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Sunday, October 4, 2020

A real beauty 'Demon Rouge' of the 1950s

It is undeniable that the 1950s are called the world's automotive heyday, this can be seen from there're so many beautiful vehicle designs born by the skilled hands of automotive designers and engineers like a maestro with his expertise to make dreams and inspirations into one of the masterpieces, which's not only beautiful, unique, futuristic or even perhaps strange according to the public view at that time.
1954 Fiat 8V 'Demon Rouge' Coupe re-bodied by Vignale and designed by Giovanni Michelotti. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33itq4r)
Can you imagine, if a car that initially appears mediocre, after getting their touch of magic immediately turn into a car that can attract admiration from those who see it? Even though sometimes, what is presented in public is a car with a wacky and unique shape. Yes, the works still can make the head of yours turning around at them while saying, what kind of car is that?
1954 Fiat 8V 'Demon Rouge' Coupe by Vignale and designed by Giovanni Michelotti. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3id7prS)
Like today, when you're looking at the 'Demon Rouge' ('Red Devil' in English), that began its life as Fiat 8V then re-bodied in 1954 by Vignale, an Italian coach-building house under the direction of the famous automotive designer Giovanni Michelotti. Then becoming some kind of an extremely unique and distinctive masterpiece, which is always interesting to be noticed.
1954 Fiat 8V 'Demon Rouge' Coupe by Vignale and designed by Giovanni Michelotti. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3id7prS)
The Fiat 8V ('Otto Vu' in Italian) is a sports car is built by Fiat and launched in 1952 in order to participate in the Mille Miglia racing event. The car uses an eight-cylinder engine and has a quite expensive price tag of $6,000 in America, almost twice as much as a Jaguar XK120. Those Fiat 8V was built by the Italian auto company only 114 units, and some of them dressed up by Zagato, Ghia, and Vignale coachwork companies.

At the time, Vignale offered various bodies for the 8V, such as five coupes, one spider, and one coupe Corsa were built. As one of the last models, the aggressive-looking Fiat 8V 'Demon Rouge' was presented in 1954. And today, certainly, there's no such car ever made by them anymore. It becoming rare and be one of the most sought-after cars in the world.

As we've been seeing on the internet through many sites like coachbuild.com, carstyling.ru, jalopnik.com, and others, we haven't found yet a car that can considerably be said is more unique and strange than this wonderful car that's full of a nice blend of '50s styling cues. There're distinctive fins, wraparound front and rear windows, two-tone paint, inset front headlights, and a chrome strip or two.
1954 Fiat 8V 'Demon Rouge' Coupe re-bodied by Vignale and designed by Giovanni Michelotti. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33itq4r)
Perhaps you will ask, where's the Michelotti's creativity and inventiveness on this 'Démon Rouge'? You could be seen it on the semi-circular, vertical rear window under the extended roofline that's one of the most striking details. It was an aerodynamic trick intended to keep the rear window clean and dry during heavy rainfall. Those similar designs would later be applied to the Ford Anglia and the Citroën Ami.
The roof itself is largely made of Plexiglas, to give the impression of an open car. The door handles are ingeniously incorporated into the rear pillars. The car doesn't have any bumpers and the headlights pinned inside the chrome-accented grille.

The 8V 'Demon Rouge' sports car had many achievements, such as in 1955 the design won the first prize in the 'Coppa Campione d'Italia' Concours d'Elegance. Nearly fifty years later, in 2004, the car won the 'Best of Show' prize at the Concours d'Elegance at palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, the most prestigious motorcar event in the Netherlands.

But surely you can think of a coach-built car that's wackier than this. What's the weirdest custom cars you've ever seen? *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | COACHBUILD.COM | CARSTYLING.RU | JALOPNIK.COM | HISTORICAUTOPRO.COM]
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