Turin magic

Italian coachbuilders were at the centre of a rush of creativity immediately after the war ended, with fierce competition between the various names, many of which, unfortunately, remain in memory alone. But that memory is nevertheless full of cars that have been carefully preserved and written to everlasting memory.

A taste of America for the best spider version of the Lancia Aurelia: the B24 from 1955

For this reason, choosing Italian spiders to mention here was a difficult challenge, because they would quite rightly fill up their own book. We have therefore proposed the most significant models, such as the Ferrari 250GT by Pininfarina which inspired the famous California by Sergio Scaglietti, the Miura in its one-off spider version, which still exists, in memory of the great Bertone, and also the truly captivating Maserati A6G by Frua, one of the highest levels of design ever to grace the roads.

Born for racing, only to become a high-performance Gran Turismo, the Frua Spider version of the A6G from 1956 was one of its most fascinating examples

And we could not simply stop at superstars: the small, forgotten Innocenti, the ever-popular Fiat 124, the less well-known Fiat Dino and the famous Alfa Romeo Duetto, known to many as the “cuttlefish bone” all contribute to feeding a legend. In a nutshell: a collection of uncompromising memories.

One of the many Ferraris that conquered America: The 1958 Pininfarina 250 GT

The refined version of the small Austin Healey Sprite was marketed in Italy since 1960 under the Innocenti brand. The initials 950 refer to the engine displacement

The spider version made by Fiat with the Dino Ferrari engine in 1966. The design was by Pininfarina

Pininfarina's stroke of genius in transforming the shape of a cuttlefish bone into one of the most iconic spiders: the 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto

Everyone would have wanted one after seeing it at the Brussels Motor Show in 1968. But Ferruccio Lamborghini did not want the Miura Roadster to go into production

The elegant open version of the Fiat 124 starred in many rallies during the '70s

The open-top version of Horacio Pagani's first masterpiece: the Zonda