BMW 1600 GT Frua, the extremely rare 'German Ferrarina' at Villa D'Este
Design italiano, Pietro Frua, e propulsore tedesco Bmw
This German car was created in 1966 by Pietro Frua (Turin, 1913/1983), one of the most famous car designers of the last century who designed important supercars.
At that time he worked with several European brands, including the Bavarian Glas and Maserati. The styling is Italian, but the engine is from BMW. In the same year Glas was acquired by BMW and the 1600 GT was launched under the Munich brand name.
In addition to the refined 'Italian' lines that made this car a 'Ferrarina with a German heart', particular attention was paid to the 1600 cc engine that delivered 105 hp on just 960 kg, and even according to the papers, reached 195 km/h, with a 0-100 km/h take-off in just 10 seconds. For the time, these were respectable performances and some reports in German specialist magazines described it as a car that was not only fast but also had exceptional road-holding, thanks to its low weight, compact dimensions and a well-designed front end with a set of stabiliser bars that allowed it to enter bends at high speeds.
Today there are about a hundred examples. It is considered by collectors to be one of the most interesting and rare cars of the 1960s.
We remember the production of the BMW 507 Roadster in the 1950s, now a very high-end model with prices exceeding 2 million Euros, as the latest auctions testify.
The BMW 1600 GT is a car to focus on because of its rarity and the perfect combination of an important German brand and Italian design, a winning fusion that makes it reliable, high-performing and at the same time attractive.
The auction results (last US sale - 22 January 2020 $150,000 plus auction fees) confirm that the demand for specimens like this has grown internationally, not only in Europe but also in America and Japan.
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