$1M+ Lancia Aurelia Spider is a milestone of car design

It’s the Lancia Aurelia PF200 C Spider, star of both the 1953 Geneva and Turin motor shows. It is the second of what is believed to be only three open-top examples of a car Pinin Farina made to show what a futuristic version of the Lancia Aurelia B52 could look like.

No more than four coupes were made so it’s thought only seven PF200s, plus a prototype were made in total, some of which no longer survive. All the cars differed in various ways, as was the coachbuilding norm of the day. A fire at Pininfarina at the time destroyed production records, making specific info about this extraordinary and futuristic piece of Italian automotive concept art even harder to come by.

But what’s for sure is that it’s incredibly rare, unique in many ways, historically significant as a Pininfarina show car as well as a highly influential design statement. This is a car that features in books on car design.

We’d add to that it surely has the best round and shiny protruding snout in all of motoring. The chromed bezel is meant to be reminiscent of the jet intake of an F86 Sabre fighter plane. Don’t you also just love the massive chrome overriders – and what about the exhaust: two rows of three little pipes sticking out the back like machineguns. 

In terms of firepower, this was no Ferrari chaser, with 90bhp from the 2.0-litre double overhead cam V6 – a typically advanced unit from Lancia, just like the car’s rear-mounted transaxle and independent suspension all round.

Today, the car is testament not just to Pinin Farina’s art but also to the restorer’s work, having been subject to a 10-year, no-expense-spared rebuild. What couldn’t be restored and rebuilt was re-fabricated or made anew, parts not exactly being easy to come by. The original engine had had it so was replaced by a rebuilt unit from another Aurelia – the block, in fact, was originally in one of the PF200 coupes.

The restored car made its grand entrance in 2013 and immediately was put to work. While it may not perhaps have been driving its owner to the office every day it was winning cups with, among other successes, class wins at St John’s, Amelia Island and, more recently, at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and at the Boca Raton concours in Florida.

Now it is back at Amelia Island in Florida for a special RM Sotheby’s sale on March 10^th. The Lancia PF200 is one of 58 cars from the collection of the late Orin Smith to cross the auction block as a prelude to RM’s main sale between the 10^th and 11^th of March (which in itself is hardly lacking star cars, including the probable $$$ headliner, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB). 

“The Pride and Passion of Orin Smith” sale features some simply exceptional motor cars, many like the Lancia, serial concours winners. Orin Smith, former chairman and CEO of the US’s foremost catalytic converter manufacturing company who died in August 2016, loved coach-built Rolls-Royces and Bentleys more than anything; 22 of them are in the sale, dating from a 1929 Phantom I Henley Roadster by Brewster.

Also in the sale is the first Short Chassis Aston Martin Volante from 1966 – and for Jet Age styling enthusiasts, another car right up there with the Lancia Pinin Farina, a 1953 8V Supersonic by Ghia, originally delivered to powerboat racer Lou Fageol.

That Fiat’s presale estimate of US$1.6-1.8 million makes it more valuable than the Lancia. The PF200 C sold in 2014 for $1.1m and for the March 10^th sale has a guide price of between $1-1.4m.

Worth it for the looks alone!