Some Doors Tip the Balance

The car design office of Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale & C was never so famous as their competitors Bertone or Pininfarina, however in this office in Turin a series of well-formed car bodies were developed. Starting in 1961, Vignale was producing for the manufacturer Lancia, Maserati and the British manufacturer Jenson. However Jenson stopped its production in Turin in 1967 and many doors of the type Interceptor remained in the Italian plant of Vignale. Such these doors were used for the own car body. From 1967 the sporty car was offered under the name Vignale Samantha. The designers were imposing an optically and extremely successful and beautiful curved coupe form over the chassis of a Fiat 125 S. Also the production engine sized at 100 hp of a Fiat was also overtaken. The willingness of Fiat to provide a new and modern 125 S-chassis with a powerful engine for the competing company Vignale for the Samantha could not hide the fact that Fiat had no ambition to sell the sporty Vignale car over their own dealers. Probably it seemed that the designers of Vignale particularly speculate on this and as a result they could not establish an alternative sales network, so that the Vignale Samantha could not be sold in Italy as well as in France.
On the British island the plant of Vignale found for the sale the F. Demetriou Group. The Cypriot businessman, Frixos Demetriou, was hidden behind the group and who had a name as an owner of a gambling casino and who loved the spotlight. He was convinced of the salability of the Vignale-car and predicted that the Samantha would be a bestseller in the United Kingdom. In his dreams, he was planning to handle a separate production in Great Britain. However, neither this assembly was realized nor the Samantha was a sales success.
In total only 100 pcs. of the sporty Italian car were produced in the Turin plant.

Collectors Resin model with plastic parts,
original acryl-showcase and cardboard box.

This product is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 14 years