Giugiaro and Lapo Elkann Reinvent the Fiat Topolino

Giugiaro and Lapo Elkann Reinvent the Fiat Topolino with Two GFG Style One-Offs

GFG Style has unveiled two radically different interpretations of the Fiat Topolino at Salone Auto Torino 2026, marking the first collaboration between Fabrizio Giugiaro and Lapo Elkann. Named Top. L and Top. J, the two one-offs explore how far one of Fiat’s simplest vehicles can be transformed through traditional Italian design thinking, bespoke bodywork and unusual materials.

Presented in Turin on September 11, the two cars form part of a broader GFG Style display that also includes the GFG Kangaroo, while a separate exhibition presents three cars from the growing Collezione Giorgetto e Fabrizio Giugiaro. The Turin show therefore brings together both sides of the Giugiaro family’s current activity: new projects developed by GFG Style and the preservation of historically important designs from Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro’s careers.

Top. L: the Topolino becomes a miniature speedster

Top. L is the sportier of the two cars and represents the more radical transformation.

GFG Style has converted the Topolino into a completely open two-seat speedster, lowering its visual profile and removing much of the standard car’s utilitarian character. The design was influenced by the attitude of rebellious sports cars of the past, with James Dean’s Porsche 550 “Little Bastard” cited as one of the references behind the project rather than as a literal styling template.

The body is finished in matte aquamarine, while the cabin combines aquamarine leather with Alcantara.

Rather than attempting to turn the Topolino into a conventional performance car, Top. L uses proportion, stance and detailing to create the impression of a tiny sporting special — an approach that recalls the long Italian tradition of extracting something distinctive from modest mechanical foundations.

Top. J: four seats in under three metres

Top. J follows a completely different philosophy.

Instead of reducing the Topolino to two seats, GFG Style has added capacity. Four occupants sit back-to-back inside a vehicle measuring less than three metres in length, creating an unconventional layout intended to turn the small Fiat into a more social object.

The colour scheme carries a particularly interesting historical reference. Its blue and green livery was inspired by the Ferrari 166 MM formerly owned by Lapo Elkann’s grandfather, Gianni Agnelli, while the colours also pay tribute to Umberto Agnelli and his habit of personalising cars with blue and green details.

A fabric canopy replaces the conventional roof, while the interior combines leather and terry cloth in matching blue and green tones.

The names themselves reflect the character intended for each car: according to Elkann, the “L” refers to Love, while the “J” stands for Joy.

The beginning of a wider collaboration

Although visually very different, Top. L and Top. J were conceived around the same principle: that an interesting automobile does not necessarily require high power, high speed or an expensive base vehicle.

For Fabrizio Giugiaro and Lapo Elkann, the Topolino offered an intentionally simple starting point from which to experiment with colour, materials, proportion and function. The pair describe the project as the first stage of a collaboration they intend to continue.

The two cars also demonstrate a particularly Italian interpretation of the one-off tradition. Rather than merely applying a new colour scheme or decorative package, GFG Style has substantially reconsidered the character and use of the original vehicle.

GFG Style expands its one-off programme

The Topolino projects form part of a particularly active year for GFG Style.

Together with a third special Topolino, the two cars bring the number of GFG Style and Lapo Elkann interpretations of the model to three. The Turin company says that, by the end of 2026, it will have completed six one-off automobiles entirely developed and built in Turin.

Among them is the recently presented Bizzarrini 5300 GT Aperta Lusso, unveiled during Monterey Car Week.

This point is important to understanding GFG Style’s present role. The company operates not simply as a styling studio but as an organisation capable of taking a project from the initial sketch through modelling, engineering and construction of a functioning vehicle.

That capability places GFG within a Turin tradition once represented by the city’s numerous independent carrozzerie: design and small-series construction existing within the same industrial ecosystem.

Giugiaro history on display in Turin

The Salone Auto Torino presentation also includes a second exhibition dedicated to the Collezione Giorgetto e Fabrizio Giugiaro.

Now recognised as Museum No. 300 by the ASI History and Museums Commission, the collection comprises almost 50 production cars, concepts, prototypes and styling models connected with Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro’s work at Bertone, Ghia, Italdesign and GFG Style.

Three cars have been selected for Turin: the Aston Martin Twenty Twenty, Bugatti EB112 and Bizzarrini 5300 GT Corsa Revival Centenario Edition.

The juxtaposition is particularly appropriate. A few metres separate cars representing decades of Giugiaro design history from two newly constructed Fiat Topolino specials.

For a city whose automotive identity was built around designers, coachbuilders, model makers and specialist manufacturers, the message is difficult to miss: Turin’s carrozzeria tradition has changed profoundly, but the practice of turning a simple mechanical starting point into an individual automobile has not disappeared.