Fiat 1100 Coupé Aerodinamico Castagna

The Fiat 1100 Coupé Aerodinamico Castagna was a one-off built by Carrozzeria Castagna on Fiat 1100 Coupé mechanical basis and presented in 1937. It was shown to the public at the 1937 Milan Motor Show. Castagna gave the car a coupé body with a strongly aerodynamic form, including curved windows integrated into the body shape.

The body was conceived as a lightweight construction. Its reported weight was 800 kilograms, a figure that placed lightness at the centre of the car’s description. The Aerodinamico designation referred directly to the treatment of the exterior: the windows followed the body’s curved surfaces rather than standing apart from them, while the overall form was shaped around continuous rounded volumes. This was a departure from the more upright glazed areas commonly associated with many contemporary saloon-derived bodies.

Castagna’s work on the Fiat was associated with an in-house aerodynamic-study division led by the German engineer Bergmann. The division examined aerodynamic questions and applied its work to the coupé’s body design. The resulting car combined the Fiat 1100 Coupé basis with a distinct Castagna body, rather than a standard production Fiat body. Its curved glass and enveloping lines were the principal visible features described for the car.

The 1937 Milan Motor Show provided the public setting for the Aerodinamico’s unveiling. The car was presented as a unique creation rather than a series-built variant. Its 800 kg reported weight, curved windows and aerodynamic body form were all central to the way it was described at the time. No production run beyond the single car is recorded here.

Carrozzeria Castagna was responsible for the special bodywork, while the Fiat 1100 Coupé supplied the named mechanical starting point. Bergmann’s connection with Castagna’s aerodynamic-study division forms part of the car’s documented description. The Fiat 1100 Coupé Aerodinamico Castagna remained a one-off shown at Milan in 1937.