1961 FIATS Coupe 2.3L 4MT (130 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Designed as a competitor for the Jaguar E-Type, the 2300 S was styled by Ghia and marked Fiat’s entrance to the “GT” class on the market.

The Italian carmaker introduced the Coupe version of its 2300 range as a design study at the 1960 Turin Motor Show, and it was a show-stopper. The bystanders, the media, and the dealers asked the carmaker to build the vehicle, and it did. It introduced the production version a year later and was twice as pricy as the E-Type.

From the outside, if the car wouldn’t have a Fiat badge on it, some might have been mistaken it for an Aston Martin. Its raked-forward grille was separated by the headlights. On the sides, the designer installed air-vents behind the wheel-arches, and they were functional, not just with an aesthetic role. Its wide, curved, raked windshield led the way to the short cabin, while the rear wrapped-around windscreen was interrupted only by very slim sloped pillars.

Inside, the car offered four seats, but only those in the front benefited from enough room. Fiat knew that there are only two or fewer people in a GT vehicle most of the time. Unusually for its times, the Italian carmaker installed power-windows but doubled with a mechanical winding system if the electrical mechanism failed. For the driver, the Nardi steering wheel with its three spokes offered a sport-inspired feeling.

Under the hood, Fiat dropped an inline-six fed by twin Webber carburetors. The engine was powerful enough to propel the car at speeds of up to 200 kph (120 mph).