Beach Car Bonanza: Fiat 600 Jolly by Ghia & Fiat 850 Shellette by Michelotti
Pining for a beach car to lend a bit of flair to your summer fun? Thanks to T.J., we have a couple of suggestions. Here on craigslist is your one-stop Fiat shop near Ventura, California, showcasing two beachy options. First up is this 1959 Jolly. Based on the Fiat 500 or 600 and introduced in 1958, Jollys were coachbuilt by Carrozzeria Ghia to supply fun, easy, sea- or lake-side transportation. Only about 650 examples were made, and most were based on the air-cooled Fiat 500. Far fewer survive, thanks to weather-vulnerable open architecture and wickerware interiors. This one is a 600 variant, with a water-cooled 633 cc four-cylinder making about 25 hp.
The seller is asking $55,000 for his Jolly. No word whether it runs, but the seller indicates that this example was used as a taxi on Catalina Island back in the day. The interior is in gently worn condition, with faded paint and missing wicker on the seating surfaces. The bumpers have been re-chromed and the fabric surrey top is new. Jolly prices always seem ridiculously high given their lackluster performance: this green version sold for $84k – and that’s on the low side!
If you’re not convinced that a Jolly is unique enough, the same seller is offering his 1969 Fiat Shellette for $30,000. Carrozzeria Michelotti crafted Shellettes from Fiat 850s, though the original version was made of fiberglass and based on a DAF Daffodil. Only eighty were made, and few have survived. Like the Jolly, the Shellette sports wicker seating, but it doubles down by using wicker for the dash too. A rebuild is in store for this interior – it is unusable. The car also lacks provisions for a top: it should have a fold-away bar anchored to the rear bodywork and snaps along the top edge of the windshield frame. Its front badge is missing.
The motor is Fiat’s rear-mounted, 843 cc four-cylinder, worth about 40 hp. I will hazard a guess that this engine hasn’t run in some time, but if it could, top speed would be about 60 mph. Rust is present in her “skirts” – along the bottom edges of all the panels. Meanwhile, this Shellette sold in March for $53,000, and it was a car in near-perfect condition. Restoration costs will rapidly put a buyer under water unless he’s skilled with Fiats – or the price of this Shellette can be negotiated downward. Which of these beach cars would be your pick?
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Comments
A pair of Hen’s teeth right there.
Wow! What a collection this guy has
Lots of potential here. Do a good restoration and with correct marketing the sky’s the limit for either vehicle. Just be sure that the provence is real.
Why these things are worth anything more than their standard bodied brothers is beyond me (OK, I’ll add 15% for cuteness). Same for the Amficar; crummy car and crummy boat.
These are my cars – thanks for posting them here. I have owned these beach cars for a very long time and thought of them as “keepers: that I’d never sell. I also have an ultra-rare Renault 4CV Resort Special by Ghia (only 50 produced). These cars are 100% genuine, with matching numbers and all the rare handmade pieces intact. These were designed by two of the greatest Italian designers (Ghia & Michelotti). In fact, the Shellette is the only car that came with “Michelotti” badges in chrome script mounted on the body. These cars were originally intended as Riviera beach runabouts for wealthy playboys and celebrities. Not many originals survived all that fun, sun, and salt air. These two would be great candidates for concours restorations to make them perfect. It took me years to assemble my very eclectic collection of about 30 classic cars and motorcycles, but the time has come to sell a few due to space and time constraints. I also have a number of other fun cars advertised for sale currently.
I did not have a clue what these were worth. Now that I know, I know I will not be getting one anytime soon.
Fiat 600 Jollys have an average sales price well above $100,000. I priced both of these cars about half of their restored values. Here is a website that lists actual completed sales prices: https://www.classic.com/m/fiat/600/jolly/