Chassis No. 345355

When Fiat president Gianni Agnelli opened a spree of Fiat factories in the 1970s, he commissioned a fleet of comfortable vehicles to guide important visitors around his newly opened facilities. The program began with a series of custom Fiat 600 Multiplas and evolved into the six-passenger 850 T Familiare, but Agnelli desired a more luxurious ride for his high-profile guests. Luminary designer Marcello Gandini at Bertone was brought in to create the ultimate tour bus. Although based on the preceding 850, the Bertone-designed Fiat Visitors Bus was far nicer than the uneventful production van.

This attractive six-door minibus featured six individual seats, treating passengers to unhindered views of the factory thanks to the Fiat's Plexiglas panoramic roof, while remaining perfectly comfortable regardless of the season thanks to the bus's dual air conditioning units. The bus's rear-mounted 843-cc four-cylinder mated to an Idroconvert four-speed semiautomatic transmission was more than enough for the sprawling Fiat factory campus. Introduced at the 1975 Turin Motor Show-the most elegant entry there by a wide margin-the Fiat Visitors Bus was intended by Bertone to completely succeed the 850 Familiare as a production model, but this never materialized.

Fiat never revealed the number of Visitors Buses produced, but this 1977 example is believed to be one of no more than six total built, and one of just two thought to survive today. Chassis number 345355 benefits from a well-documented ownership chain, beginning with its first registration on 14 March 1977 to Fiat S.p.A. in Turin, at the factory's address, Corso Giovanni Agnelli 200, and carrying Turin plate “TOP41547.” Given its registration to the factory itself and the model's stated purpose, it is logical to conclude that this Visitors Bus served precisely in the role for which it was conceived, transporting guests around Fiat's sprawling industrial complex in comfort and style. By 1982, the Bertone-bodied minibus had left Turin for Rimini, first passing to S.p.A. Sartini and soon thereafter to Garden Sporting Center S.p.A. Period records further indicate that it was transferred in 1987 to Polisportiva Garden S.r.l., also of Rimini, where it appears to have remained for roughly three decades.

More recently, the Fiat entered a succession of enthusiast hands, passing to Federico Bertani of Pesaro in 2017 and then to Pasquale Petrilli of Rome in 2018. Acquired by its current Florence-based owner in February 2023, chassis 345355 represents an exceptionally rare survivor of one of Bertone's most unusual commissions and would surely be the undisputed star of any Fiat gathering or Italian motoring event.

Documents: Italian Libretto