A Jolly Holiday!
By Howard Watts
The Fiat Jolly was the brainchild of playboy industrialist Gianni Agnelli. According to legend, he wanted a car that would serve as a land tender but also fit on the back of his 82ft ketch, the Agneta, as he cruised the Med. The resultant first public sighting came on Ghia's stand at the 1957 Turin Motor Show. The Jolly was the type of runabout owned by the beautiful people. It was quite expensive, costing around double that of a standard 500 and was bought by the rich and famous (Aristotle Onassis, Yul Brynner, President Tito, Grace Kelly, Mae West, Lyndon B Johnson) as yacht tenders, golf carts and estate runabouts.
Italy’s location on the Mediterranean Sea meant innumerable beachfront cities and resorts. There was a brisk trade in beach buggy conversions of regular cars by the many specialist coachbuilders throughout Italy at the time. One such specialist was Carrozzeria Ghia, who created the Jolly conversions on Fiat’s 500, 600, Multipla and Giardiniera platforms.
Known at home as a La Spiaggina, the Fiat beach-car was marketed worldwide as the Jolly.
Jolly Yellow
Jolly yellow!
The target audience for the Jolly was wealthy seaside dwellers, who would use the car for short errands or take it with them on a yacht to use for transportation while in port. Nor, strictly speaking, was it intended for use only as a yacht tender. Ghia’s brochure from the time described the ‘Jolly de Plage’ (which roughly translates as the ‘Joker of the Beach’) as being equally at home on the golf course as on hunting expeditions!
Jolly Backside
Each Jolly was modified by Ghia to the buggy-like bodywork that characterized their silhouette. A fabric top (lined with fringe!) replaced the metal roof, the windshield trimmed down, and the body side were opened up to truly embrace the ocean air these would certainly be motoring around in. Wicker seats rounded out the package, which are friendlier to wet and sandy backsides than typical automotive upholstery.
Both the 500 and 600 were rear-engine cars designed for a utilitarian life. Sporting a 479-cc two-cylinder or 633-cc four-cylinder, the little Fiats had enough power to run around town but topped out just over 52 miles per hour.
Jolly Holiday!
Most surviving examples have covered low mileages only. With just an estimated production of just 650, the Jolly is hard to come by today, even more so finding an original right hand drive. Based on the number seen in the marketplace, few survived the by-the-sea lifestyle that the cars commonly lived.
The Jolly represents a rare, largely impractical, yet totally fun piece of automotive history. Just like large pre-war race cars, these quirky machines draw the attention of big collectors and continue to hold appeal. While you don’t have to own a yacht to appreciate the Jolly’s by-the-sea styling, it certainly seems to help.
Jolly Racing in Barbados
The Jolly represents a rare, largely impractical, yet totally fun piece of automotive history. Just like large pre-war race cars, these quirky machines draw the attention of big collectors and continue to hold appeal. While you don’t have to own a yacht to appreciate the Jolly’s by-the-sea styling, it certainly seems to help.
It’s all wicker to me
The ‘Jolly’ in it’s new home at “Howard Watts automotive”. Phone Howard to arrange a visit to view this unique vehicle.
