FCAU -1.62 % Abarth’s team developed the car’s engine and tube-frame chassis, including the spitting Fiat 1-liter four-cylinder with the Colombo twin-cam head, strapped by two Weber 40s. But the liquid silver lyricism of the thing, the aluminum skin, is the work of famed Turin coachbuilder Pinin Farina. As artifact, “La Principessa” reminds us how much ground the Italian auto industry had to make up after World War II, and how constrained the resources were even in 1960. And yet, like many fast things, La Principessa is gorgeous, with a visual extravagance that only adds up in the heart if not the head. Write to Dan Neil at Dan.Neil@wsj.com

Source: Wall Street Journal August 19, 2016 20:37 UTC