Ugliest car up for auction

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【Summary】The 1995 Alfa Romeo Castagna Vittoria, considered one of the world's ugliest cars, will be auctioned at the Autoclassica show in Milan. Created by design house Castagna, the car features a stretched body, hand-crafted aluminum panels, and a tuned 3.0-liter V6 engine. While unique and well-preserved, the car's unconventional styling has led to an expected price of £125,000 to £135,000 ($AU240k to $AU260k).

FutureCar Staff Nov 08, 2023 10:17 PM PT

The 1995 Alfa Romeo Castagna Vittoria, often regarded as one of the ugliest cars in the world, is scheduled to be auctioned at the Autoclassica show in Milan, Italy later this month.

Castagna, a renowned design house during the 1920s and 1930s, gained fame for creating custom bodies for various car brands, including Fiats, Alfa Romeos, and even Duesenbergs from the USA. Although the design house closed in 1954, it was revived in the 1990s, and the Vittoria was created as a means of attracting attention.

The Alfa Romeo 75 donor sedan served as the base for the Vittoria. The car was stretched by 149mm, had a 30mm longer wheelbase, was widened by approximately 190mm, and made 70mm lower. The entire body was redesigned using hand-crafted aluminum panels. The car retained the 3.0-liter 'Busso' V6 engine, which was tuned to produce 189kW, a significant increase from the 109kW of the original 75.

In true Italian fashion, the rear wheels of the Vittoria are driven via a five-speed manual transmission, and the suspension was adapted from the Alfa Romeo SZ Coupe, also known as 'Il Monstro'.

While the car was meticulously crafted and boasts exceptional styling by Gioacchino Acampora, it cannot be described as classically handsome. The panel fit is precise with no unusual gaps, as noted by Car and Classic, the publisher consigning the Castagna Vittoria for the auction.

Undeniably, the Alfa Romeo Castagna Vittoria is considered one of the least attractive cars ever produced. However, its uniqueness as the only one ever built contributes to its expected price, estimated to be between £125,000 and £135,000 ($AU240k to $AU260k).

Since its creation in 1994, the car has only traveled less than 2500km. It comes with a full history file, a scale model, and even the original owner's manual from the donor Alfa Romeo 75.

James Ward, who has been involved in the Australian digital publishing landscape since 2002 and has worked in the automotive industry since 2007, is part of the team responsible for the content direction of Drive.

Learn more about James Ward.