1957 Fiat 500 Jolly
It's a Fiat 500 Jolly, like
this one that's slated to go up for auction in a couple of months.
Jolly is the name given to Cinquecentos back in the
day that were turned into beach cars: chopped down, chromed up, and often
fitted with wicker seats, with or without a roof that more closely resembles a
sidewalk café awning. They were made to zip around Mediterranean resort towns,
shuttling between hotels, vacation homes, ice cream parlors and the seashore.
This particular example looks like one of the most
charming we've seen yet. Like most, it was converted by Ghia – one of Italy's
vaunted independent carrozzeria – and comes in
just the right shade of azure blue. It'd be just the thing to keep at our
fantasy second home on the Amalfi Coast, but it's even registered for use on
American roads, complete with Florida plates that read “JOLLIE.”
Wherever we'd be inclined drive it, the smile it
would put on our faces would likely outshine any sense of embarrassment we
might otherwise have. If only we had the US$ 60-80k it's estimated to sell for
when Auctions America drops the gavel at Hilton Head in South Carolina come
November 5.
