Fiat 2800 Berlina Boneschi

The 1938 Fiat 2800 Berlina by Carrozzeria Boneschi was a six-seat one-off body built on Fiat’s large 2800 chassis, with the surviving coachbuilder production ledger identifying the car as chassis *000042. The ledger describes it as a Berlina “6 Posti” and associates its allocation with Ovidio Capelli and the Fiat Capelli dealership in Milan. The shorter “#0042” form found in later published material is an abbreviated rendering of the same chassis identity. The car belongs to the small group of special-bodied Fiat 2800s created around the company’s pre-war six-cylinder flagship chassis. Published photographs and descriptions show a formal six-passenger saloon with an elongated body, a pronounced prow-like radiator treatment and extensive brightwork. These visible details distinguish the Boneschi body from standard Fiat coachwork, but no sufficiently secure individual stylist has yet been identified, so the design should remain credited to the coachbuilder rather than assigned to a named designer. The one-off status concerns this specific six-seat Boneschi configuration. It should not be confused with the better-known Fiat 2800 special associated with the Ente Fiera di Milano: institutional documentation identifies that separate car as an Ellena-bodied vehicle. Both are large formal Fiat specials of the same general era, but their coachbuilders, functions and vehicle identities are different. The Ovidio Capelli connection is documented as a dealer or allocation relationship rather than as evidence of a specific purchase price. No chassis-specific public auction result or period acquisition amount has been established for *000042. The secure historical core is therefore concise but strong: Fiat 2800 mechanical identity, 1938 production year, exact chassis *000042, six-seat berlina configuration and Boneschi coachwork. Mechanical dimensions and performance figures specific to this special body remain open unless supported by a source tied directly to the car.