Last straw: ’68 Vignale Gamine
The Vignale Gamine is a small, Fiat powered car produced by Carozzeria Vignale from 1967 to 1971. Specifically, the Gamine was based on the Fiat Nuova 500. Unlike the 500, however, the Gamine was a 2-seater roadster. Styling was by Alfredo Vignale although many people thought the Gamine is related in design to the Fiat 508 Balila. It was powered by a 2-cylinder, air-cooled engine of 500 cc producing 21.2 hp with a top speed of 60 mph. The Gamine was Alfredo Vignale’s baby project, but while the design was fairly cute, the performance was lackluster. The high price plus mediocre handling meant that the Gamine never sold very well. In fact, the slow sales drove Carrozzeria Vignale out of business, forcing Alfredo Vignale to sell his production line to De Tomaso. Today’s featured rare Gamine is sort of a dullsville version of a cute car. If this was to be a contemporary version of the Fiat Jolly, then this lost out in the style department. Perhaps Vignale wasn’t as much of a trend setter as Gianni Agnelli? The seller of the dowdy green Vignale refers to the restoration as an amateur effort. The drivetrain has 50,000 km and is said to run okay. We think the new potential owners need to have an imagination. Since the restoration needs to be done again, why not pick a nice elegant color like Avorio (Ivory) and do the interior in tan leather and throw in a vintage wood steering wheel. Then try to source some white wall tires for it. Now we have a cute car that would probably get you onto the lawn at the Concorso in Monterey. Buy it right and think big. Click here for the eBay auction.