Evaluation: One of 88 cabriolets built by Pinin Farina on this chassis. Acquired by Barbara Urbielonis, an American teaching at a U.S. base in Germany and still apparently owned by her (or her estate). Parked in a New Hampshire barn in 1983. A totally neglected, rotten, dilapidated, scruffy relic. Rust everywhere, perforated body wherever New England salt-encrusted road sand could accumulate. Nasty, torn, filthy upholstery. More description is unnecessary. This is a complete restoration project with much of the surviving pieces being useful only as templates for making new ones. Making it whole again would be more a reconstruction using original ID tags and engine block than a restoration.
Bottom line: The presale estimate was ridiculous for what is a rusted-out version of a not-particularly-rare or attractive car. Comparable cars in the past two years have never brought more than the reported high bid here, and they were drivable automobiles. The bidding stalled with 3 1/2 hours to go and never advanced. This is not a Preservation Class candidate, it’s a rust bucket that will cost a fortune to be made into anything even remotely safe to drive. The reported high bid was a gift without any rational support for it.
