berlinetta and a very British and Gurney Nutting bodied Bentley 4¼-Litre Sedanca Coupé can actually be compared. The auctioneer, which will be selling the two shortly, has not made any estimates to the prices that they may fetch, but we believe that the two may well be pretty close to each other – price wise that is. Read on…

1938 Fiat 1500 B Berlinetta by Touring

With its 1,493 overhead valve six-in-line engine the Fiat is the smallest of the two by far, but perhaps also the finest? The Touring Berlinetta design certainly oozes atmospheres of big and brawny Alfa-Romeo 6Cs and 8Cs and has to be rare today. The car comes with known history since day one with Italian owners from ’38-on. It was restored ‘some time ago in its present and elegant green livery’. Does that mean the mid-green is not the car’s original paint colour? We think so. It does go well with the beautiful light brown interior though, with beautifully detailed trim in amber on the dashboard. Furthermore, the engine has been replaced at one stage, so it’s not the car you’ll win Pebble Beach in, but one we really like never the less.

1938 Bentley 4¼-Litre Sedanca Coupé by Gurney Nutting

The Bentley, also a six-in-line but now with 4,257 cc capacity, must be similarly rare with just four 4¼-Litre Sedanca de Villes said to have been made by Gurney Nutting of Chelsea. This car was originally painted dark blue and sold new to the owner of a large bakery business in Birmingham. It was sold a few times, made it over to Germany and back and has now been in the same ownership for 27 years, while receiving a ‘fresh-up’ in 2016, totalling over £92,000 (!). The gloss black paint colour suits it well together with that very light interior, although we think the original blue could even be better?

Perhaps choosing between these two is like comparing Campari to malt whisky – with both being delicious but as diverse as Lake Como to the Lake District is. What if they’d be similarly priced and you simply had to decide..?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Pictures courtesy of pictures RM Sotheby's.

Aggiunga un commento...