A replica Fiat 500 Jolly owned by British Formula One driver Lando Norris has found a new home following an online auction.
Sold through the Car & Classic auction website, the open-top – and doorless – classic Fiat attracted plenty of interest, with a total of 32 bids received. A final selling price of £32,000 meant the Jolly achieved its pre-auction estimate of between £28,000 and £33,000.
The sale adds to Norris’ recent run of good fortune; the McLaren ace also won the Driver of the Day Award for a determined effort in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Being beside the seaside
The original Fiat 500 Jolly was built in small numbers by Carrozzeria Ghia, intended as a runabout for owners of luxury yachts. Only around 650 cars were made, leading to demand for detailed evocations like this one.
Lando’s Jolly wears a period-correct light blue paint colour and features steel wheels with whitewall tyres. Most importantly, it has a wicker interior, with the correct seats fitted both front and back. A wicker storage box adds to the car’s period charm.
The rest of the interior features retro caramel-coloured carpets, along with a chrome central instrument dial and a two-spoke steering wheel.
Racing on the streets of Monaco
Norris is used to wrestling a McLaren-Mercedes Formula One car around the world’s most challenging race circuits, so the 500 Jolly must have offered a refreshing change of pace.
Mounted at the rear of the Fiat is an air-cooled 499c engine, connected to a four-speed manual gearbox. Although the engine is said to feature some modifications, it still offers rather less power than the hybrid V6 in Lando’s company car.
Norris bought the Jolly to drive around the streets of Monaco, having described it as being one of his “dream cars” and a “perfect runaround”.
More space in the Norris garage
The new owner of the Fiat, which has now been imported to the UK, can enjoy a car that is exempt from the London ULEZ charge, along with being free from road tax and the requirement for an MOT. However, with no weather protection and winter on the way, they will likely wait a few months before using it…
Norris now has to adjust to life without his Fiat 500 Jolly, but we imagine he will console himself with his latest McLaren road car.
Earlier this year, Norris collected a bespoke 765LT Spider, modified by Woking’s in-house MSO division. The McLaren boasts plenty of blue-tinted carbon fibre, but wicker seats were notably absent from the options list.
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