1965 FIAT 2300S

This achingly stylish 2300S is presented in a period-correct silver-grey with red upholstery and, being an authentic ‘S’ designated model, it has all the pep and vigour you should rightly expect of the Abarth-tuned straight-six engine.

We have driven the vehicle and can attest to its mechanical integrity and its rare ability, some 58 years after it left the factory, to still thrill and delight in equal measure.

The gear box is easy, positive and slick.

The car picks up pace and presses on with a good deal of spirit and enthusiasm.

The handling, road holding and balance are all commendable and surprisingly ‘modern’ in feel.

The only real clues as to the vintage of the technology underpinning it are the weight of the steering and the somewhat less than vicious bite of the brakes.

It was driven to the UK by its current owner in 2014.

He found and purchased the car on one of his many visits to Cremona, in the Lombardy region of Italy.

The engine shows very good oil pressure and water temperature readings, and the bodywork, while by no means perfect, is in very original order.

We think this is the sort of car that can be used as a litmus test for good aesthetic judgement.

If you think a Honda Civic Type R, bristling with angry spoilers and steroidal flaps and protuberances, is the epitome of automotive beauty, then you should probably stop reading now.

If, on the other hand, you like the look of a Facel Vega, a 1960’s Aston Martin Lagonda Rapide, a Gordon Keeble, an AC 428 Frua Fastback or a Lancia Appia Coupé, please continue – you are clearly a person of exquisite taste, refinement and sensibility.

Still reading?

Excellent.

In terms of condition, we think it is fundamentally sound (you’ll want to reach your own conclusion, obviously), but is cosmetically in the ‘it looks great from 15 metres’ category.

In other words, it’s fine in parts, less so in others, but pretty decent overall.

The bodywork is straight and the shut lines, panels and panels gaps wouldn’t embarrass a competently deployed protractor or micrometer.

That said, this car lived its life in Italy until 2014.

Consequently, it has been parked in the Italian way, by Italians, in Italy.

In other words, there are one or two dinks and shallow indentations here and there - the n/s/f wing springs to mind - to suggest that the ‘parking by ear’ method has been used more than once.

Several ripples, creases and dimples on the front bumper support this theory.

The car has clearly been resprayed, to a somewhat mixed standard of competence, at some point.

There is some bubbling visible on the n/s/f wing beneath the air vents. Ditto in the same place on its offside counterpart.

There are numerous paint chips and nicks around the rear edge of the driver’s door, and the paint is crazed on the n/s/r wing and the bonnet lid.

You can see a spot of bubbling and some nascent rust between the rear screen and the boot lid.

There are some scrapes and paint chips along the edge of the boot lid and the o/s/r wing adjacent to it.

A large patch of flat, discoloured and blistered paint is currently doing no favours to the passenger door.

There is micro-blistering in numerous places on the o/s/f wing and around the bonnet lid.

The wheels seem fine, as does the chrome, except for the aforementioned Italian parking dinks.

The aerial hole atop the n/s/r wing has been capped with a metal disc.

The exterior trim, lights, lenses, badging and other fixtures and fittings are all decent, although the chrome sill cover on the offside is a little out of shape towards the rear.

In terms of overall condition, the interior is a good analogue for its exterior counterpart and certainly its equal in terms of originality and authenticity.

The red upholstery has endured the ravages and vicissitudes of time and wear with commendable stoicism and pluck.

Save for a small split at the side of the seat squab on the driver’s side, and what looks like a small burn mark on the rear bench seat, it’s all really pretty good.

It all needs a good clean and scrub, but there’s nothing here to provoke a tut, raise an eyebrow or prompt a shake of the head.

The door cards are decent. So, too is the headlining.

There are a couple of cigarette burns on the rather faded red carpet near the ashtray.

But there would be.

Think about the sort of snake-hipped, Brylcreemed, louche lothario who once drove this car through the cool and exotically scented urban canyons of downtown Cremona.

He smoked.

Of course he smoked.

In fact, the only occasions when a filter-tipped Camel wasn’t attached to his bottom lip were when felt the irresistible urge to passionately express a heartfelt “Ciao bella!” to anyone who (i) was wearing a skirt and a headscarf (ii) wasn’t a nun.

That was his job, his mission, his métier.

Frankly, we’d be disappointed if there wasn’t a cigarette burn in this car.

Anyway. We digress.

The lovely wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel is in fine fettle, as is the gear lever and the fabulously over-engineered and over-designed footrest in the passenger footwell.

The padding above the dashboard is coming loose, a piece of plastic has gone AWOL from the driver’s door handle and a section of the parcel shelf fabric has separated from the air vent beneath the rear screen.

The wood on the dashboard is OK, but is in dire need of being introduced to some soapy water and a chamois.

The boot, which contains a spare wheel, is in good condition.

Everything in the engine bay appears to be clean, dry, right and proper.

The undersides of the car look to have a decent amount of structural integrity.

There is some rust in evidence, naturally, but you’ll want to make your own assessment.

This car comes with a UK V5, a statement of authenticity from Fiat, various MoT certificates, documents attesting to its importation from Italy, various manuals, handbooks and brochures, and a selection of invoices covering relatively recent items including a new clutch and various suspension and braking components.

It has been fully HPI checked and cleared.

When this car was built Tom Jones was requesting a status update from a pussy cat and Julie Andrews was prancing about in an alpine meadow.

Meanwhile, in super-stylish Italy, the really cool cats were watching Fellini and Visconti and lusting after Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren or Marcello Mastroianni, according to taste and predilection.

This wonderful Fiat 2300S is supremely, unarguably and wholly rooted in that uniquely glamorous time and period.

It is drenched in ‘60’s style and glamour, dripping with European classiness, and - unlike so many of its less fortunate Italian contemporaries - it is not a small mound of oxidised dust somewhere on a landfill site. It is a living, breathing thing you can enjoy every day and a car that still has plenty of dynamic, mechanical and aesthetic integrity coursing through its Latin veins.

You may be guessing that we like it.

Your guess is right.

We’re confident to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate of £30,000 - £40,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.