By the end of the 1920s the first mass-production Fiat, the much-loved Tipo 509 was growing a little long in the tooth, and so the company opted to replace it with a new slightly larger car of similar aims, which they designated the ‘514‘ – a tvpe name rather than specific reference to an aspect of the model. This new car did not carry the same appeal as its forebear, possibly more due to the economic climate of the 1930s than the car itself. Offered in saloon, convertible, two door coupe and torpedo forms, these were made in numerous quantities, some 30,000 by NSU in Germany. But while mass-production continued, there remained a highly specialized division devoted to building special versions of the chassis.

Surely the most successful applications of the chassis, three variants, were built: a Sport‘S‘, Coppa delle Alpi ‘CA‘ and this, the Mille Miglia MM. To give an idea of how modest the production of these cars was relative to the main business, just 6 MM cars were built in 1930! These sporting variants featured a developed version of the 1,438cc engine, with hotter camshalt and raised compression ratio amongst other tweaks, increasing the bhp by 25 they also sported elegant two scater bodywork which in retrospect looks like the origins of their later Coppa d‘Oro ‘Balilla‘ sportscars .

Just a few cars survive today, this car and another which lives in the Fiat Centro Storico collection.

Chaasis & Sales

227135 – Offered at Coy’s Legende et Passion auction but did not sell with an estimate of €225000 – €265000. Lot 266. It seems that this example was sold new in Italy in 1930. Although no early competition history is known, a cursory review of Mille Mliglia entries for this period shows a number of 514 MMs on the event, so there may still be some racing history to be discovered.

The car is in perfect running order and has just finished the 2009 edition of Historic Mille Miglia without incident.

Of particular interest is that included in the sale of this car is a new SIATA overhead valve cylinder head and supercharger inlet manifold (made from original drawings) as well as an original SIATA volumetric supercharger. These were period items that were used by SIATA to ensure the car’s overall winning potential. SIATA’s.