 Wealth has its prerogatives. In 1904, when Kaiser Wilhelm II suggested that his friend August Anheuser Busch Sr. should order a Fiat 60HP car, the $13,500 price for the chassis alone wasn't likely an issue. Nor the $4,000 cost of the patented and state-of-the art aluminum-skinned Quinby & Co custom body. Busch agreed and his 1905 Fiat 60HP, serial 3003 - the third produced of twenty, arrived with a new steel chassis (wooden in 1904), a torquey and reliable 10.6 liter T-head four-cylinder motor, 100HP sprockets for its chain drive, and quickly-detachable wings. It also seems to have been equipped with a unique, possibly experimenal, but certainly troublesome clutch that helped to cause the car shortly to be laid up. In 1905 the land speed record was less than 110 MPH, and Busch's Fiat 60HP touring would exceed 80! Retained by Busch until his death in 1934, the Fiat passed through the hands of several noted collectors (James Melton, for example) over the next few decades, remaining in wonderful original condition. It has recently experienced a patina-retaining mechanical restoration and is now being offered at RM Auction's Villa Erba sale in Como, Italy on May 25. While the term "supercar" may not have been coined until the days of the 959, Enzo, and Veyron, deep pockets could indeed acquire a "supercar" for themselves 108 years ago. Here's the running, driving proof. (Photos courtesy of RM Auctions.) * From Wikipedia: "Giovanni Agnelli, with several investors, founded the Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.) società per azioni (S.p.a.), Italian Automobile Factory of Turin, in 1899. Its acronymous name was changed to upper- and lower-case Fiat in 1906." RM in their auction description uses FIAT and that's what most historians do for the pre-1906 cars. But look at the hubcap! |
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Whether Fiat or FIAT*, it's definitely a supercar!
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