Italy in 1939, except for some areas of the north-west, was a predominantly pre-industrial reality. Those who, at that time, could afford a fiat 1500 with a six-cylinder engine were few, let alone how many could afford a car like this.

Indeed, we cannot know the price of the transformation from a standard 1500 to this extremely elegant convertible, which under some points of view recalls a Packard of the same period: in this case the transformation was carried out by Balbo, one of the best-known Italian coachbuilders up until the 50.

The seller does not go into the merits of the description of this car on which perhaps a book could be written, we therefore limit ourselves to observing what is shown in the photo: a well maintained car, with redone upholstery and probably repainted once, but which does not gives the impression of having never been fully restored. Externally it looks complete (we assume) and still has its beautiful Deco-style instruments. The only flaw – allow us to use this term – is the lack of the original plate: the one now present was issued in 1967. Find it for sale at €160,000 (today $169,000) here in Partanna, Italy.